New Uses for Old Clothes

As the weather warms up, you might be tempted to straighten out your closet as you look for the deep summer wear as we did this weekend. Before you donate your old clothes to your local Council Thrift shop (a favorite of ours because of the itemized receipts that make doing our taxes a whole lot easier), you might want to consider these ideas we noted from the various magazines we went also thru this weekend...

Need a new seat cushion for a stool or bench? Weave together your old belts to form a sturdy and unique seat (via Readymade Magazine)
Easy handle. Cut slits in a box to draw a belt through and buckle it up. Glue the belt on the interior of the box to keep it sturdy (also via from Readymade Magazine)
Watch out. A variation on the belt idea from this Spring's issue of O at Home Magazine, uses old watches as drawer pulls. Lay the unbuckled watches flat out on the front of your drawer and nail them in place. A great way to display a collection with more sentimental than resale value.
Dress up your furniture: We've bloggedhow to make a sweater seat. You can also sew up the necks, tuck the arms inside, stuff the body and turn old sweaters and t-shirts into unique throw pillows. Or cut off the bottom few inches to create a stretchy band of fabric and use the band to transform your summer pillows into winter ones with this simple idea from Martha Stewart

Comments (9)

Some great ideas there! One of my favorite pieces of furniture, given to me by a family friend, sports cushions reupholstered from a 1960s full-length patchwork dress. You can see the top cushion in this photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/hambox/2703194426/.

While I appreciate these inventive uses for discarded clothing, I'm not crafty - it's the donation route for me.

What type/brand of shelving unit is in the image. I've never seen anything like it.

I'm going to make some throw pillows with some shirts and skirts.

I had a stool with a hideous vinyl cover, so I 're-upholstered' with a new but shrunken baby pink lambswool jumper. It looked adorable, but I failed to realise the wool would turn into a bobbly, pilled mess in a matter of weeks due to 'friction' from certain body parts!

I'm also curious about that shelving... anyone?

nadymadrid,

next time, if you're using a knitted wool piece for something that gets as much wear as a seat, you might try washing it in hot water & drying it first to "felt" it. it'll be less likely to pill that way (and yes, it will shrink some so take that into account).

cheers!
abby

If you are really crafty, some old clothes make really fun purses. You can felt an old sweater to make a simple tote, or cut up a flashy club shirt and make a clutch.

This is great and all, but if I had belts and clothes that were cute enough to turn into home decor, I probably wouldn't want to get rid of them in the first place!!!