CHALLENGE 30 – Thrifty Fabrics Up-cycle
4 Uses for Old Fabrics
The goal of challenge #30:
- Find ways of re-using old fabrics
- Up-cycle old jeans, curtains and T-shirts
- Supporting Sustainable Development Goal 12; Ensure sustainable consumption & production patterns.
A New Lease of Life
It is mid April 2020 and like everyone else, I have been spending a whole lot more time at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I am someone who LOVES spending time with people so the lack of social contact has been really tough, yet plenty of positives have still presented themselves.
The constrains on social public activities means I have had a lot more time to amuse myself at home which has awakened the creative side in me, one that usually doesn’t have a chance when I am out and about. I certainly enjoy getting hands on and making things, hence a few DIY posts over the weeks. Also, we moved at the end of 2019 and now Spring is here, it is the perfect time to get our lovely new balcony blossoming.
Since starting my Better Me Green endeavours, I notice that I am much more resourceful! Rather than throwing things out that have come to the end of their life as the product they are, I have been quite surprised at amount of ways I have been able to give things a new lease of life at home, rather than sending them to recycling banks.
Time to Get Creative
This week I am presenting you with 4 fun and practical ways of using fabrics that I found knocking around.
Old Jeans to Quirky Plant Pots
I still had the lower leg sections of my old jeans floating about after making my denim skirt for challenge #27 and decided to make them in to fun and flexible plant pots.
Step 1 – I cut each leg in half, as I wanted to have relatively short pots of about 20-30cms.
Step 2 – Turn them inside out and sew the bottom together about 1cm from the edge. When doing this, I also added a plastic lining with some plastic sheet we had in the cellar. This is to help hold a little bit more water in to keep the soil moist for longer.
Step 3 – Turn the fabric back the right way, add soil and your plant. Taaa Daaa 🤗
Grandmas Curtains to Practical Plant Box Liner
I hope to grow some veggies and herbs on the balcony over Summer so had a couple of wooden planting boxes which first needed to be lined to stop the soil falling out. During the process of clearing the cellar we came across some curtains that were very unlikely ever to be hung again – you will see why!
Step 1 – Roughly line the planting box with the curtains and cut as necessary.
Step 2 – Nail or staple the curtains just around the rim, and if necessary where the fabric has been overlapped to avoid gaps. (Optional) Line the bottom with a bit of plastic to hold the moisture, but add some holes for drainage.
Step 3 – Add your soil and plants and you are done! 💪
Old T-shirts to Cleaning Cloths
I usually give my clothes to clothing banks or charity shops if they are in good enough shape, but Dennis had a few old shirts that were past wearing and made of 100% cotton. As we were in need of a few extra dusting & polishing clothes they would do the job nicely.
Step 1 – and you are done – Cut the shirt in to the desired size cloth and away you go. I remember my mum always used to do this and I thought it was completely odd. Given what I know now and the fact that most cloths on the market are bad quality material and probably made in factories with poor or even dangerous working standards, this seems like a good second-life solution.
Old T-shirts to DIY Face Mask
Finally a little COVID-19 creativity with the temporary compulsory face-mask rule coming in to place on Monday 27th April 2020 in Germany. I made it using two pieces of another old cotton T-shirt, with the ear straps being from the inside ‘hanging-ribbons’ that lots of tops and dresses come with (I always cut these out and usually use them for gift wrapping ☺️). My little creation here was quite an improvisation, so rather than give instructions, I have added a couple of links below:
- Starting with a more official site for important background information: Centers for Dieses Control and Prevention – Use of Cloth Face Coverings to Help Slow the Spread of COVID-19
- One with a little hand stitching only: Crafty Daily – Make Fabric Face Mask at home | DIY Face Mask No Sewing Machine
- Extra simple version with no sewing – Tristinstyling – DIY NO SEW Face Mask | Just t-shirt & scissors
Thanks for reading
Your Better Me Greener
Charlotte
