Recycled fabric: Dog bed

I've been madly cleaning out boxes and closets lately.  I came across this stashed in a box in a closet- My father in Law's old hunting outfit. It's heavy, made of thick wool, and The fabric was in great shape.



I just can't see my husband ever wearing red pants for any occasion, so it was either toss it or recycle it..And then the dog curled up on it and I had a bright idea.


Our floor get a little cool during the winter, so I thought I'd cut up the pants and make a nice doggie bed for Shnicklefritz to sit on when I'm at the computer. The dog loved the idea, he seemed to understand that it was for him, and he helped me figure out exactly what size to make it.




I was getting pretty good at working around the dog, when the cats decided to see what all the fuss was about. They chased the dog off his spot and fought over it themselves.


 It is hard to measure things in the middle of a catfight, so I just made a video instead and called it entertainment. During the cat fight I decided to use an old wool skirt for the back of it..And even made use of the zipper in the skirt to leave an opening for removing or adding stuffing.

I finally did get the bed done, the animals settled on who got to sit on it, and  I remembered why I usually put the critters in the bedroom when I work on sewing projects.

Recycling T Shirts 1 : a rug

This projects started as a swap for some fabric with a friend. She wanted a rug, and I wanted her stash..So I learned to make a rug.

I started with a pile of old t shirts in bright colors, washed and dried them,and used a rotary cutter to cut into strips about an inch wide and 4 inches long:



I cut up several shirts at a time, and sorted into bags by color. I used the mesh that is used for making latch hook rugs as the base:


And used a latch hook tool to pull one end of a strip of fabric through the mesh


And then tied a knot


Trial and error proved that I didn't need to put a knot in every row, I did two rows, and skipped a row, and skipped a row diagonally as well. the t shirt material will full up space and stand straight up, giving a nice thick, fluffy rug:

Recycling silk ties 1: dress

Maybe you have a stash of silk ties in your closet, or can raid your friend's.. at worst you can buy plenty of silk ties at yard sales and thrift shops for a quarter a tie. A friend of mine made a tie skirt and I wanted to try it too.

I started with a pile of 100% silk ties and gutted them. It doesn't take long to take them apart and I had no idea what was inside.


Then toss a few ties at a time the ties into the sink , handwash with cool water and a little mild detergent. Some ties might run color, so I washed like colors together. hang over the shower rod to air dry.

Now iron flat - I used a little spray starch too, to make it easier to handle. There is a lot more material than I thought in a tie!


Then I just started stitching them together, starting from the widest end, (two rows of stitching to make it less likely to ravel). keep going until you have enough width to wrap around , and sew those end together. The bias cut of the ties will have enough stratch that most likely won't need to add a zipper.

I added a band around the top for a little extra stability, and cut off the bottom points of the ties and hemmed just a little bit.

and here it is all finished: ( yes, that is a duct tape dress form)


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