recycling clothes

[Ohioann]

Several used jeans ideas from a crafting group I belong to: 1) cut off jeans legs just below the crotch, turn inside out and sew across the legs, turn back to right side. Sew strips of colorful cotton material together to make handles. Thread the strips thu the belt loops and sew ends together to make handles. Cute and easy purse. 2) cut 8 1/2 or 10 1/2 inch squares from jeans legs, trace cute designs from coloring books onto the square, embroider with colorful threads by hand or machine embroidery, sew squares together with 1/4 in seams. Back with flannel sheet and tack tie with yarn to make a quick quilt. 3) If you have a rug loom cut jeans into 1 inch strips and use to weave a sturdy rug. 4) 4 1/2 inch squares can be sewn into tote bags (whatever size you find handy), use a 4 1/2 in. strip as the side so the bag has depth and width for reusable shopping bags. 5) Cut the pockets off and sew them on a strip of denim from the leg of the jeans. Hang beside the door for keys, gloves, etc. These are cute if you can find a variety of pocket designs.

 

[Shiloh Acres]

More for cuteness' sake than practicality, but I had a cute denim shirt with a pocket on the front that had an appliqued kitty coming out of it.

I cut down the shirt and used it to cover a school binder for my DD, with the kitty on the front hanging out of the pocket. Turned out nicely (though it was a lot of trial and error finding glue that would bond fabric to vinyl).

 

[mustang rocky]

I made a purse for my Mom out of her Mom's clothing when she passed (my Grandma) I will post some pictures later

 

[patandchickens]

I have a couple of Depression-era booklets of my mother's (she was born in 1926) about recutting clothes smaller or cutting pattern pieces for smaller clothes out of larger garments. They are neat 'period pieces' but of course of limited practical use anymore as clothes (and fabrics) have changed so much!

I will sometimes buy thrift-store things larger or mis-fitting if they can be easily retailored (shortening sleeves or pants, deepening darts, slimming an overly baggy garment) but I don't find it all that easy to find garments I can do that with -- so many fabrics today are lousy, and some common industrial clothing-construction techniques do not lend themselves so well to alterations, at least not by ME And I find it hard to find very much with enough 'acreage' of fabric to cut anything much else from; have done it occasionally, but not much.

I generally wear clothes til they physically no longer can stay on my body so there is not much recycling going to go on there, except to the rag bag! I save some bits and parts for reinsertion into other garments -- good buttons, and loooong zippers still in good working order, and sometimes collars -- and of course like everyone else when my jeans wear through so they are a hole from seam to seam, they become shorts for wearing around home.

Old scraps of denim (good old-fashioned quality denim, not this flimsy fashion-denim stuff that 95% of jeans are made of these days) makes a pretty good hinge. There is a limit to how long it'll last exposed outdoors but even there, like as a window- or vent-flap hinge, I usually get a year or two out of it. And indoors, like for boxes, it lasts quite well. Patches of good-quality denim also are good for reinforcing a duct-tape poultice boot when your horse has a hoof abscess

Pat

 

[mom2bbjandag]

Alas, my daughter brought a naked baby doll to me last night, wanting new clothes. Thanks to this thread I remembered I had an old nightgown with pretty little rosettes and smocking, so I made a few very crude measurements, cut out a simple front and back, sewed the pieces together & wa-laa, new dress. I cut the first doll dress neckline at the neckline of the nightgown to make it pretty, then cut the 2nd dress at the bottom of the nightgown, so the bottom of that doll gown would have the ruffle. Half-hour and she had two new dresses. Now she wants bows for their hair and booties

Paula

 

[Icu4dzs]

I do "recycle" clothes a lot, particularly turning jeans into shorts and long-sleeved shirts into t's. Creative patching on my daughter's pants make really neat outfits: patch holes with fabric from my old shirts, or her colorful shirts that are torn or too small; create appliques and lining to make a cuff along the bottom of the pants leg (she has grown several inches in height, but none "around"); using a solid colored shirt, place appliques on the shirt - on pockets, sleeves, cuffs, along the bottom; cover buttons on blouses; make a belt to tie at the waist; make hair ribbons to match, or cover barrettes and headbands; I have even made shoelaces. Then everyone wants to know where I bought the cute outfit.

The neatest thing I did, at least my boys thought so, was to take a professional work shirt that their dad wears to work, with the patch bearing the name of the business still on it, pull it apart at the seams, cut down the pieces and put back together, to make matching work shirts for the boys to wear when they went "to the shop" with their dad. Everyone loved them, and the boys felt so grown-up and useful!

Just in case cost is important, those shirts are tax deductable! Any shirt with someone's name one it particularly used for work is completely deductable. And it doesn't even matter WHOSE name is on it! LOL
On a lighter note...
While it appears that many of you here are accomplished with the needle and thread, I decided that having a heavy duty sewing machine to repair things around my farm would be a good idea. When I was in the aviation field in the Navy, the parachute riggers were the masters of the sewing machine. What I want to be able to do is sew heavy stuff like canvas and leather and thick nylon strapping (like parachute material). Those guys were able to make really intersting stuff so I got the idea from them. I want one of those machines like they had. I think they could sew steel with them from the appearance of those machines. While I don't imagine I'll be doing applique, embroidery or the like, I'd imagine there are simpler machines out there that are able to sew things like tent material canvas, etc.

Unfortunately, getting the idea and having the "training" has remained to some extent "disparate". My guess is that many women learn to sew from their mom, but there really doesn't appear to be anyone to teach a guy how to sew with a machine. Yes, in the Navy we did have to repair our own clothes but that was usually only a button or a small tear. SEWING (in my mind) is the art of actually MAKING SOMETHING. So, ladies, where does that training come from if you don't have a mom or someone living with you to teach you?

I did manage to make a curtain for a door in my house and that turned out OK. I mean c'mon, it was two straight lines...I could do that! The curtain rods worked OK for that but making some article of clothing that a) Doesn't look like an idiot did it and b) fits the body appears to allude me. I'm good with wood and metal but fabric appears to be "above my pay grade"

I bought some patterns for stuff like a balaclava and head/neck protectors but reading those patterns appears to have some secret code and I still haven't gotten that code figured out.

Does anyone have any "viable" recommendations other than laughter for me on how to learn this ancient and ostensibly secret art?

 

[Denim Deb]

Check around for a Joannes or similar store in your area. It's not unusual for them to have sewing classes.

 

[JRmom]

Alas, my daughter brought a naked baby doll to me last night, wanting new clothes. Thanks to this thread I remembered I had an old nightgown with pretty little rosettes and smocking, so I made a few very crude measurements, cut out a simple front and back, sewed the pieces together & wa-laa, new dress. I cut the first doll dress neckline at the neckline of the nightgown to make it pretty, then cut the 2nd dress at the bottom of the nightgown, so the bottom of that doll gown would have the ruffle. Half-hour and she had two new dresses. Now she wants bows for their hair and booties

Paula

That reminds me of my best birthday present ever (I think I was about 8 years old)... I don't know how long my mother worked on this project, but I got a shoe box full of Barbie clothes that she had sewed - really cool stuff like bell bottom jeans, etc. - very well made, not like the crappy store bought Barbie clothes. Years later, when I finally parted with my Barbie collection (given to a neighbors young girls) all the clothes were still like brand new. My mother did say she would never take on a project like that again - I think she almost went blind sewing stuff that small!

 

[mom2bbjandag]

I think sewing is a dying art, at least around here. People are amazed when I say "I made it" or "I just put a few appliques here and there and made a cuff for the legs." It does seem to come naturally for me and yes, my mom sewed and taught me, at least the basics.

Check with a local vo-tech school and see if they offer a class. Area homeschooling groups often offer sewing classes (I taught one). Hancock's Fabrics is a local store that offers classes as well, or at least they used to.

 

[moolie]

Icu4dzs, fabric stores and quilting stores often have classes, and when I purchased my serger years ago I found out that my local Sears also has sewing and "learn to use your machine" classes (free if you buy the machine, but they're not too proud to charge everyone else--I had 3 free evening one-on-one lessons and they were great!) Call around

Also you could try giving the local high school a call to see if the home ec teacher is willing to give you lessons after school. That's how I learned to sew (well, IN home ec class, lol!), and I have since mostly ignored the pattern instructions and tried to work out how a garment or other item goes together on my own--so don't worry too much about learning the "code".