If you love to give stuff a second chance before you throw them out, you will love learning how to repurpose clothes. Clothing is easy to overload on, and knowing how to reuse them can save money and the environment.
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This is How To Repurpose Clothes
- Gather all that you are considering throwing out
- Sort them according to condition (good-as-new, visibly worn, unwearable etc)
- Arrange them according to body part (pants separate from dresses, adults separate from children)
- Reclaim the ones you still want your family to wear
- Assign other good pieces to goodwill or for your church donations
- Re-design to your heart’s (and pocket’s) content!
How Can I Reuse My Old Clothes?
No matter how much we loved it at first, or how well it once fit us, we all come to a point when an item of clothing has done its time for us.
It could be that cute outfit your baby boy was dedicated in or that dress your mom bought you for your sixteenth birthday. There comes a time when the purpose (or the emotional attachment) has gone, and we don’t want it anymore.
But you don’t necessarily want to toss it in the trash – it’s still good, and maybe your mom would feel offended…? And you know what? Maybe it isn’t even good to wear anymore and you’re looking for ways to help the environment!
It’s time to give new life to old clothes, and we’ll do it by creating something new and practical out of them!
What can we make out of clothes?
Old or unwanted clothes can be converted into a huge list of items that are fun and useful.
How To Repurpose Clothes into other garments
I have had old clothes that mysteriously stopped fitting me (yeah, right..I got fat..lol) and I was able to convert them into another type of garment.
For example, if you have a dress that doesn’t fit as a dress anymore, you can easily convert it into a skirt.
The opposite is also true, because I have had skirts that I now wear as beautiful blouses!
How about those leggings that you or your children have? Those can be re-purposed as short tights to wear under your clothing, at the beach, or for your homeschool P.E. This also applies to pants that still fit at the waste – you can cut them into shorts.
My easy method is to simply grab a pair of scissors, lay out the leggings on a bed, and cut across the legs to the new desired length. Of course, measuring would be ideal so you don’t get mismatched legs (ask me how I know!)
This method is also perfect if you want to know how to reuse old clothes without sewing.
How To Repurpose Clothes for home decoration
Depending on how fancy and floral or shiny your old clothes are, you can get away with repurposing them as home decoration.
I have seen girls’ dresses that were full of sequins and mesh and jewels and bows, so I can definitely see the value of this point.
Think Christmas and Christmas tree decorations, Fall decor, curtain ties and staircase decorations. Martha Stewart once showed how she tied a ribbon around her bottle of dishwashing liquid! You could reuse a bow from your baby girl dress to do that too!
How To Repurpose Clothes to make household items
I once used some old dresses to make new pillowcases. You could do this with minimal sewing even by hand (which I did).
There is also an old, hooded sweater my children have grown out of. From ever since the jacket was hanging around, I always imagined it could become a bag of some sort.
So, the other day, I made the bold move to hand sew the bottom of the jacket and cut a hole in the hood to convert it into a handle.
It is now my clothespin bag, and it is popping! Here are the before and after photos. Notice how the hood is now a handle, and the zipper is now a convenient way to unlock and close the bag.
We are enjoying this novelty item in our home on our laundry days!
But it doesn’t have to stop there. Some persons use old clothes to make cushion covers, quilts and cleaning cloths!
There is even the option of cutting old clothes into small strips to make cushion stuffing!
Now this one I haven’t done for my home yet, but I participated in using strips of old cloth to make a type of raggedy rug. That was way back in the day as a child in my primary school. It was one of our craft activities and members of our community would make and use them as welcome rugs or in their living rooms!
Use old clothes as menstrual cloth pads or family cloths
Eek, you say?
Breathe a little and give me two minutes to win you over.
Cloth pads are the thing. They are sooo comfortable, breathable, less toxic than their disposable counterparts, and better for the environment. Plus, they can be FREE if you use your old clothes to create them yourself.
Now there are two options for the DIY cloth pad:
- The first option is to go all out and cut and sew and make something designed to look like a pad with little clasps to attach to your underwear.
- The second option is to cut squares of various sizes out of your old clothing and fold them over like long rectangles.
Either way, you are now covered for your next period without needing to buy any pads at the grocery store.
Family cloths are small squares of cloth to replace toilet paper. They are washed (typically in a washing machine) and used over and over.
Saving money like this sounds good to me!
Upcycling Clothes for Beginners
In my journey of how to repurpose clothes I have never used a sewing machine. I am sure many other moms use a sewing machine but to this day, I still have not gotten a sewing machine for myself. (And when I do get one, I’d hope to get a traditional treadle model like this:)
But what do you do if you want to repurpose clothes and don’t have a machine?
I do hand-sewing and make what I call “convenient cuts.”
Take for instance my conversion of the baby jacket into a clothespin tote. I only sewed one part and just used a convenient cut in the hood to create the handle.
I have a small sewing kit with about 10 mini spools of thread, an assorted needle pack, a thimble, a threader, a small scissors and a measuring tape.
My point is that I am not (yet?) a sewing expert, and I am able to get some things done. If you want to repurpose old clothes, let this be your sign to start giving new life to your old clothes!
Reuse decorative parts of old clothes
It’s also a good idea to cut out zippers, buttons, bows and other decorative items for sewing projects at home. I have a growing collection of buttons and other clothing items that we use for art/craft or to repair other garments.
Whether you call it repurposing, recycling or upcycling, doing something new with your old clothes is fun, helps preserve the environment and saves you money.
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