I love silly Christmas jumpers but not to wear, god, not to wear! I’m thinking of getting some to make into Christmas cushion covers but thought I’d ask to see if you had any ideas for making other things from them too and the bits like the sleeves etc.

Some of the various sweater-to-cushion-cover tutorials I’ve seen have used the sleeves to make a flap like on a housewife style pillow. Another tutorial suggests making patchwork cushion covers – depending on the patch size/style, that could easily use up all the different bits of a jumper. Sleeves could also be used to make hot water bottle covers, with the cuff “hugging” the neck of the bottle.

Other ideas for the jumpers: lots of people make Christmas stockings out of old jumpers – the sleeves might be enough for that too. Could they also be cut up to make Christmas placemats or pot holders? If they’ve got a high wool content, they could be felted for extra heat protection (although that would probably distort the pattern). Or how about a skirt for the Christmas tree if it’s in a pot?

Any other suggestions for Edie?

(Photo by lisa humes)

As I’ve already said, I got rid of a whole load of old trainer socks a couple of months ago. Around the same time, I also got rid of about twenty pairs of old knickers that had been cluttering up my underwear drawer – ones that no longer fitted properly or I didn’t like the style any more, but previously couldn’t bring them to throw them away because … well, I’m not very good at throwing anything away.

The other day, as part of the mini-challenge, I continued on that theme: I got rid of some old tights (well, moved them into my craft stash for some reuse), put aside some barely worn bras for eBay, sent a couple of pairs of unworn pyjamas to the charity shop and found a few “silky” things – pretty camisole sets – from years ago that I no longer wear. It’s all made out of synthetic fabric too, so even if I could fit into it now, I wouldn’t be able to wear it because synthetics make me sweat unattractive amount of sweat and that’s not a good thing with lingerie!

One set still had the tags on it (sigh) so I’ll give that to a charity shop as they should be able to sell it on but I don’t know whether they’d be particularly interested in the rest, so I’m imagining it might be better to think of other reuses for them.

The fabric is all light & floaty: some opaque, some lighter than that and some are patterned, others plain black. I very much like some of the abstract floral patterns – which is why I bought them in the first place – but they’re too light and flimsy for the type of crafts I usually do (I’m all about the practical these days and I don’t think they’ll make a very good shopping bag or anything like that). I could just add them to my fabric stash on the off-chance I’ll need them for something in the future, but that doesn’t seem very in the decluttering spirit, just shifting the problem somewhere else!

So any ideas for reuses? Know of any specific craft projects that would make it worth my while keeping them in my stash? Any more practical reuses?

Bicycle panniers – mine have a really useful stretchy mesh pocket on the outside, unfortunately now more hole than mesh. Any ideas on repairing them? The actual pannier part is absolutely fine.

The summer before last, I bought some mens’ shorts for myself and since I don’t have things down there in need of containment, I removed the “netting” layer – that wouldn’t have been pretty but would have fit the bill perfectly – stretchy white mesh. (I ended up using it in the greenhouse to store bulbs.) Can anyone think of anything else in the same vein to reuse instead? Heavy (so they won’t run) nylon tights maybe?

Another idea which is less reusing/recycling but still repairing: could you crochet a flat mesh from a plastic twine using a variant on a string bag patten? I used to make a version of this bag from all sorts of different yarns when we were short of shopping bags – makes up very quickly because it’s so much hole :)

Any other ideas?

(Photo by arifm)

hi, how can recycle some slippers? do shoe banks take them? thanks

Yes, they can be put into shoe banks – but make sure they’re tied together in some way (if they’ve not got laces, tie them together with string or an elastic band). Stuff put in charity shoe banks is usually distributed in three ways depending on quality/condition: for resale at a charity shop in this country, for resale overseas or for actual recycling down to being shredded for raw materials — so one way or another, they’ll get reused.

If they’re old and in poor condition, you might be able to revamp them yourself to get a bit longer out of them – I tend to wear slipper socks than actual slippers but I’ve upcycled the “leather” soles of one pair by crocheting new “uppers” using the relevant part of patterns widely available on the internet. Sole aside, a lot of towelling-type slippers will be 100% (or thereabouts) cotton so might be dye-able, which might breathe new life into a discoloured/grubby pale coloured pair.

Any other ideas for revamping or recycling an old pair of slippers? Or other suggestions on places to pass them onto? (eg would shelters take them?)

When cleaning up I came across a lot of jester hats from my boyfriend (about two dozen). He has collected them over the years for free at carnival (we are from Holland). Giving them away hasn’t been succesful, and we don’t have freecycle nearby. So I was wondering if we could reuse them in some way. They are made of different kinds of fabric, some I can’t place (and there is nothing on the labels). Some are felted and some are fake velour I think.

Two dozen jester hats! That’s quite a collection! I really hope he knows to reduce from now on and not collect any more.

As for reuses, the felted ones may lend themselves to small felt craft projects – there are lots of felt brooches around these days and basic (but pretty) ones are quite easy to make (for example, these butterflies ones).

As for the velour ones, I have half a memory of seeing a cushion made out of novelty hats but no amount of Googling will confirm I didn’t just make that up in a cheese dream.

Any other suggestions?

Now seven or eight years later, arrgh, I hate them. They always slip down so my trainers rub the back of my ankle, and they’re useless in walking boot style shoes where you need the protection further up as well. It’s not even a “hide-the-unsightly-cuff” issue any more because my jeans are always way too long so you can barely see my shoes, let alone a gap between the hem & the shoe, and on the very, very rare occasion I wear a skirt or shorts, I’ll be more than likely wearing them with nice no-sock shoes or flip-flop/sandals anyway.

After slowly growing to despise them over the last couple of years, I decided to evict them from my sock drawer last night. I counted 24 pairs. Yes, I clearly had a big thing for them seven or eight years ago.

Anyway, now I have 24 pairs of ankle-cuff-less foot socks which need reusing or upcycling. They’ve all been well used so aren’t really in a position to be passed along – but equally, have a bit more life in them than to just become cleaning rags — so I’m looking for upcycling ideas really.

Some ideas I’ve had so far: attached two pairs together to make above-ankle socks; Alice’s moth-repellent idea; stuff with cat nip to make a cat toy; use them to make sock monsters (although they’re mostly plain so might be dull).

Any other ideas?

I have a backpack I would like to recycle and reuse. I have the straps and the part that goes against our back but would like to change the rest of it with reused fabric. Only the zipper doesn’t work right now but would like to change the whole outside pocket to add style. I have some random fabrics including jean material from old jeans. Could [use] the jean material for durability?

Does anyone have any simple but fashionable patterns that fit what I have? It would be fun to do a quilted backpack (but I don’t have any quilted fabric yet). I don’t want to do a purse backpack just a normal one that can hold books and such. I’m trying to avoid buying anything so buying a zipper is out of the question. I have some other craft supplies but not extra zippers.

Because I’m a bit lazy, I’d probably try to do the least possible sewing and start with something already roughly the right shape or with pockets. Very simply, I’ve seen the bottom of old jeans turned into backpacks (like in this video tutorial) but depending on the size of the jeans, it may be more of a mini backpack (like in the video), which isn’t the sort of thing Janette wants. (Mine would be big enough to hold a few books, and even a folder if I didn’t make a closing flap at the top. Finally an advantage to having a bigger bum!) If you only have small jeans available, you could make them bigger by cutting up the fly, and using a different fabric for the back of the pack, and opening up the legs (as if you were making a skirt from jeans) to make it longer.

Another video makes a backpack from an old suit jacket – a lot of the jacket is cut away so you wouldn’t necessarily know it was from a jacket, but the useful pockets do remain. I’ve also seen skirts made into backpacks (although I can’t find any links now) and there are lots of tutorials on how to make a drawstring backpack from an old t-shirt out there.

I don’t think any of those ideas will completely satisfy Janette’s requirements but they’ve certainly given me some ideas for non-zip closures: how about a velcro-ed flap like the suit jacket one? or buckles on straps (like old army packs), buttoned down flaps or a drawstring, possibly under a flap? I usually shy away from wikihow posts but there seems to be a decent tutorial on making a pack with the latter on there.

Anyone got any advice, suggestions or tutorials for Janette?

I always snip buttons from old clothes before using them for rags but after a few years of my three’s school shirts, I’ve got more plain white buttons than I know what to do with. If they were pretty I’d keep them for crafts but they’re boring! Any ideas?

They could be revamped/upcycled to make them a bit more exciting: I saw a tutorial for spray painting plain buttons a few weeks ago – I’m not a fan of spray paints in general but if you had some ends of cans leftover from other projects, that certainly is one option. An alternative would be to use them to make fabric covered buttons, using up tiny bits of reclaimed material.

Aside from that, they could be used as they are in lieu of beads or the like in a homemade percussion instrument (not one for small kids).

Any other ideas on how they can be reused?

Any other good ideas for using fabric. I have tons of it and I am getting bored making blankets and tote bags. I want to make something useful.

I asked her to clarify what type of fabric – old bedding, old clothes, old yardage/fat quarters etc – and she added: “The fabric in question is in small bits. I have so much fabric in small pieces I just don’t know how to use it all, and I don’t want to throw it away.”

While I’d challenge the insinuation that blankets & tote bags aren’t useful, I do know what she means – we currently have more than enough shopping bags and throw blankets (even with a messy/often soggy dog) so new ideas are always welcome.

I’ve seen some lovely pieces of patchwork used for revamping old chairs etc recently – painted woodwork and patchwork seats – and also patchwork cushions, but I’d imagine the latter would quickly become the next blanket/tote bag — a couple is all you need.

Individual little bits of fabric could be used for appliqué for upcycling/revamping old clothes, or used for creative repairing. Bunting is also super popular at the moment as an all-year-round decoration as well as at party time.

Involving less sewing, jersey/t-shirt material can become reusable washcloths or wipes to replace toilet paper. I’ve also seen lots of fabric wrapped bangles and necklaces recently. And don’t forget rag rugs – I recently saw a cool way to make round ones using a hula hoop but if the fabric pieces aren’t big enough for that, a knotted one might work better.

Any more recycling ideas?

My 12 year old daughter has just had her long long lovely hair cut off and when we got home from the hairdressers, she cleared out a big box of hair bobbles, loop bands, Alice bands, scrunchies, ribbons, all sorts of things like Claire’s Accessories threw up in a box and told me she’d “never need them again”! They’re all used as far as I know so I don’t think a charity shop would want them. Would anywhere else take them?

(Heh, shop vomit.)

Perhaps Donna’s daughter will be better keeping on top of her new ‘do but I regularly need elastics when my (supposedly short) hair gets a bit long – so if I was her, I wouldn’t throw *everything* away. An alice band and clips/barrettes are always super useful for those days when everything’s pointing in the wrong direction.

If she has a lot of them, chances are most of them will probably be in good condition – how about washing them and encouraging her to sell them at a car boot sale? You could declutter some other stuff at the same time :)

I’d yoink the ribbons for craft stuff and the little elastics that are essentially a fabric covered elastic band as useful as gentler-than-normal elastic bands – I’ve heard them used in place of elastic bands in a number of household applications, but the only one I can think of at the moment is around the bottom of bouquets — the elastic is less likely to damage the stems. Any other suggestions for that?

And what about other ways to pass on or reuse all Donna’s daughter’s hair bobbles?

The centre where I work has just rebranded and they’ve made us get rid of all the protective aprons we use for messy art classes as they had the old name on them. I think they’re PVC. Can they be recycled?

I would have thought most textile reclamation companies would accept them – because before actual recycling, they might be reusable by people less bothered about having the correct brand on them. Similarly there may be community groups in your local area that would like them – but it does, unfortunately, depend on how obsessive the organisation is about the brand stuff — I know some places are really annoyingly single-minded about that sort of thing and will send all sorts of new items to landfill to avoid any confusion about their current name/logo.

Could the aprons be adapted or repurposed so they can still be used internally? I’m imagining they’re full length aprons – if the logo is just on the top bit, could it be covered up? Or cut down to make a waist apron?

Or could the non-branded bits of the apron be upcycled into something else? Placemat-style table coverings? Might be useful for messy sessions.

Any other ideas for reusing/repurposing/upcycling them? Or actual recycling suggestions?

I do keep getting flashes of “something new would be nice”. Since the start of the challenge, I’ve regularly done exercises to “shop from my wardrobe” — sorting through my existing shirts or tops to remind myself what I’ve got, what fits, what needs repairing and mentally linking items together into outfits. But by the end of winter, I was still getting a bit bored of the few jumpers/hoodies I own (especially as the hoodies are very same-y) and now, after a warmer than expected Spring, I’m already getting a little tired of my t-shirts.

Then at the weekend, I spotted a how-to which started my mind cogs working. In that tutorial they used doilies to make cute short sleeves/shoulder accents for vest tops (aka sleeveless shirt, tank top, singlet, or camisole – the outerwear, t-shirt like version rather than underwear). I’m not sure I’m a doily type of girl but I have a number of cute (or even just plain but nice coloured) vest tops that would be made considerably more wearable with the addition of some sleeves, new straps or a little more support/coverage around the cleavage area. (I usually wear the vest tops underneath other tops or shirts to disguise these defects but when it’s warm, I don’t want to wear multiple layers.)

So I started looking around for some other vest top revamp ideas. I found some more ideas for adding mini sleeves onto vest tops; I could combine two vests – making sleeves, a length extension and a boob-cover up from one all sewn onto the other. There are also the usual ideas for hiding stains or embellishing plain tops too, to add more excitement to the festivities.

Before I go snip happy with my pinking shears, I’d love to hear more ideas though – have you revamped any vest tops into something more covering or just something fresh and new? Have you seen any how-tos or inspirational ideas?

I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s been in that situation – and there are people who buy old wool jumpers from charity/thrift/op shops purposefully to felt them and use them for crafts.

Have you ever made anything from a felted/shrunk wool jumper? Anyone got any suggestions or links to finished projects/how-tos?

And what about reuses/recycling ideas for people who aren’t crafty or confident enough to make something extravagant with them?

Or any other sob stories about accidental shrinking/felting mishaps?

The fabric is usually lighter than for t-shirts and the like, so they can lend themselves for different purposes. Hankies (like the ones I made from an old blouse a few years ago) seem an obvious idea – but you know, who doesn’t need more hankies? Finer fabric is also good for lining handmade purses or bags etc.

With their full length sleeves, old shirts make good (albeit thin) clothes-guards while painting or crafting.

If you are reusing the fabric, don’t forget to save the buttons – for mending and making purposes.

Any other ideas?

I’ve got some pretty printed slightly-stretchy cotton vest tops that have either lost their shape or don’t fit any more because they’ve done that thing where they mysteriously shrink by four inches in the wash. As I still like the patterns, I’d like to reuse them in some way and underwear seems a fun thing to try: the patterns would work well on pants and I think I could get at least one pair of boy-short knickers from each vest top.

Has anyone made their own underwear from old tops or t-shirts? And favourite how-to recommendations or hints/tips?

What about making underwear by upcycling other items of clothing? Does anything else lend to easy conversion?

What about upcycling things to make stuff other than knickers/shorts? Socks? Bras? Winter warming layers?

What can I do with an old leather jacket? It’s really dated now.

If it’s really dated, keep it – it’ll probably come back into fashion next week ;) More seriously, someone might want it for a vintage look – or for a fancy dress party – perhaps offer it to a charity shop, ideally one with a “vintage” section (or a charity shop chain that has vintage shops – like Oxfam or BHF).

Any suggestions for reuses if it’s not suitable for passing on? We’ve already covered scraps of leather and a leather/suede purse – some of the reuses/upcycling ideas for those may apply to the jacket too — make it into a purse, bag or belt, scraps can be added to glove palms or tool handles to improve grip and bigger jackets could be made into cushion covers or to cover basic storage boxes to make them more stylish. A couple of weeks ago, we also mentioned Mes Footwear – a footwear company in Newcastle, who turn old jackets into new shoes. My father-not-in-law has made numerous pairs of bellows in his time and uses scrap leather from sofas for that – would a back of a leather jacket would probably work in the same way.

Any other ideas that make particular use of it being jacket shaped now?

I just posted this on my blog, and one of my readers thought your site might be interested. They’d have be super-frugal and have a real sense of the absurd.

I had recently read about someone making no-sew cloth menstrual pads by folding cut-up facecloths and placing them inside a longer folded
facecloth. Well, I’m not about to cut up my facecloths for that. However, with two small children, I have a LOT of baby sleepers that are becoming too raggedy to wear, but are still soft and amazingly absorbent.

So I cut off legs, leaving snaps attached. Then I cut off arms. I cut the body of the sleepers up so that I had various sizes of cloth without bulky seams. It’s quite an easy matter to fold a piece of the fabric into half or thirds and tuck it inside an “arm” (gravity-held) or “leg” (snap-on style) tube. I also made one that was essentially the entire upper body of a thin sleeper, making a “belt-style” for overnight, which I safety-pinned to my underwear.

Great reuse since it really will help reduce wastage in the future.

Any other suggestions for reusing or recycling them? Particularly ideas taking advantage of their super-softness — and also often their cute patterns?

I work at a beauty salon and we just got new aprons so I collected all the old black ones and all the old polyester smocks that they were going to throw away. They were just putting them in the trash so I rescued them now what can I do with them?

Alison Bailey Smith has already suggested: “Donate to a local art project or gallery or museum that has ‘have a go days’.” which is a great idea. In the UK, you could also offer them to your local scrap store – they’ll probably be able to use them or pass them on.

The smocks they have at the hairdressers I go to always remind me of bat wings or witches’ cloaks so a couple of them could be also upcycled into a fancy dress costume. But Alison’s idea is much better if you’ve got a lot. ;)

Any other suggestions?

• Matt from Mes Footwork has been in touch to tell us about their new range of upcycled trainers: “We make shoes in Newcastle from recycled leather jackets (or any other item of clothing). The jackets are usually bought in charity shops, or people can send us their own. A cycle of recycling, giving back, ethical production and fashion.” Good to see upcycling – and ethical shoe production in the UK.
• Annette emailed to say “I have recently posted an article called How To Make A Recycled Asprin Bottle Knitting Spool. The article is a short tutorial on converting a small plastic bottle into an old fashioned knitting spool. I believe your readers may enjoy learning the technique.” I believe you guys may enjoy learning about it too ;)
• The wonderful Alison Bailey Smith is working on a new project at the moment – “de-junk, re-junk”:
  

  We are about to embark on kitchen extension which means demolishing the old 70′s utility room and gutting the kitchen, so I have been tidying and removing what I can in preparation for the building work…coincidently I was asked again by my two helpful guys seconded to Wirral Council to organise and exhibition for them (I helped with one last year) so have used my de-junking to provide materials to artists from the networking event I run “With These Hands” and wider afield in Merseyside and told them to go forth and create for the show. We plan to display the work on hollow doors and cabinets transformed into plinths etc.

  She is also currently working with the local Mayor’s office to recreate the Mayor’s chain and badge of office from recycled materials. More info and pics on her blog.

Thought of another recycle that I could use some help with!

I’ve taken some waterproof trousers, jackets and cycling gear from someone who didn’t want to just dump them in landfill. I thought there would be
loads of things I could make with them – my ideas so far are a pair of rainlegs, a pair of gaiters made from the bottom of some waterproof trousers, a rucksack cover like this, a waterproof bike saddle cover and maybe a waterproof hat.

Can anyone come up with any more ideas? And does anyone know how I can seal the seams for things which need to be really watertight?

I think we’ve talked about the watertight seam question before – but if anyone has any new suggestions, please do feel free to add them.

As for things to make out of them, if I still used my bike, I’d probably want a waterproof hat/helmet cover – with a peak at the front to protect my glasses a bit. I also like the idea of gaiters as my trousers always puddle-soak.

As it is though, I rarely have to leave the house in the rain so if the waterproofs were made from a neoprene type material, I’d probably use some of it, along with a bit of expanded polystyrene foam, to make a bath pillow – much more my speed now ;)

Other ideas?

I’m a fashion student and I am interested in doing my final project/collection using waste products! I’ve been looking for things like parachute silk with faults in (apparently over half of what they produce is waste because it has to be SO perfect!) and anything else along those lines. I’m not so interested in taking old things and making them into something new, for me it’s more about using the waste products of production.

However I’ve been really struggling to find any, do you know where I might be able to find some? I have loads of great ideas and I promise to share what I do with you :)

The first thing that comes to mind is something that I’m sure has already occurred to Karen – to contact relevant factories. While obviously a lot of manufacturing has moved offshore these days, there are still a fair few specialist factories around – or people that take offshore-made fabric and turn it into something else (for example, I can’t find it now but someone contacted me a while ago about recycling leather/pleather offcuts from making motorbike seats).

Scrap stores may be able to help too – they often work with local industry/businesses to take unwanted materials for crafty reuse/recycling and depending on the area/their links, that might include production seconds/thirds and offcuts etc.

Any other suggestions? Any specific places? I’ll contact Karen to see whereabouts she is in the country in case that makes a difference. (UPDATE: she’s replied to say: “I’m down in Brighton, so anything kinda south coast/Sussex way would be useful :)”)

From my sister in law I inherited a lot of yarn, mostly small balls of the same. I know you covered the item about the short ends of yarn and what to do with it. My question is a bit related.

A lot of the yarn is white or off-white. Not a colour I would choose for knitting a sweater for myself. And also for my kids, white is not a very
handy choice. Moreover, most of the yarn is synthetic, which I don’t really like to wear and makes it difficult to paint in a different colour.
So, my question is: What can I do with that white yarn? It is a box full of yarn (20 by 30 by 20 cm).

It’s not the right season to be thinking about it but my first thought was snowflake Christmas decorations (Mary Horesh recommended this crochet pattern on Twitter when she made them in December) – but if you used all of the yarn to make snowflakes, it would be more like a 10ft deep blizzard rather than a pretty delicate sprinkling of decorative snow ;)

Looking forward rather than back, I don’t wear white or choose to wear synthetics either but a lot of people do – and spring & summer are the months when a little white shrug or cardigan might be useful – perhaps keep some and pass the rest on to someone else via Freecycle/Freegle or Ravelry’s destash area.

Any other suggestions of patterns of things to make with it (ideally not clothes)? Or places to pass it on?

(Photo by missa88)

I have 6-8 used but still serviceable quilts and pillows and no-one seems to want them. The local homeless shelter says they don’t take donations and I’ve contacted several charities who I thought might use them (rather than selling them for recycling) but no-one is interested as they are not ‘good as new’. Even the local PDSA won’t take them for animal bedding.

Any suggestions as I’d rather they were put to good use as quilts rather than scrap.

I’m surprised that shelters for both humans and animals won’t take them, especially if they’re machine washable. Perhaps offer them on your Freecycle/Freegle group – someone on there might be happier to receive them than charities obeying “no used stuff” policies.

On our local Freegle group, people frequently as for “anything for a new home” so they might want them. There also might be people who want them to use for other things – not for their original purpose but not for fabric reclamation/recycling either – for example, using the quilts for making insulating blinds or to make mattress/pillow protectors.

Pillows can also be upcycled – they can be “squared-off” to make cushions, used for animal bedding (nesting building dogs love having a selection of pillows to dig around in), made into draught excluders/draft dodgers or bolsters, or the stuffing reclaimed for all sorts of craft projects.

Does anyone else have any other suggestions where might take USED quilts and pillows? Or have any more recycling ideas for pillows?

I’m a knitter but I can’t throw away the ends of yarn, not matter how small! I’ve got a carrier bag full of ball ends, some a couple of yards long, most less than a foot. Any ideas?

The longer pieces could be used for the inner rings of granny squares if you crochet too or mini-crafts both knitted or crocheted – if you’re on Ravelry, on the advanced search you can specify projects by yardage — I just did a search for projects using 5yards or less, and got over 400 results (including, I kid you not, a penis shaped chapstick holder!). The shorter pieces could be used for the odd few stitches of decoration such as eyes & noses on soft toys or tapestry/embroidery work. If you had lots and lots of shorter pieces, they could be used as stuffing for small toys.

Away from sewing & crafts, I used pretty yarn instead of string for tying up parcels etc and for clothes repair/enhancement – a little colour-clash darning, sewing on chunky buttons or used for adding hanging loops onto scarves/light jackets that come without them.

Any other suggestions? If you knit/crochet, what do you do with your scraps?

• I’m often amazed what fab things people can make from old toilet roll tubes and these are no exception – fake wrought iron artwork. A great idea – I’m going to make some for our porch, reflecting the curled wrought iron railings we’ve got at the front of the house. They’d make fun picture frames too if you left out the centre sections.
• Speaking of which, I love this idea for making custom photo frames from old board game boards.
• It’s a lot warmer now than it was this time last month, but we’re still all about blankets & quilts here – and this is a great how-to from Daisy Janie on how to make a quick quilt from an old fitted sheet and some contrasting thread.
• Started spring cleaning early? Turn a plastic bottle into a drain declogger to clean the bits you can’t normally reach!
• Move away from home stuff onto clothes, I love this idea from Hester Jane – patching holey knees in jeans using back pockets from another pair. So cute! (I also love Hester’s idea from the weekend for decorating plastic plant pots with strips of tree bark – I heart the centrepiece one.)
• Want to learn how to make jewellery from recycled materials and are in the north-west of the UK? I’d heartily recommend Alison Bailey Smith’s workshop on the Wirral next month.
• I love this guide to adding better shaping to a too-big/unisex t-shirt – I’ve got about half a dozen shirts that I’d wear more if they fitted better. Definitely something for my project file.
• And finally, in case you haven’t seen it, I’m restricting the amount of clothes I buy this year – no more than 12 items over the year. You want to join in the fun too?

Have you spotted any great reducing, reusing or recycling how-tos recently?

For me, it’s both a “repair this” and “reduce this” type question – how can I refresh that tired winter coat so I don’t need to buy a new one? I think it’s important that it not just so that it looks better but that I feel better about it too.

I basically have three coats for throughout the year – a light cotton hoodie (which I wear most of the year), an expensive-for-me big super-warm cotton parka type coat for freezing days, and a cheaper, shorter “wool” one which I wear when it’s not quite so cold and I need to look a bit neater than in the parka.

So how can I freshen those up?

For me, there are two main areas that get tired dirty – my cuffs and my pockets. The hoodie gets thrown into the wash regularly, hurrah for cotton. The parka & wool one aren’t as easily washable, especially mid-winter but spot-washing on the cuffs improves things a lot. As for the pockets, I treat my pockets like some women treat their handbags – a site for the accumulation of detritus. This is sometimes good (I found a fiver in my parka coat when I put it on the first time this year!) but mostly bad (crumbs of dog biscuts, bits of paper, sticky sweets). Emptying out the junk & cleaning out the crumbs and dirt from the pockets won’t make it look any better (although a lot of junk does ruin the line of the coat), but it’ll make it feel better for me and enjoy using it more.

Another thing: my wool one – it’s not 100% wool but wool-heavy and it’s that heavy woollen style – is bobbly. A bit of combing with a debobbler would make it look a lot tidier. I suspect there will also be some snags too which could be tidied up. I’m also going to debobble/de-snag my scarves, gloves & mittens for good measure.

Yet another thing: the zips on my hoodie and parka coat have been playing up recently – I could secure the bottom zip section in place with a couple of stitches and rub a little soap on the teeth to stop them snagging, and it would make zipping up a less frustrating experience.

Another, more involved thing: the lining on the wool-ish one has always bugged me – it’s icky polyester and now it’s torn a little too. I could use an old fun-patterned shirt to replace it – using the original lining as a pattern – an upcycling idea and revamp in one.

So that’s what I do/will be doing. Have you got any ideas for ways to freshen up an old coat?

(Photo by sh0dan)

Now I know I could just find some pretty fabric and whip up some mats on a sewing machine, maybe with a bit of batting/couple of extra layers of fabric in the middle to make them more heat resistant – but where’s the fun in that?

Have you made placemats by reusing/upcycling anything fun? I’d imagine old clothes are rip for upcycling since they’re just shaped fabric (for example, placemats from old t-shirts or from old jeans with cutlery pockets; I imagine felted jumpers would work too). Does anyone have any other ideas clothes recycling ideas?

And what about other ideas? John has been enjoying the patterns on logs recently – if we could take a thin slice from the ends of some pretty logs and varnish them, that might work. I’ve also got another half idea of weaving some mats using old packaging materials – some colourful card (although it would have to be at least wipe-clean), some plastic from bottles or drinks cans… Anyone done anything similar?

Would love to hear any and all ideas!

Just wondering if you have any ideas on what to do with 3 old pairs of wellies I have. They leak and I have enough planters!

We’ve covered this before but a lot of the ideas were planter-ish. So a fresh shout out – has anyone got any more reusing or recycling ideas for old wellies?

I work in food production (ready meal factory) and have to wear a hair net whenever I’m on the floor. Some staff have proper hats but the rest of us have to have single use hair nets. Management say it’s cheaper but I think it’s very wasteful. Can they be recycled?

Whenever I get hold of one of them, I keep it to reuse at home – single use, schmingle use – when having a big baking or preserving session. (I’m less bothered about having a completely sterile environment and more about keeping my hair out of my face – and my food.) But if I was getting them every day, that wouldn’t really be an option – and they’re not the sort of thing you could pass on to others.

From what I’ve read, that type of hat is typically made out of polypropylene (older style nets are sometimes nylon) so the actually recycling options are very limited to non-existent. It seems like there many be a possibility of textile reclamation but all the information I can find out it is in the US so I’m not sure if there are any companies over here. As for reuses, they’re a bit like last week’s net curtains but not as strong so not suitable for all the ideas for them – and again, if you’re using them every day, they’re quickly going to mount up so no amount of crafts can solve the problem.

I think the key thing here really is to reduce: if it’s simply a matter of cost, you may want to consider buying your own hat so at least you’re not contributing to the problem – they’re not much and I suspect if you could get some other people involved you might be able to push the price down further by bulk buying (or at least sharing out delivery costs). However, from what I’ve read, there is sometimes an issue about not taking protective clothing outside of the sterile environment so it would be worth checking what arrangements (if any) are in place for handling the existing proper hats.

Anyone got any reuse ideas? Or any suggestions on how Philip can lobby his bosses into doing the right thing and getting reusable hats?

There are lots of ways to make them reusing waste paper, scrap fabric, or random other things from around the home and garden – and they’re certainly not all just for kids.

Here are some of our favourites:

• Want to have a starry, starry night? Use twigs from the garden to make window or tree decorations. (Or if your garden is as cold & icy as ours, any other sticks will suffice – perhaps the project to use up your hoarded collection of “disposable” chopstics or lolly pop sticks?)
• If you fancy something a little shinier, make stars from old foil cake or pie tins instead.
• Or if you prefer your stars in a classy matte, how about making these Christmas fairy light shades from old brown/manila envelopes?
• Brown paper shopping bags – particularly ones with a Christmas themed print on them – can be made into decorative Christmas stockings.
• Or if you’d prefer to have fabric stockings to stuff full of treats, how about recycling a pair of old jeans for a modern look?
• Smaller scraps of old clothes or fabric can be upcycled into scrap fabric wreaths – these ones made from scraps of old felted wool clothes are just lovely.
• If you’re more of a paper person, this origami Christmas wreath could be made with coloured waste paper – envelopes from Christmas cards for example.

• Or if buttons are more your thing (mmm, buttons), you could make this fab wreath instead – if you loosely sewed the buttons onto the card, you could snip them off to reuse as buttons as you needed them for actual buttoning purposes!
• If all these are a bit too grown up for you – or you’d like a project to keep the kids busy while you’re assisting Santa, how about using wine corks to make reindeer tree decorations?
• Or if you’ve still got last year’s Christmas cards, they could use them to make a cute bunting banner.
• Finally, a couple of our favourite ideas for revamping existing decorations that are getting old or tired: I love the look of these fabric wrapped Christmas items (I’ve done a similar thing before with a single colour frogged yarn – very pleasant).
• Or, turn plain baubles into fun (angry!) characters with a little paint.