How to Recycle Your Clothes
I stumbled upon this awesome step-by-step guide to recycling your clothes. I just had to share…
From wikiHow:
- Plan: Set aside some time to go through your closet and/or dresser and pull out anything you are tired of, hate, or never wear. Put these clothes into a pile (or a box if you are super neat).
- Organize: Pick one item at a time to recycle (or re-vamp) and find one thing you like about it. Maybe it has super fabric, a great print, or the style is awesome. If you can’t find anything good about it, put it aside for now and choose something else.
- Think Creatively: Decide if you can embellish it in some way to spice it up (paint, beads, extra fabric, trim, lengthen it, etc.) or if you can deconstruct it into something else (take off sleeves, shorten it, slash it for peek-a-boo effect with or without fabric underneath, iron on a transfer that you printed from your computer, etc). Maybe you can dye it a different color (or colors).It is probably best just to do one colour of dye though.
- Find Inspiration: Search the Internet and in magazines for inspiration and how-to’s. Some terms to do searches on are “deconstructed clothing” and “D.I.Y.” (do-it-yourself). Great sites are listed below, too, but don’t forget to look on your own – there are lots of ideas and how-to’s out there!
- Branch Out: Learn to sew, but if you’re really bad with crafty things, don’t despair! Try alternative methods like using safety pins instead of sewing, for example. You can probably get help from a friend or a relative who sews if you ask.
- Have fun!: Make something that is uniquely yours and that you just love. Then when someone gives you a compliment, or asks you where you got that amazing shirt/dress/etc., proudly say “I made it myself!”
- Accept “Defeat”: Sell or give away the items that you absolutely can’t find anything you like about them or think of anything to do with them. Or find a local, second-hand consignment clothing store, and take them there. Usually these stores give you the option of receiving cash or in-store credit for your items that sell. You will receive more in credit than you would in cash, and then when you come back to the store in a month or two, you can use your credit to get clothes you do like. If you bring in clothes to consign every time you visit the store, you will most likely have credit the next time you come in, and can establish a monthly or bi-monthly wardrobe rotation without spending any money.
- Don’t always throw out clothes that are too small; for girls, you could cut your too short trousers or jeans and make them into shorts for summer! If a top is too small and it shows off a little bit of your belly, try and cut that a bit to make it into a cool belly top!