Crafts Using Recycled Clothing

Repurposing Clothing In Crafts

I watch for the local thrift stores to have half off or 75% off sales and go look for fabric suitable for covering scrapbooks, making recycled clothing, making small crafts and recovering furniture. Sometimes you can find a long leather coat for a few bucks and recover chairs or make wallets from it. I always go in with a plan and find things people normally would not buy.

If I cannot use it one way, I can always use it in quilt making thus making the price of the quilt extra low. Blankets are great for inside of quilts and normally are inexpensive. I can get 2 baby quilts out of 1 full size bed blanket.

Recycling not only aides in my frugality it allows me to make items that would normally cost me a lot of money to purchase in a retail store. So when you see a clothing or sheet sale, stock up and save in the long run.

By gem from VA

Fabric Scrap and Recycled Clothing Coasters

Old shirts or leftover fabric make great coasters. Braid strips of 1 1/2 inch strips of fabric and tie several together if you want larger coasters. Take the braided strips and lay them next to each other creating circles. As you wind the braided strips, stitch them with similar colored thread and needle by hand. They make great coasters and can be washed. I also do red and green ones for Christmas.

By Louella from Billings, MT

Craft Uses for Old Clothing

Turning Old Clothes Into a Quilt

Sew outgrown childrens clothes, either whole or cut, into patterns for a worn quilt using an overcast stitch. You can quilt the pieces in as well. You can do a decorative pattern, or cover entirely. The end result is a wonderful keepsake to treasure.

By Doggy

T-shirt Pillows and Jeans Bags

I've made pillows out of old tees, they are so warm and comfy. Also, cut diagonally down the shirt from the collar to the bottom hem and sew for a simple dress up skirt, an adult tee shirt makes a child's size. Another fun thing is to make bags from old jeans and pants cut off the legs where they meet hem the remaining piece at the bottom and tie hobby rope to the belt loops of sew on straps from the jean leg. You can also make small bags from the bottom of the pant leg. Just cut about 20 cm from bottom of one leg, and hem the raw edges together, you can add handles also.

Hope you can use some of those ideas!
E

Welding Gauntlets From Jeans

I use the legs from an old pair of denim pants for welding gauntlets to cover my arms while welding. After cutting the legs off the pants, sew some elastic banding on both ends. that holds the gauntlet in place at the wrist and at the upper arm.

This protects the arms from welding splatter, and UV rays while welding. (Note - these are used in conjunction with welding gloves - OR the welding gloves can be sewn to the lower portion of your gauntlet instead of installing elastic there.)

Rex Smith

T-shirt Quilts

There is a pattern for making quilts out of tee shirts that have a special meaning. Maybe for the Sports enthusiast in the family for graduation. A tee shirt quilt made from all their sports teams shirts.

Donna

Pillows

When my Mother passed away it was up to me and my two sisters to empty out her apartment and do something with her belongings. When we got down to clothes we donated them to a mountain mission which gives them away to needy people. I kept some of her old cotton print blouses and couldn't bear to part with them. I was in the process of learning how to quilt. For a mother's day present I made my sisters and nieces a handmade pillow using the pattern called Grandma's Fan and cut the pieces from Mom's old blouses. Now we all have a momento of her in our homes.

MamawKC

Weaving Pot holders

You can cut the sleeves from t-shirts into rings and use the rings instead of purchased loops for weaving pot holders. Great colors! You can also do this with the tops of worn socks.

jlxian

Baby Heirloom Quilt

An idea I would have loved to do with my old baby clothes was to make a baby heirloom quilt to use for your first child or even better to give to your children for their first child.

I believe it was in Family Circle Magazine a few years ago that they used the fronts of shirts or dresses and sewed them into each quilt square as if it were hanging on a hanger or something. Other ideas would be to just use the fabric to make your own design.

Tawnda

Braided Rugs

Clothing can be cut into strips and braided to make rugs. these rugs are very durable and they wash well too.

Gizzmo from Colorado

Quilts for Dog Beds

Old denim jeans make great quilts for dog beds. They smell like you, which pleases the dogs. I usually cut old jeans into rectangles and squares and sew together. To practice fancy stitches on your sewing machine, you can overlap the raw edges of the seams and reduce raveling at the same time.

Lynn from Western Oregon

Denim Quilt

I have also made a Quilt out of my Hubby's old jeans! He never throws away a thing "it'll make a good rag someday" so when the pile became overwhelming I cut up the legs, stitched together with batting and a sheet and had a heavy warm quilt!

I also have made Pillows out of old, beloved Shirts from my kids. They work real well as throw pillows on their beds. Just stitch up the openings and stuff! too simple and they love them!

Terry R

What are some craft projects you can think of using old clothing?

Using Clothing Material for Crafts

If you end up with a clothing item you would never wear but like the pattern, think about using the material for pillows, quilts, etc. You can also stock up on material from clothes for quilts at bag sales from thrift stores or yard sales.

By Melanie

Harvest Buttons and Material from Old Clothes

Save your ripped pants and shirts, then "harvest" the buttons. You never know when you will need buttons. You can also save parts of the fabric and make clothes for an infant. A pant leg turned upside down (or two legs sewn together) can make a cute "pillowcase dress" for a baby girl. All you need is a little ribbon. You can also use extra fabric from elsewhere to create a jumper dress. Save drawstrings to use on bags for cart covers or as ribbon on the pillowcase dresses.

By Laurie from Circle City, Arizona

Recycled Clothing Crafts

Looking for recycled clothing crafts? Here are some crafts that you can make with old clothing. Feel free to post your ideas in the feedback forum.

Material

With my Family, I have a lot of clothes passed around. We don't throw anything away. Cut off all the buttons, zippers and belt loops, save.

I cut all the material off and the seams that are left I sew together to make Braided Rugs. Iron all the pieces of good material and store in a box (flat.) I have some really nice pieces for quilts.

When the children are bored I have them cut material. Then sew it together. No matter how bad they do they are having fun. I give something special to the one that finishes their sewing first.

I sort material by color and then also one box with just about every color in it. This is for crazy quilts. Stick to the basic color red, blue, green. etc. I put all white and black in another box and use this for the trim or binding. So you really have some nice quilts and didn't cost you much.

By Marlyne Jeane

Gift Jars and Doll Clothing

Don't forget to save some small-patterned, nice colored pieces to place over jar lids if you're canning for "Gifts From Your Kitchen". Almost any pretty fabric works great.

When my daughters were young, I made enough Barbie clothes to dress every Barbie in existence. I still love to make and dress dolls, but today, I make my own cloth dolls, dress them in "Tea Party" dresses (recycling old clothing), and give them to my lady friends who are also 70 or more years old. (My age)

Girls never lose their love for pretty dolls. If you're lucky enough to still have your mother or grandmother, make them a doll for their birthday or for Christmas and watch their eyes light up. They will cherish your thoughtfulness.

Hot pads made with leftover or recycled clothing fabric are always good to have, as well as pot holders. Line with pieces of old quilted bed pads to make them thick and protective for hands and table surface.

You will be limited only by your own imagination, so don't ever be afraid to ask for advice and more ideas.

All the best to you fellow-crafters.

By Julia in Orlando, FL

For Cleaning

If the clothes are totally faded or full of holes, they still make good scrub rags or grease rags. We use a lot of these. A friend said he used to fold old tee shirts into a pad and scrub the grill with it. If you have the right kind of mop, you can put old clothes in the clamp for a new (free) mop head. I've used tee shirts, sweat shirts, and old boot socks for those. Parts of tee shirts cut to size and sewed together in a double layer if you're ambitious make good dish rags. We even use one to wash our cow before and after milking. (09/25/2005)

By Coreen

Jeans Purse

I once saw a handbag made from a pair of jeans. Cut off the legs and sew them shut, then add a zipper to the waist area, and 2 straps.

By bulrush

Shirts

T-shirts: I use old t-shirts to cover my dog's pillows sometimes. I also cover my pillow with a t-shirt if I take a nap with wet hair - then the pillowcase / pillow stays dry. In a pinch, cotton t-shirts are good as a towel or drying hair if you are out of clean towels (I know - lazy). And old T-shirts are good for drying the dog after her bath.

Soccer shirts: The boy I took care of made a neat pillow out of his outgrown soccer shirts. He sewed them up on his mother's sewing machine and stuffed with fiberfill or rags. They were bright colors. They ended up in the "fort" one summer, then later to decorate his room.

By TJDumplin

Rag Rugs

Fabric scraps from old clothing can torn into strips and braided or crocheted to make rag rugs. I also heard of a quilt that was made from old ties. Has anyone ever heard of this or know where to find instructions?

By AnnMel

Uses for Sweaters

I have seen old sweaters used several ways:

1. quilts
2. pillows
3. purses

By wyoKrista

Clothespin Bag, Quilts

Recycle a small baby dress into a clothespin bag by adding a hanger and leaving the back open. Then sew up the hemmed tail.

Recycle Jeans legs to make a quilt. Add your own special touches. Save them and make a special quilt with some of your children's favorite clothes, you can always cut pieces of their favorite shirts and add on top of their jeans when you piece it together.

By seamstress

Recycled Clothing Crafts

Cut clothing into squares and sew them together to make a baby quilt, a couch or chair cover up or even a quilt for the bed or couch. You can even use these for windows coverings or for a window valance. Use your imagination and see what you come up with. Cover a toy box, a picture frame etc. Have fun with it. I also use buttons from the clothes I discard to decorate picture frames, small mirrors, etc.

By Sandi G

Sentimental Pillows from Clothes

The first outfits given to baby are so special! Turn that special outfit into a very sentimental and personal pillow that you can gift back to the original gifter on Mother's Day, Father's Day, for any occasion, or just because. Think about the frilly dress Grandma gave to granddaughter or the team t-shirt proudly purchased by Dad. Sew the arms, legs, and neck closed (leave a small opening for stuffing), use bagged pillow stuffing to fill out the pillow and finish by hand. I made one for Grandma and she still keeps it on her bed as the most important accent pillow.

Source: Myself

By M in NM from Socorro, NM