I really hate getting rid of clothes… you could go so far as to say that I am a clothing hoarder. During our Spring cleaning this year, I decided that I would finally get rid of things I wasn’t wearing anymore {yes, even things I still had from high school}. But what made purging my closet a little bit more bearable was the thought of recycling some of my most cherished childhood memories in the form of clothing into other things… even though I may not be wearing my favorite clothes {or what used to be} anymore, instead of getting rid of them altogether, I have found some creative ways to re-purpose them into things I will put to good use while still keeping those memories alive!
Here are 10 simple projects to recycle some of your old clothes:
{click each image to enlarge}
1. Simple Summer Headscarf
2. Rolled Flowers
1. Gather supplies: old t-shirt, sheet of felt, scissors, and glue gun.
2. Cut a 1 inch wide strip of fabric horizontally from a t-shirt and tie a knot at one end.
3. Fold strip of material in half and wrap twice around your knot and glue in place.
4. Then, twist and wrap fabric around center, gluing every half turn.
5. Keep twisting and wrapping and gluing.
6. When you have wrapped all of your fabric, glue the end of the fabric to the bottom of the flower.
7. Glue bottom of flower to felt.
8. Cut around the base of the flower so that none of the felt is visible.
You can use your flower to decorate an outfit in the form of a brooch, necklace, hat or your home by accessorizing a pillow, wreath, gift or anything else you can think of!
3. Sweater Cowl Scarf
1. Gather supplies: an old sweater, scissors, and hemming tape.
2. Cut the sweater horizontally right underneath the arms and discard top half.
3. Hem rough edge of the bottom half of sweater with hemming tape.
4. Slip the scarf over your neck and it’s is ready to wear!
4. Ruffled Scarf
1. Gather supplies: old clothing {I used hubs old linen pants}, large and small plate, scissors, and thread.
2. Trace four large circles and two smaller circles on one side of your clothing.
3. Cut out circles through both thicknesses {both sides of pants in this case}… you will end up with 8 large circles and 4 small circles.
4. Cutting though both thicknesses, cut each circle into a spiral… no template needed, just freehand it!
5. Uncoil all of your circles and divide into two sections, making sure 4 large circles and 2 small circles are on each side.
6. Attach the top end of each section together using a sewing machine or needle and thread.
Here are some fun ways to wear your ruffled scarf:
1. Simply let the scarf hang around your neck
2. Drape scarf using a brooch
3. Tightly wrap around neck
4. Loosely wrap around neck
One Shirt, Four Accessories
5. T-Shirt Necklace
1. Gather materials: old t-shit {seamless works best} and scissors.
2. Cut off the bottom hem of shirt and then cut 1 inch wide strips horizontally across the shirt {I wanted to use both the orange and the grey so my strips were a lot smaller than 1 inch}.
3. You will now have several strips of fabric, still connected on the ends. Stretch strips so that the raw edges roll inwards and tie together using the bottom hem or scrap fabric.
4. Trim the loose ends and tuck knot underneath the wrapped fabric.
6. Fabric Covered Beads
1. Gather materials: old t-shirt, fan chain, scissors, and thread.
2. Cut the fan chain to the size of your wrist.
3. Place a strip of fabric on a table and lay the chain on top of the fabric. Using thread, tie fabric in between each length of chain.
4. Knot thread to secure fabric at the end of your beads and trim off excess fabric between each length.
7. Braided Bracelets
1.Gather materials: old t-shirt, colorful rattail cord, and scissors.
2. Cut three 1 inch strips of fabric from t-shirt and stretch them so the raw edges begin to curl. Cut three matching lengths of cord.
3. Add a strand of cord to each strip of t-shirt, secure with tape on one end, and start braiding. When you reach the end of your strips, tie a knot around each end to secure.
4. Tie one end to the other end and double knot. Slip them around your wrist and you are ready to go!
8. Braided Workout Headband
1. Gather materials: old t-shirt and scissors.
2. Cut off the bottom hem of shirt, and then cut five 1 inch wide strips horizontally across the shirt.
3. Stretch the strips until they become long and the raw edges start to roll inward.
4. Cut the five strands in half so that they become long strands instead of circles.
5. Gather strands and secure them onto a hard surface with tape.
6. Take the outside left strand and place it one over to the right.
7. Take the middle strand and place it one over to the left.
8. Take the middle strand and place it one over to the right.
9. Take the outside left strand and place it one over to the right.
10. Take the middle strand and place it one over to the left.
11. Take the outside strand and place it one over to the left.
12. Take the middle strand and place it one over to the right.
13. Once you have finished braiding, trim the headband to fit your head, leaving enough at the ends for knotting.
14. Start by double knotting one strand from each end of the braid together.
15. Match each end with another strand from opposite side and double knot.
16. Trim the ends.
9. Workout Tank
1. Gather materials: old t-shirt and scissors.
2. Cut away the bottom hem and ribbed neckline. For the sleeves, cut downwards starting from shoulder and then begin to curve down below the armpit seam.
3. Cut neckline according to how low you want it.
4. Flip the shirt over and make a narrow racerback, curving inward from the armpits. The cut a “V” shape from the top neckline.
5. Using bottom hemline, stretch it out until it becomes one long string of fabric. Knot the string a couple of inches above the bottom of the “V” shape.
6. Wrap the string all the way down the center of the racerback, and back up again to meet the other end. Now tie the ends together tightly and trim excess.
10. Doggie Chew Toy
1. Gather materials: old clothing of some sort and scissors.
2. Cut 10 strips of each colored fabric.
3. Alternating colors, lay strips together in one bundle.
4. Using an extra strand of fabric, tie a double knot around one end of the strips, leaving several inches on the end. Separate strands into three sections and start braiding. Once you are near the end of your strips, tie another double knot using an extra strand of fabric.
And now here are a few pictures of my sweet little girl modeling her new toy {I just couldn’t resist}.
I hope you enjoy these unique and fun ways to reuse and recycle your old and outdated clothing. Next time you are considering throwing out your old stuff, think about how you might re-purpose it into something else. These creative and easy projects not only give you a reason to make room in your closet, but they also allow you to hang on to some of those memories that you can’t quite seem to part with just yet.
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