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Countdown Clocks at WishAFriend.com

You could cut 4 or 5" squares for quilting. You could even used stained areas to sew together for the filling of a quilt. My grandparents used to talk about using old threadbare/hole-y quilts - they'd make a new quilt top and lining then put the old quilt in as the filling.

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Stephanie (27) & Virgil (31)
Caden 3 y.o. 11/28/04 29w preemie
Wyatt 17 mos. 9/25/06
#3 due 8/24/08

I do the same thing ... I glean buttons, zippers and elastic off old clothes.

Pant legs make great tote sacks. Make a bunch for Christmas gifts to use instead of wrapping paper. I plan on 'wrapping' most of my gifts in fabric this year.

You can sew old cotton sweaters together to make lap blankets - sort of quilt style. And old sweaters make great suffed animals, mittens, hats, or neckscarves.

With jeans or pants that still fit around the waist but are too short or and odd style, I make them into skirts. Instead of adding a piece of fabric in the front where the leg seams come together, I sew the two inside leg seams to either other and add a big triangle of fabric in the back. It is really neat to make the back fabric something completely different and shape it like a little kicky tail. I'll have to see if I can find some pictures around here somewhere. I take DD's old pants and make them into play skirts for her this way.

A lot of old clothes can be cut down to make aprons for adults or children. Of course, old shirts make great cover-ups for kids when they do messy crafts. Don't forget to keep some old long sleeved shirts for working out in the garden or doing messy odd jobs around the house.

Lastly, smaller pieces of fabric can be made into ornaments or decopauged onto storage boxes, etc.

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"I've been rich and I've been poor but independently wealthy is where it is at."

I saw an idea in Family Fun one time for making bulletin boards out of t-shirts. We cut the tshirt up the back and wrapped it around a piece of foam board cut to fit. We added a hanger on the back and use push pins to attach pictures, etc.

We have also made pillows out of favorite shirts that my kids have outgrown but can't bear to pass down.

And for a recycling crafts class we made a tote purse/bag out of an old tank top. We threaded a ribbon through the hem of the tank top and then pulled it taut like a purse string and tied it. The straps of the tank top are the handles of the tote. This was really fun and it another way for the kids to keep using a favorite piece of clothing.

Anymore to add?

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Countdown Clocks at WishAFriend.com

I Wish I Could Sew!!!

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Nothing is as important as passion. No matter what you want to do with your life, be passionate.
Jon Bon Jovi

I've taken old tshirts and cut them into strips. After cutting the strips, I stretched them until the edges curled up on themselves to make a sort of rag yarn. Then I crocheted a rug with the "yarn." You could also knit or crochet potholders.

One of my favorite outfits for my youngest dd was a dress and sweater jacket set. The sweater was made out of an adult sized sweater I bought at a garage sale for 50 cents. I carefully cut the sweater apart at the seams, layed the fabric flat, then cut out the jacket pattern pieces. To bind the edges, I used bias fabric that coordinated with the piping on her dress. She was fairly little when I made it and wore a size 3, so the adult sweater didn't have to be really huge.

I've also cut down an adult sweater to make my son a baby sweater:

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Those WERE the droids I was looking for.

I'm right with ya!! Man these are some good ideas!

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Boo to you from our crew!

I use old jeans to patch newer jeans that have holes. I just cut out a patch, a little larger than the hole, then use no sew glue (available at craft stores, Target, walmart, etc) to glue it in from behind. It is not a nice neat fix, but my son thinks they still look "cool" with the ripped parts showing, but now I feel better there is no skin hanging out. I plan to do the same for my daughter with colored fabrics.

If you have any polar fleece items, fleece is great to make into hats, mittens, etc.

Martha Stewart.com there is a project to make mittens from a wool sweater.

Winter Jackets can be made into vests by seam ripping the arms off.

Here is an idea to make a car organizer out of a pair of pants
Cut Out + Keep | How To » Car Toy Keeper!

Here is another idea to make a laundry bag from pants or pajamas, or a shirt, whatever you've got!
Cut Out + Keep | How To » Cute Heart Laundry Bag

No sew messenger bag made from jeans...super cute!
DIY Life