# Recycle sewing



## flowergurl (Feb 27, 2007)

Do you like to take old clothes and make new things out of them? 
I love doing projects like that. 
This morning I took ideas from making sweater arms into slipper socks on the web and added a couple things to them.
View attachment 8334


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Mine i traced the outline of my foot and sewed a piece of fleece inside the sweater arm to make it padded and i added the cuff from a long sleeve shirt as the top of the sock.
I just need to get some puff paint to make dots on the bottom for non skid.

What do you think? I got all my materials to do these at yards sales, so very cheap.


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## flowergurl (Feb 27, 2007)

Here is my first pair finished, except for the puff paint on bottom. My DH now wants a pair. 
You can make these to custom fit the person. You can make the socks as tall or short as you like too.

View attachment 8338


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## RedDirt Cowgirl (Sep 21, 2010)

Very tidy! Nice work, the fleece for your footies is a great idea - and the other cuff is a perfect finish!


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## flowergurl (Feb 27, 2007)

Thanks! The rest of this sweater will become a throw pillow cover. Hardly any of it will be wasted. Of course you can find prettier sweaters to work with, this one was a test project and the sweater was only .50. So, I really didn't care to much about the colors.


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## Garnet (Sep 19, 2003)

TFS I like projects like this. I was planning to make a skirt from a man's shirt. haven't found a shirt with suitable fabric - or fabric that i think I would wear. But I will try it anyway if I find an acceptable shirt on $1 thursday at the thrift. I need a skirt for swimsuit coverup on the patio. 

Also, I like cobbler aprons. Might make one of those from a shirt.



I found a good quality navy T with nice embellished front yoke area. Nothing on the back. I plan to turn it around and make a cardigan with a plain front and the embellishment acros the back. The back will need a neck insert and the front will need a neck cutout. Should work.


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## Garnet (Sep 19, 2003)

Can you post the link you found for inspiration? Thanks.


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## flowergurl (Feb 27, 2007)

I looked at many many places, but here is one I looked at:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/alannaokun/30-easy-and-cuddly-diy-ideas-for-recycling-old-swe

Garent I would like to see the things you make. Please post pics of your projects too.


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## Wildfire_Jewel (Nov 5, 2006)

I take older outdated prom gowns and make little girl's princess gowns, I use leather upholstery scraps to make boys leather jerkins, sweaters become mittens, feed bags become grocery totes, fabric samples become baby and toddler sundresses. I love to pick up free clothing items at garage sales that have stains and turn them into usable clothing items again. My whole sewing business is based on reusing/recycling fabrics


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## flowergurl (Feb 27, 2007)

Here is my first time trying a sweater throw pillow cover. The buttons really do unbutton and you can remove the cover and wash it.


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## flowergurl (Feb 27, 2007)

You have some NICE things in there Wildfire! :thumb:


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## RebelDigger (Aug 5, 2010)

Neat! I recycle a lot. Always on the lookout for fabric at the thrift stores, don't matter what form it takes, as long as I can pick it apart and do something with it. Also, I look for nice buttons, have bought things just for the buttons sometimes.


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## flowergurl (Feb 27, 2007)

How cool Maggie. Love all those old clothes. How many yards of material went into one of those old south bell's dresses? I've always wondered about that. LOL


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## Becka03 (Mar 29, 2009)

I love what you have done! I am starting a pair of my sons worn out jeans that do not fit hom with some old vintage fabric into a skirt- 

I refashioned one of my hubby's t-shirts into a fitted tshirt for me
I get inspired by this blog:
http://refashionista.net/


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## Taylor R. (Apr 3, 2013)

I throw away NOTHING because I have all kinds of ideas about what it could become. It's so much fun to piece stuff I don't wear or that the kids have outgrown together to make new, useful things. My son is...sweater obsessed. He wears full-on, knit sweaters almost every day, and when he outgrows them, I like to make him something out of them so he doesn't take the loss of his favorite shirts so badly. He has a sweater dinosaur, sweater mittens, sweater pillows, and I may just have to make him some slippers now. Great idea!


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## Garnet (Sep 19, 2003)

flowergurl, your sweater pillow cover would work with shirts - just using the button front for the pillow back for an easy removal for laundry.


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## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

Great work! Your feet will never be cold again.

DsD saw something cool on pinterest and did this: take adult t-shirt with something cool on the front or back. Cut off everything except the front (or back) and the crew neck. You now have a superhero cape. Or a large bib. Both, actually.


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## flowergurl (Feb 27, 2007)

Very true Garnet. A nice denim shirt would make a nice one.


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## Katskitten (Aug 5, 2010)

Joe and I have been using recycled jeans to make quilts and I have made purses from old jeans. This last year I have been making shopping bags from the leftover pockets from the jeans used on the quilt projects. 
I will have to post a picture later as I can't seem to locate it right now.

Elaine


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## stef (Sep 14, 2002)

Flowergurl...that pillow is just the cutest and so are your socks!


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## flowergurl (Feb 27, 2007)

I'd like to see your projects Elaine. 
Thanks Stef!


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## Ann-NWIowa (Sep 28, 2002)

I replaced the bag of my clothes pin bag using part of a jeans leg. In the past I've remade/reused fabric for various projects. I once found a huge size floor length double knit dress that I remade into a pair of slacks for one dd and a pair of shorts for the other dd. A XXXXXXX sized cotton nightgown became a crib sheet and a couple of bibs. I'm currently sewing an apron from a thrift store jumper.

I've purchased clothing at thrift stores just for the buttons or other trim.


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## Katskitten (Aug 5, 2010)

flowergurl said:


> I'd like to see your projects Elaine.


After fighting with my computer for the last few days we took a day off. Well I guess that worked. Here is a pic of the shopping bag that I created with the left over pockets from the quilts we have been making from jeans. 

Here is a doggy tote that I made with a small child sized pair of jeans.


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## 'Lil Gardener (Jun 22, 2018)

I like to reuse clothes occasionally. I mainly seem to reuse unwearable jeans as patches to fix more jeans, matching the colors the best I can. Still, I have expanded into other small projects to hand-sew within the past 3 years. 







Roughly a 9" by 20" pillow, when stuffed. This was one of my sibling's old skateboard t-shirts. The only trouble is, now I would have to cover it up with a pillowcase, which I forgot to sew. Oops. 















An old small denim overall's leg converted to a grocery bag holder (or rather, a rag holder). I simply sewed along the top opening, where I had initally cut the leg off. I sewed a 'tab' down at the top to hold the braided string in place. 







My favorite purse, a simple denim purse. The fake leather support eventually broke between the D-ring and the main purse, after plenty of heavy usage. The orange ruler is next to one of the denim straps I repurposed. The straps used to be part of a set of child overalls. I basically sewed around all the wear on the straps themselves first, to minimize further damage from continual wear and tear, then sewed them onto the purse itself. For the hidden part of the strap attached to the upper side of the purse, there is a rectangle with a large X sewed inside of it for adequate support. The remainder of the strap was sewn along all the sides, like a very long rectangle. Not surprisingly, the old denim strap is still slowly wearing out where the D-ring rubs constantly. 







It took a lot of additional time to carefully hand-sew tiny stitches along the printed lines to help it blend in visually. 






A handkerchief made out of old shorts. This was the biggest useable piece to salvage, so it is not a perfect square, but it still functions well as a handkerchief.


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