Found Treasures
Anyone who sews has been mourning the loss of the last national fabric store chain, JoAnn. Granted, JoAnn had made the decision to cut back on actual fabrics and add more Michaels or Hobby Lobby type craft and decor products, but they still offered a good variety of fabric and sewing supplies. Their liquidation leaves us with what few independent shops there are and online shops. This is a good time to go back to the really old ways of doing things which is to make use of what you have at hand.
Remember Scarlett O’Hara making a dress out of the green velvet “portieres?” Well, there is an Instagram account called “Curtains to Couture!” It is mostly English women and they make clothing out of all sorts of found fabric, including old drapes and curtains. They also re-fashion and mend thrifted garments along with doing “visible mending” or other kinds of embellishment. The results are very unique, one-of-a-kind clothing that expresses the creativity and personality of the maker—and I love it!
I have started doing a little creative re-use, too. Lately I have used sheets to line drapes, used the offcuts of some pants I hemmed to make a button tab on my husband’s pants, have been felting wool sweaters I have bought or made with the intention of making bags or other small items out of them, and have a linen sheet that got thin in a couple of places that will be made into a nightgown soon. Oh, a couple of years ago I made an old linen blouse I had into a dress for my granddaughter.
I have seen people create yarn by unraveling thrifted sweaters and by linking together loops cut from old T-shirts. Did you know you can create yarn from plastic grocery sack loops, too? That yarn makes great crocheted scrubbers, for example. I have re-worked some thrifted sweaters by raveling out sleeves until they are the right length for me then knitting new cuffs, or by taking the ribbing off the bottom and knitting a hemmed finish instead—I hate snug ribbing at the bottom of sweaters and sweatshirts!
Using up even small bits of textiles and turning them into something useful, wearable, or even beautiful has given me a whole new outlet for my creativity. At the same time, I love knowing I am doing a little bit to help with one of the biggest environmental problems in the world—textile waste. Finally one of my greatest motivations to do most of the things I do is to carry forward the resourcefulness, self-sufficiency, and work ethic of my ancestors. I feel that we are in an especially useless and really stupid period of humanity at the moment, especially in the developed world, and I try to do my bit to push back. Besides, it is fun and satisfying to create something out of nothing!