Utilizing scraps and old garments for quilts and even for clothing was a popular practice among the pioneers.  In the early days of our country, homemakers usually either made their own fabric or recycled what they had on hand.  Rarely did they have the money to purchase new fabric from the general store.

Image: sxc.hu

Nowadays, in our stressed economy,  recycling garments has become popular once again.  Not because fabric is scarce, but because people can’t afford to purchase new.

I used fabric from old garments for quilts and for my daughter’s clothing many years ago.  It was fun to pour over the quilts and find scraps from sewing projects and family garments.

Nowadays, women are rediscovering this art of making quilts and clothing from old garments.  In addition to fabric shops being popuplar places to shop, quilters and dressmakers are pulling out the old fabrics and garments from their stashes.  They are finding these items also at thrift shops and rummage sales.

Have you utilized old garments for your sewing?

Related Posts:

Aprons in Art, Business & Memories mentions recycling clothing as aprons.

Penny Halgren’s Cutting Up Garments for Fabric gives a tutorial.

Recycling is not always so cut and dry. I’ve lived in many states and the recycling processes in each area have differed. Here’s how you can figure out the perfect recycling plan for your own area.

1. Find out what is recyclable everywhere. For example, even though we didn’t have curbside pickup for plastics in my area of New Mexico, we all know plastics are still recyclable. Make a list. If you’re not sure what’s recyclable and what’s trash, read Commonly Recycled Materials.

2. Perform a trash audit at your house. If you’re tossing recyclables, a well done (and easy) trash audit will let you know. One audit only takes about a week of your time, and in the long run will save you money on your garbage bill and help the planet. How to do your own green trash and recycling audit.

3. Set up a good recycling center in your home. I suggest placing your center in a high traffic area, but the garage or porch is good too. Ideally, you’ll want bins for each type of recycling, and if you have little ones, you’ll want to mark each bin clearly with a picture.

4. Contact your local recycling center about curbside. Your goal is to find out what they pick up and what they won’t. Many curbside programs pick up stuff that might surprise you. If you have curbside, make a note of days and times for pick-ups, and stick it to your fridge.

5. Locate a recycling center for all the stuff curbside won’t pick up. It’s highly unlikely that curbside recycling will pick up everything you need to recycle. For example, old CDs, batteries, drink boxes, wood, electronics and motor oil are good examples of things you can recycle, but not usually curbside. To locate a recycling center for almost anything, check out the resources below before you toss that item in the trash:

• Earth 911 - allows you to enter your zip and an item and a list of centers will pop up.
• Where Can I Recycle My…
• How Can I Recycle This? - AWESOME site that looks at new uses for old items. Highly reader interactive, so head over and participate.

Now you have no reason not to recycle; right!?

[image via stock.xchng]

Jason and Faye, of Rag & Bone, posted about this gorgeous wall piece that they made from book pages.  Now that’s what I call creative recycling!  There’s always something wonderful being posted or discussed on the  Rag & Bone blog, and don’t miss their Bindery either!

Today’s economic situation, more than ever, necessitates that we look for inexpensive materials for art. Also, with people concentrating on recycling, the use of materials over and over again gains significance.

Youngsters generally are fascinated with boxes and they use them for play and creating toys.  Adults find them, interesting, too, and on their own or with children find creative uses for them.

Some crafty uses for boxes, which range from jewelry containers to those huge ones encompassing appliances:

• Houses painted in exotic or realiztic colors
• Trains
• Airplanes
• Animals
• Tunnels
• Base/canvas for artwork
• Sculptures with small boxes
• Mixed media  and fabric art coverings
• Weaving

What do you do with box art?  Share with us!

Also, check out among my b5 Parenting posts:

The Charm of Imaginary Games for Kids

The Fascination of Big Boxes for Kids

Just in case you’ve got an old abandoned eye-sore in your neighborhood, and you’re sick of looking at it, you could consider doing what artist Jennifer Marsh did: create a “cosy” for it.  You know, a cosy…as in toaster cosy, teapot cosy, toilet paper cosy… Those inexplicable fabric covers that some people insist on sticking overtop of everything.

But an abandoned gas station?  Wow!  Isn’t that great?

Information on Jennifer’s Gas Station Project can be found on the International Fiber Collaborative Website, along with information on Jennifer’s other projects.  She writes, Participants crocheted, knitted, stitched, patched, or collaged 3 foot square fiber panels that expressed each participants concern about the topic. Simply by designing and creating these panels and participating in this project, they were expressing their concern about this important subject to all nations. All of the panels were then sewn together to completely cover an abandoned gas station in central New York State.”

Image: Jennifer Marsh

What a great way to honor your old record collection!  And if you’re into retro colors and style, that’s an added bonus with this terrific project by Paper and Stitch.

The really great thing to me about this project is that these covers are so easy to come by at garage sales, flea markets, and thrift stores…and since the records themselves are usually scratched, the covers are just heading for the landfill.

All the how tos are found at the link above.

Since I posted earlier 5 Ways to Recycle your Easter Basket, I’ve since decided to show you 5 ways my children are reusing their baskets. Keep in mind these are children with some very active imaginations and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

IMG: Sxc.hu

An Umbrella- Yes, the girls were walking around in circles in the living room with their umbrellas, errr I mean Easter Baskets on their heads. When I asked them what they were doing. “It’s raining mom, we can’t get wet, these are our umbrellas.” Of course, seeing this display Little A decided to follow along.

Purses and a Catwalk- Once again, these girls can put on a show and about an hour after seeing the “Umbrella” I was introduced to a fashion show. The girls walked the invisible catwalk with baskets and bunnies in hand and parade around showing off their lovely flocks. BalletGirl (age was even announcing what each one wore. Very cute.

Easter Egg Hunt- Just because they found all their easter eggs first thing in the morning didn’t mean the fun stopped there. The girls and boys all went on their own easter egg hunt with each other. One would hide and the others would find. I remember doing this with my sister when we were younger. Oh the memories.

Doll Transportation- The girls have been using their baskets as if they were planes, trains, cars and flying carpets for their Barbie dolls.

Grocery basket- The kids love playing store and these Easter Baskets really helped them stock up on their favorite pretend items today.

What are some creative ways your children played with their Easter Baskets?

Are you working on any Earth Day related projects, either quilts, fabric art, tote bags and other items?

If you’re talking about recycling and reusing fabric to make your quilts, then our ancestors of days ago were right in style as they reworked worn clothing, cutting up items they could no longer use for the original purpose.  They were into Earth Day projects and never knew it.

Image: flaivoloka

Today, quilts are made from recycled fabric and leftover scraps from other projects.  Also, quilters and fabric artists create items, such as tote bags and grocery totes with recycling and earth symbols.

Another project involves quilters each contributing a square toward an Earth Day quilt.  In this case, youngsters in grades 4-7, are entering an Earth Day quilt block into a contest.

Terri Power, at Morning Earth, has a fascinating way to create an Earth Quilt. This isn’t made of fabric, but of actual natural earth materials placed into like containers.  Then the containers are assembled into a quilt like pattern, as the youngsters learn about earth and its components.

Norma Bradley, a multi media artist, creates both fabric quilts and earth quilts.  Both of these involve nature and natural images.  Fascinating!.

Do you have any Earth Day quilting and fabric art projects under way?

Happy New Year everyone.

I hope that unlike me the the first day of 2007 finds you healthy and raring to go. I, or rather we, have a nasty strain of the flu.

Hubby and I have caught this thing at exactly the same time, are experiencing the exact same symptoms, and are both certainly NOT raring to go.

However, I have noticed slight differences in what that actually means for a man vs. a woman (the weaker sex).

Especially when it comes to certain household chores.

Case in point: the other night we were both ready to do nothing but fold ourselves under a toasty quilt for the evening…BUT… Read more