"Repurposing" things - what have YOU done? Or what do you have that needs a purpose?

thriftwizard

I sometimes turn 1970s pillowcases into little pinafores for small girls; there's plenty of fabric in there, and the colours/patterns are to die for!

YorksLass

maryb wrote: »

Yorkslass I wish my fabric stash could fit in a single suitcase!

Do you mind saying where you get your yarn from? Always looking for good sources

Ah, but it is a large suitcase! Probably helps that I've had a bit of a clear-out too. Some of it I'd had for years and I figured if I hadn't used it yet then I never would, so I've just kept what I know I'll use.

Yarn I get from various places, including charity shops, but my favourite supplier is probably this one: https://www.woolwarehouse.co.uk/
Prompt delivery (free if ordering over £25), lots of choice, frequent sales and they also do patterns, fabric and knitting/sewing accessories.

GreyQueen wrote: »

I love repurposing but it does make throwing anything out a trifle difficult as I can always see a potential future purpose.

Tell me about it! MInd, DH is even worse than I am - at least I do eventually use things whereas he - well, you get the picture!

PipneyJane

paddy's_mum wrote: »

Given? I've always thought you had to pinch them!

GreyQueen wrote: »

My understanding is that these wee toiletries are part of what you pay for with the room hire, so you can use them in the room, take them away from the room or ignore them altogether and use whatever toiletries you have with you.

Yes. The small soaps, shampoos, etc, are costed into the price of the room, so you might as well take them.

When I get a suitable quantity, I'll decant them into the relevant (recycled) pump action bottle and use them up at home.

maryb wrote: »

Do you mind saying where you get your yarn from? Always looking for good sources

My favourite online sources of yarn are Black Sheep Wools and Deramores. Black Sheep have a relationship with Sublime - they get all the end-of-range yarns - so frequently have pure wool on sale for £2 per 50g ball. (Black Sheep always take a stand at the Knit & Stitch Shows. If you've ever been, you'll see women dive in whenever they open a fresh pallet of yarn.)

Deramores have a loyalty scheme, where you earn points towards gift vouchers. (500 points = £5 voucher) They're another site that have great bargains on natural fibres. For instance, I've bought 4-ply Drops Alpaca from them for £2.03 per ball.

- Pip

Working_Mum

I always try to think creatively before I send anything to the rubbish or when i need to buy anything.

My "boldest" move was keeping a look out for a new sofa in my lounge - I kept an eye on Eb4y and bought a Mult1york sofa for £250 (delivered). I loved the sofa but the colour wasn't exactly my thing so I dyed the covers using Dylon dyes (bought from Wilko for £36 in total). It took me a day to remove dye and dry them (on the line obvs MSE!!) and I now have a gorgeous sofa in ultra modern grey with a fab pattern (that didn't resemble anything like the original pattern!!).

I will regularly use pashminas and shawls as covers for my furniture to pep things up a bit.

I have dragged old Lloyd Loom ottomans out of skips and recovered them for storage in bedroom and bathrooms.

I turned an old linen press into a drinks cabinet with the installation of a few stick on lights to illuminate the shelves!

This weekend I cut up an old pillowcase and made wipes for my pooch - I am trying really hard to reduce my kitchen roll usage. These I can throw straight into the washing machine and they'll dry quickly.

I converted an old boiler cupboard into a pantry so I could store dry food and cleaning bits and pieces. The B0nne Maman jam jars I have kept over the years look lovely for storage!

I re-fill "pop top" glass cordial bottles (bought in Ald1 for £1.69 with water and put in my fridge for my kids who love cold water!

Sadly everywhere you look in my house there is something which is doing the job it wasn't designed for!!

I enjoy the creativity of reducing new purchasing and re-purposing items.

maryb

Thanks for the yarn recommendations Yorkslass and Pitney Jane

I need to downsize my stash As you say, if I haven't used it, probably not gonna.(And new fabric is sooo much more enticing - Geoff Rosenberg's stall at the K&S show anyone?)

YorksLass

Working Mum's mention of her old boiler cupboard now being used as a pantry reminds me of when we had central heating and a combi boiler installed. What was the pantry now houses the new boiler, vac, mop & bucket, laundry baskets, stepladder and sweeping brush. Some of the original shelves had to be removed but there's still three smaller ones left that I use for tins/jars of foodstuff, large boxes of soap powder and toilet rolls. Handy storage space for when I stock up on stuff that's on promo/sale/ys.

The old hot water cylinder and cold water tank were removed from the airing cupboard in our bedroom and that's now my linen cupboard. It isn't huge but DH put in some shelves so I can have bedding, curtains, towels, cushion covers, mats and runners etc all in one place.

jackieblack

I’ve been digging through my smallest bedroom (storage room) for my suitcases (I have all the colours in all the sizes ) and trying to find the one I want to use for an upcoming trip (strikes permitting).

I had been contemplating investing in some of those packing cubes, but realised that I have a stash of old pillowcases that are the perfect size so I shall try using those instead. One will make a good laundry bag too.
If I have time I might convert a couple into drawstring shoe bags (I usually use plastic food bags) - half a pillowcase looks like a perfect size:) (if not I’ll just wrap the excess fabric round this time).

I always use those little net washing tablet bags that someone referred to earlier for storing various cables/chargers when travelling. One per device - phone, iPad, camera etc, one for my little alarm clock and it’s batteries, one for luggage scales. Keeps them all tidy and easy to see where everything is. I have them all in a big ziplock bag in my hand luggage - when that wears out I’ll make a cotton drawstring bag to keep them all together.

buildersdaughter

Loving his thread! I do a lot of the above - and I always turn old clothes into rag. The 'pique'cotton from polo shirts is abrasive so works very well for cleaning.
When tea towels get very old, I use them instead of kitchen roll to drain poached or fried eggs (or anything similar - they get slung into the 'kitchen hot wash' until they can't be used any more.

Also loving the jeans re-purposing. I haven't had a chance to do this yet but here's a great one:
Visiting a small family-run vineyard in Italy I was amused to see that you could buy a 'gift bag' for a bottle made from jeans legs - the owners had cut them down from their children's jeans, put on amusing patches, tied them up with shoelaces etc.

[Deleted User]

I never used to throw away jars, sadly I now have to with some as the glue used for the label is impossible to remove but I still save all I can and refill with jam and chutneys and also use the larger ones as containers for dry stores in my store cupboard. Sealing things into jars with tight fitting lids prevents a mass infestation of pantry bugs/flour weevils in all your stores and limits it to just one jar so avoids a great deal of waste. We also always save bread wrappers and I use them over and over to store home grown produce in the fridge until I want to use it, I do all the prep and chop veg into the right sized pieces and then tie a knot in the bag and they keep fresh for a long time.

GreyQueen

One of my 'wants' has just been satisfied with a large but somewhat injured tent from the chazzer for £5. Not is usable condition but contains mucho materiel to be cannibalised for spare parts and raw materials for camping accessories. Currently reposing in its carrybag in the bath tub, only had it a few minutes.