Our 2010 round-up of our favourite ideas for making upcycled/recycled Christmas decorations has been very popular this year and I hope it’s provided lots of people with lots of inspiration – but if you’ve still got a little space to fill before the weekend, here are some more last minute ideas:

Paper wreaths have been very popular over the last couple of years but I love this one from EcoEmpire because, aside from staples, it’s entirely made from reusing household waste – newspaper, cereal boxes and a little scrap of ribbon (Kat suggests the loops from clothes – I’ve got a drawer full of those!)

Sticking with paper crafts, I also love these paper ball ornaments – either as individual baubles or strung together into a garland. I also love the idea of using foil packaging to make silver or otherwise shiny ones.

These letter ornaments, decorated with scraps from old sweaters, would also work well on their own or as part of a garland spelling out a holiday greeting/special word. “Merry Christmas” if you’ve got a lot of scraps, “joy” if you haven’t ;)

If you prefer your decorations a little more natural, these mini Christmas trees made from twigs are just fab – a simple idea but really nicely executed.

The Crafty Green Poet also reminded me that you don’t have to just use special Christmas ornaments on your tree – any ornaments or little items that don’t usually see the light of day can be hung up on there – even earrings on smaller trees for a little sparkle/bead-y delight.

Finally, Deb/Urbanwide sent me this fun Nativity scene idea: the whole Nativity crew painted on champagne corks. Perfect if little ones want to play with the scene – although if you want one for this year, you’ll have to get working on drinking all the champagne ASAP ;) (A slightly healthier alternative – but one that needs nearly as much forethought – is to use Actimel bottles for the bodies instead.)

Anyone else got any fun recycled Christmas decoration makes or discoveries to share?

(Photos © EcoEmpire & MicheleMadeMe respectively)

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?

There just has to be something I can do with this……it’s way too big to toss!

Ironing..? board..? what is this thing of which you speak? You mean some people don’t have perpetually creased clothes? Amazing! :D

We do have an ironing board but it gets used more for stuff like fusing plastic than it does for actual clothes — if I had a spare or old ironing board cover, I’d keep one for potentially leaky crafts like melting plastic and one for clothes.

As for repurposing it, if it’s a fabric one with a quilted/heavily padded section, could it be made into an oven mitt? I’d imagine they’d have similar heat absorbing qualities. At one time my mum had a thinner silvery one – could that be used for lining/insulating a lunch cool bag? Would that work?

Any other ideas or suggestions?

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?

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?

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?

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?

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?

First up, Vernon got into touch to tell us about his plastic bottle creations. He says he’s been making them for 15 years and sent me pictures of a wind twirler and a flower made from old bottles – but this bird was my favourite – such a fun character!


And speaking of creative characters, Mario Caicedo Lange sent us a link to his Flickr account featuring the “arts, props and crafts” he’s made from recycled materials. He makes little robot style creatures – with many of his recent onesdoubling up as plant pots!


Next, Malcolm was in touch to tell us about Juzi jewellery – chunky beads made from recycled magazines by two self-supporting cooperatives in Kenya. Turning colourful magazines paper into beads is a fun way to recycle them yourself – but if you’re not a crafty sort, then this seems a great way to get the look and help others at the same time.


Agy on Green Issues Singaporeemailed to say she’d created two new lampshades – one from an old tshirt, the other from an old computer keyboard. Two very different looks but both fun!

Thanks for all the emails guys!

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 :)”)

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?

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.

I’m guessing everyone in the northern hemisphere is waving at their computers right now. It’s pretty brr.

On my frugal/cooking/growing blog The Really Good Life, I’ve written about the five frugal ways I’ll be keeping warm this winter – but one thing I missed off is the list is draught excluders (aka draft dodgers).

I used to have a black fun fur one – which matched our black real fur cats – but it was in the days when the cats were more territorial … and amorous. I’ll let you finish that lovely story yourself. Last year, after we’d just moved into our new house, there were so many draughts and bits of bad insulation that draft excluders seemed pointless so I didn’t bother. This year though, game on!

So what have you made them from? Recycle This regular BookstoreBabe made some from her daughter’s old heavy patterned tights and rag-bag stuffing – but warned that they stretch! I’ve also heard of people making them from old woolly jumper sleeves or trouser legs – just sew up the ends and stuff.

I imagine the duvets from the other day would do the job too without any sewing or cutting need – just tied into a roll. And don’t forget, it’s not won’t be sitting on it, so it doesn’t need to be stuffed with soft filling like a cushion or pillow – you can use newspaper, carrier bags or stuff like polystyrene foam peanuts — anything to provide a bit of bulk.

Have you made your own? What did you use? Send pics/links if you’ve got them!

We’ve got loads of net curtains from the days before we all realised they were naff! They’re chintzy and are nylon or polyester or something. Do you have any recycling ideas?

If they’re still in good condition, you could try passing them on – ask on Freecycle/Freegle or ask a charity shop if they’ll take them (a charity shop with a lot of furniture or a furniture specific charity would probably be best, if there is one near you). Most charity shops have a “rag man” for items they accept but can’t sell – so if they can’t sell them, at least they’d get into the textile reclamation cycle that way.

If they’re not in good enough condition to be passed on – and a wash doesn’t revive them enough, the better condition parts maybe be suitable for reusing or upcycling.

Lee Meredeith – aka Leethal – used lacework doilies as stencils for decorating plain picture frames for her wedding — if there are parts of the net curtain with a nice design, they could be used for something like that. I think I’ve seen a similar method used to decorate clear jam jars recently – making them into shabby chic candle/tealight holders.

Or if there are any focus-point designs, you could cut those out and use them as doilies for other craft projects – if there isn’t enough of the real thing outside where you are, these snowflake doilies are a fun festive window decoration. Sticking with the fabric stiffening idea, these bowls are fun too.

Any other suggestions?

I was thinking about duvets last week – not just because I spent much of Thursday wrapped up in one and the rest of the week wishing I was wrapped up in one, but also because I saw this insulating blind tutorial. Admittedly, it’s for a quilted throw more than a duvet but a summer weight duvet would work in a similar way.

Duvets in good, clean condition can be given to charity shops/thrift shops or shelters/refuges to be reused as duvets.

Ones in less good condition can be turned into other bedding such as mattress protectors/under-blankets or pillow protectors.

Any ideas on how to recycling?

Our church hall has accrued dozens and dozens of tea towels over the years, I don’t know where they come from. We usually tear the tatty ones in half and use them for cleaning rags but I was wondering if you had any ideas for other things we could do with them. Some of us are good at sewing so could make things with them for our jumble sale.

If it’s a straight-up surplus of good condition towels, I’m sure there would be local shelters/re-homing community groups who would love a bulk donation – either for use in their own kitchens or to be give out to those in need of even though most basic household supplies.

If they’re too tatty for donating, the decent parts of the fabric can be upcycled in a number of ways – I’ve seen aprons made from cute dish towels, cafe-style curtains/blinds for kitchens, baby bibs (especially if the towels are super soft from frequent washing) or quilt-style hot pad tablemats using a few different towels.

Finally, if they’re far too tatty for any of that, they do make great dishclothes/cleaning rags and can be shredded to be stuffing for small toys or the like.

Any other recycling ideas? Practical as well as creative crafty ones?

Now is the perfect time to do the latter because charity shops, shelters and other related charities need clothing in good time before winter properly kicks in – they need to time to sort and distribute them etc. I urge everyone to have a look through their wardrobes and see if there is anything that could be used more productively by someone else. And it’s not just jumpers or cardigans – scarves, hats & gloves are all very useful and in high demand too.

When possible, passing on items for reuse by others is always the best option — but what if they’re not they’re not in a suitable condition for passing on? Or if they’ve got sentimental appeal (such as they were made by a loved one)? What can be done with them then?

If part of the scarf is damaged/stained, the rest of it could salvaged to reuse as any flat knitted fabric – cute tote bag, cushion cover, nappy/diaper cover – and if it’s got a decent quantity of wool in it, it could be felted opening up more options (oven gloves/hot pads, wrist warmers, even cute tote bag).

Any other upcycling ideas?

Hi, I have an old leather zipped wallet type purse which is old, worn and quite grubby. I would rather recycle it somehow than put it in the bin but am not sure how to do this. Do you have any ideas?

First, it obviously depends on the state of the item but it might benefit from a makeover. Trying cleaning and polishing the leather, or if it’s suede (as Joanne suggested in her email’s subject line), you can get suede cleaning tools for just a couple of £/$s — they’re obviously good for maintaining all sorts of suede items, they don’t make them spotless but they can improve them a lot. Any other ideas for makeover/upcycling suggestions?

If it’s too far gone for that, the leather might be reclaimable for craft projects – including ones that’ll benefit from a “distressed” look to the leather. The suggestions given on our post about recycling leather/suede from an old sofa might need more leather than a small purse would provide but there still might be enough to make small things with — a larger handbag might have enough good quality leather to make a smaller coin purse. Or it could be used to make small art artefacts – like these cool leather scrap mushrooms.

Any other suggestions?

(I’ve used a stock photo, not Joanne’s actual purse so don’t feel restricted based on the photo – just think old leather purses/bags in general.)

As I’ve just started spinning wool/yarn, the idea of a full fleece was appealing but also somewhat overwhelming – we said we’d take them if he’d been lumbered with them but otherwise it would be probably best to pass them onto someone else. Aside from spinning, we couldn’t really think of anything to do with them – then he suggested I ask on here for other uses.

We’ve covered man-made fleece jackets on here before but not the from-a-sheep variety. Apparently some people wash them and use them for insulation but there is a problem with moth-attacks.

What else can be done with them?

• I love this simple but cute idea for baked gifts – using an old food can as a baking container and gift packaging in one. I first thought it was biscuits/cookies in the can – it would work well for those too, protecting them from getting crushed.
• These lamps from old piping are great – straddling the line between being industrial and looking like strange bulb-headed creatures!
• Notes from the Frugal Trenches is part way through a “100 Simple Ways to Save” round-up – lots of great ideas that aren’t just frugal, they encourage reducing too (part one; part two; part three; part four)
• As someone currently seeking out baskets, this basket from blue jeans tutorial is definitely going on my to-try list.
• Finally, check out this table runner make by fixing together old doilies – very pretty work.

(Photo by ChasingFireflies)

What can I do with my old Birkenstock sandals? They’re a combo of rubbery foam soles, cork footbed, and leather straps. Because they take the shape of my feet, I doubt they’d be good hand-me-downs, but I hate to toss them.

Birkenstock has a page about their green production/distribution policies and advice on repairing/maintenance suggestions to prolong the life of the sandals. Birkenstock USA also links to shoe redistribution charity Soles4Souls.

Depending on which bit of orangeterra’s sandals has give way, they might benefit from a little repair – get a few more months out of them with new soles – or if the sole is good but the rest ruined/broken, they might be suitable for turning into slippers.

Any other suggestions? Or recycling links?

• Craftzine linked to Christopher Paul’s painted plates – giving chintzy old plates a new lease of life (presumably just as artwork but still). A very fun idea!
• The Greenists ran a tutorial by Mudnessa on turning wide leg jeans into skinny ones – perfect if you fancy a change.
• Alison pointed us in the direction of this news story about the Deepwater Horizon oil spill – how hairdressers and transvestites are recycling stuff together to help soak up the oil
• Leo sent us an email to alert us to the RSPB’s second-hand binocular collection scheme – if you’ve got any old binoculars, telescopes or tripods lying around your house, you can donate them to the RSPB and they’ll use them in a conservation or educational project.
• And Joris sent us an email about Gumdropbins – fun bins to collect chewing gum – which are made from old chewing gum.
• It should be a bit late in the year for this type of thing but since the heating’s off & I’m thinking summery thoughts, the nights can still get pretty chilly – and that’s when hot water bottles with super snuggy recycled covers are just perfect.
• Finally, Alex from Just Cook It has been blogging about cooking with nettles recently – and the recipes sound fantastic. A great way to “reuse” those weeds from the garden!

Despite our love of slumber, our last bed was awful – the cheapest double I could find when I needed a bed in a hurry back in 2002. It was small, uncomfortable and had been repaired so many times, I think by the end it was made out entirely of glue and hope, not badly laminated wood.

When we moved here, we decided to do things right – after looking at the options in all the big bed shops and online, we ended up commissioning a local furniture maker to make us a bed frame instead*. He made it out of reclaimed wood (yay recycling!) and to a chunky design of our choosing. When he came to assemble it, he gave us a little tool which we might have to use to tighten some bolts — in twenty years time. It’s the best, most solid bed I’ve ever met and we’re very happy with it.

Why am I telling this story in a post about sheets & bed linen? Well, because we decided that after getting the bed frame right, we were going to get the rest of our bed experience spot on too. Like with the bed itself, we decided to buy good quality items that would last us for years and years, instead of cheap things that would fall apart – a key part of “reducing”. I spent ages tracking down & more money than I would normally do on bed linen to get top quality 100% cotton duvet covers. And you know what? Both have ripped already.

We think one of them got ripped on our cat Carbon’s last day – sadly, I can imagine him using the duvet to claw his way onto the bed, or using his claws to drag himself around the space once he was up there. There is a straight tear in it about four inches long, and some smaller tears & L-shaped tears in other spots too. The other duvet cover? I’ve no idea how that got ripped. I just found an L-shaped tear in it – about four inches on either side – when I was washing it the other day. Whatever happened though, it needs fixing.

So what is the best way to repair these supposed-to-last-years duvet covers? Will something like iron-on mending tape work? Or would good old-fashioned sewing be better – and if so, any stitch/method recommendations? Or would patching them be a better route in the long run? Any advice on doing that neatly and smoothly?

Any other suggestions?

(Photo by uvo_design)

Does anyone know how I can recycle man-made fabrics that are beyond wearing, not appropriate for ‘rag’ etc. People have suggested charity shops, but they wouldn’t want such items. Council 3rd world bins ask for only wearable clothes, so this is becoming a problem. I buy all second hand clothes but have to avoid wool as I am married to a staunch vegan.

As I replied to the comment, I think it depends on the item of clothing/type of fabric – a man-made fleece jacket is going to have different reuses to a viscose camisole or nylon tights. From Lynette’s mention of wool, I’m guessing she’s thinking about fake woollies – polyester or acrylic jumpers/cardigans and coats etc.

If the fabric is a reasonably heavy weight, a lot of the insulating ideas for fleeces would apply. If you’re handy with a needle & thread then you might be able to upcycle the decent parts of the garment into something else – a smaller version of the clothes for a child or a dog.

I also wouldn’t be too sure about charity shops not wanting them – talk to the staff (the stock sorting staff, not necessarily the counter staff) at your local shop and see if they collect items for a “rag man” — textile reclamation companies often have deals with charity shops to take their scraps, and pay the charity shop some money based on weight. Clothes and items not fit for reuse in their current state can be shredded to use as filling, or depending on the fabric, the fibres reclaimed and respun.

Any other suggestions?

I managed to flick bleach all over one of my favourite t-shirts but I’m not quite ready to give up on it just yet. The shirt has a printed design on it so I can’t bleach and re-dye the whole shirt.

Googling around, I’ve seen some suggestions of disguising the pale dots with permanent marker – the shirt is brown though so I don’t know if I’ll find a pen to match.

The design is a bright cartoon design so I might get away with adding some “noise” to the picture with fabric paint or reverse/normal appliqué.

Failing all that, I guess I could make something else with the fabric/design or since it fits well, take it apart to make a pattern to use to make my own fitted t-shirts in the future. I’d really like to keep it as a tshirt though – any other suggestions?

I love your site and am always on there looking up new ideas. You have me rescuing other people’s umbrella’s from bins and saving all sorts of stuff that I previously would have thrown away. And sometimes I add my ideas but this time I am stumped.

Someone (knowing I like to reuse things) gave me a bag of yellowed cloth napkins. Some have the odd spot on that looks like the napkin served it’s duty but most just seem to have turned yellow all over. How can I reuse them? I could use them for rags but I save lots of other scraps for that. They are a sort of damask satiny material so not sure if they would dye? Could I bleach them? Would love to hear any ideas you have for reusing them.

The bleaching/dyeing question depends on what type of fabric they are – it’s best for napkins to be cotton to allow for furious washing/boiling out stains but of course that doesn’t mean that they all are. How Stuff Works has a pretty comprehensive guide to removing yellow stains from fabric but again, it depends on what type of fabric it is. Apparently the best way to identify fabric is to see how they burn – while it might be worth burning one to allow you to work with the rest, does anyone have any less destructive suggestions for finding out what fabric they are?

Any suggestions for reusing them – as things other than rags – in their current condition? I imagine the yellow is not uniform enough to pretend they’re supposed to be that colour – but any suggestions where the colour doesn’t matter?

(Oh and off topic but what the hey, frequent commenter and friend of Recycle This, Three Beautiful Things‘s Clare got married on Saturday – congrats to Clare & Nick, and I hope you have a wonderful life together. :))

I think I got into “buy them cheap when you see them” habits as a teenager when I didn’t have a lot of money and there wasn’t quite as many cheap clothes around as there is now (those quaint days before Primark and £4 supermarket jeans) – I’d always wear black vest tops, for example, so I might as well snap them up when they’re in the sale whether I need them at that exact moment or not. That habit stuck even when I started working and had a bit more money because, well, it’s a bargain, isn’t it? who can refuse a bargain? plus, I’d still wear that black vest top at some point. Once I’d got through the other 30 in my bedroom drawer of course.

Even knowing all those things I know about why I shouldn’t buy cheap clothes AND having a wardrobe packed full of previous purchases, I still have the desire to buy things. If I’d just ambling about a town centre, I find it really difficult to walk past a red “SALE!!” sign without at least ducking in to see what’s on offer. It’s horrible, an addiction. The funny/depressing thing is I don’t really like fashion – I don’t crush on works-of-art shoes or this season’s must-have skirt, I nearly always buy the same dull stuff – I have many, many coloured tshirts/vest tops, at least half a dozen horizontal-striped hoodies and at least ten black cotton shirts.

So I have a problem. I realised this properly a few years ago and I’ve been working on ways to manage it since then. When I stopped commuting to work every day via the city centre in 2006, my access to shops and those alluring “SALE!!” signs dropped back dramatically and that helped a bit. Every time I visited the mini-high street near my (old) house though, I ended up in the charity shops up there and I felt I had to “make the most” of my now occasional visits to the city…

More recently, I’ve been internalising some personal rules to make me stop and think before buying: I won’t buy something unless it’s at least 50% natural fibres (although in practice, I’m actually stricter – going for only stuff that’s a minimum of 80%, usually 100% natural fibres) and I *must* try it on before buying it. (I never used to try things on because I couldn’t be bothered waiting in the queues at changing rooms and always thought “well, I can just take it back if it doesn’t fit” – although I never did take stuff back, charity shops got a lot of brand-new-with-tags items from me…) These rules slow me down and make me think about things while still letting me get that “I got to check the sale rack” satisfaction.

Do you have any similar personal guidelines when it comes to shopping? Since price and quality have become somewhat detached these days, how do you decide what to – and what not – to buy?

Do you have any other advice to help me with my (I suspect not uncommon) problem? I’m worried that if I “just say no” and stop buying clothes cold-turkey that I’ll displace my buying urges from clothes onto something else – craft supplies or books for example – so I’m ideally looking for ways to deal with it rather than just plain avoidance of all shopping outlets (particularly since eBay is only ever a click away…)

• More and more people seem to be using the patterns from security envelopes for crafts these days – check out these kitchen roll tube & security envelope napkin holders by maya*made.
• Lindsey from SwirlyArts also uses them for gift tags and Design*sponge have turned them inside out for use as better-than-boring-white envelopes.
• Moving onto more fabricky pursuits, CraftyNest have a follow-up tutorial making headbags from the band of fabric leftover from making tank top totes.
• Speaking of using things efficiently, I like how Sadge at Firesign Farm‘s pillowcase-into-an-apron tutorial uses up every bit of the pillowcase, and little else.