recycling clothes

[raro]

It always makes me laugh when people say they don't sew because the cost of fabric is too high...

My 9-year-old usually wears a big T-shirt to bed, but he told me last week that he wanted a "real" pair of pajamas. I wasn't about to go out to the fabric store or Walmart for p.j.s. So I went to my closet.

I had a pair of pajamas that I'd gotten from the thrift store some time ago. Red with snowmen on them, really cute. I don't even wear pajamas anymore, but they looked in really good condition. So I cut it off a few inches below the waist, then tried to cut out the elastic waistband. Only it was sewn in. No problem. It was 1.5 inches wide, so I just cut off the part I could. Now it's 3/4 inches wide, and it worked just fine. I put it in, and now he has bottoms. The top had a button placket thingy and was much too big, so I cut off the entire placket and sewed the front together. Then I took up an inch or so at the shoulders and just zipped across it with the sewing machine. Voila, now he has a cute pair of p.j.s.

I remember once seeing a pattern for making baby rompers out of a man's button down shirt. They were so cute. I wonder how many kids' clothes we could make out of adult stuff. It took me 5 minutes for the pajamas (which, admittedly, I didn't really care if they looked great or not).

Have you ever made smaller clothes from adult clothes? Or something else from clothes? (Aside from the great felted purses from wool sweaters!)

 

[Wifezilla]

I refurbish clothes all the time. Cheaper and easier for me than following a pattern and buying fabric. I usually end up adding stuff to the bottoms of things. I am very tall and a lot of things are not made for tall girls

 

[tamlynn]

I've seen several versions of a little girl dress from a man's button down shirt:

http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=170402.0

http://nikkishell.typepad.com/wardr...fashion-mens-shirt-to-little-girls-dress.html

The second blog link's whole theme is reusing clothes.

 

[mom2bbjandag]

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!

 

[txhomegrown]

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!

That is so cool.

 

[Denim Deb]

That used to be the norm. Sheets would be cut apart, and resewn back together when the middle wore out. If adult clothing couldn't be fixed someway to still be wearable, it would be cut down to children's size.

 

[JRmom]

Funny timing on your post! My husband was just saying the other day that we should stop giving away our unused clothing, with the prices of everything skyrocketing we may need to repurpose them. And when I say "we" I mean "he" - LOL - he is the one who knows how to sew, not me (unfortunately, all he has is a heavy duty machine for doing upholstery work).

Oh, how I wish I had paid attention when my mom tried to get me interested in sewing when I was a kid!

 

[Marianne]

I had to smile. I'm still using a bed skirt made from a sheet of years ago. Oh, by the way, put some velcro on the top edge of the bed skirt, hot glue the other piece to the top of your box springs and it's so easy to pull the bedskirt off to wash.

I made a cool comforter using muslin from simple curtains (man, that was a long time ago!!). I used the rest of the sheet that was a lighter shade than the muslin, cut 12" (?) squares. Then I gathered different leaves from our place, painted them with white house paint and 'stamped' the squares. Turned out wonderful by the time it was all put together and tied.

You can make baby's diapers from old t-shirts. There's a pattern online for them, but since I'm way past that point, I didn't go check it out. We tend to wear them out, then they're cut up into squares to use on my Swiffer wand, rags or family cloth.

I made dog beds with an ancient comforter, just cut it in half lengthwise and sewed it up like a big pillow sham. I first stuffed them with plastic grocery bags but eventually replaced the bags with some old upholstery stuffing.

 

[Wannabefree]

I have been trying to figure out ways to make things with our older clothes. DD has outgrown about a dozen pair of jeans this last year alone. I'm thinking of making throws or trying some rag rugs. I'm not the best at sewing, so I have to get creative.

 

[Marianne]

I have been trying to figure out ways to make things with our older clothes. DD has outgrown about a dozen pair of jeans this last year alone. I'm thinking of making throws or trying some rag rugs. I'm not the best at sewing, so I have to get creative.

Can you sell them at a flea market or consignment shop?