You know the feeling when your favourite pair of jeans is wearing a little thin? Your first impulse might be to throw them out but too often worn clothing ends up in landfill, even when you might think it’s being recycled. The fast fashion industry is one of the world’s largest polluters of the planet and the short life cycle of garments is a big part of the problem. Sustainable clothing brands are increasingly repurposing used clothing to create new and stylish garments. Recycling, repurposing or upcycling old clothes can combat fast fashion and give your wardrobe a refresh while you’re at it.
Here’s everything you need to know about recycling and repurposing your old clothes, along with our five favourite DIY upcycling ideas.
What is Textile Recycling and Repurposing?
Fabric recycling involves reducing the textile down to its original form to make a new item. It’s a complicated process that only works on certain types of fabrics. Repurposing or upcycling clothes is a more accessible way to creatively transform an old product into something new. Upcycling old clothes you might not want to wear anymore into a new item is an economical way to embrace sustainable fashion.
Why Recycle and Repurpose Old Clothes?
Recycling or repurposing is a great way to live the ethos of slow fashion and help prevent the huge problem of textile waste from ending up in landfill! Fast fashion brands produce and sell clothing quickly and cheaply, which makes clothes affordable, and disposable, at the expense of people and the planet. A crucial way we can tackle the issues caused by fast fashion is by recycling and repurposing our old clothes.
How to Upcycle Old Clothes
Repurposing or upcycling old clothes is one of the best parts of being a conscious consumer as you can transform your clothes into completely unique pieces and learn new skills. If you want to try upcycling your old clothes all you need is a bit of inspiration for turning something old into something new. Repurposing used clothing is a great way to express your personal style and feel confident in your clothing choices. We’ve listed five of our favourite upcycling ideas for transforming your old clothes, another great resource we’d recommend is Fixing Fashion – an open-source library of mending and upcycling techniques, but the possibilities are endless, so get creative with it!
1. Crop
All you need is a pair of scissors to transform your favourite old item into your favourite new one. For example, if you have a pair of jeans that are torn in the knees, a T-shirt that’s lost its shape in the wash or got a huge stain on the front, then give it a chop to make it a crop top or a pair of shorts and voila! If you want a clean edge you can also hem it on your sewing machine.
2. Embroider
Get your needle and thread ready – and perhaps an embroidery hoop if you’re feeling adventurous. Embroidery is easy to pick up and there are lots of online tutorials and embroidery kits to get you started. Soon enough you’ll be able to hand-sew anything from flowers or our personal favourite; more abstract and creative mending techniques from Studio Mend. Embroidery fashion trends can be used to repurpose used clothing by adding unique and personalized designs.
3. Paint
Painting is another quick and easy way to get creative with old clothes. Unleash your inner Jackson Pollock with a splatter effect, add some go-faster stripes or some rave inspired smiley faces to mask stains. You can paint with natural or synthetic dyes, and even use bleach (with care) to paint on your clothes.
4. Hair Accessories
Leftover materials can be great for making scrunchies and we’ve seen some of our favourite sustainable designers like Pat Guzik use their leftover fabric scraps up this way. These are simple and effective to make by cutting the fabric into strips, sewing them into a tube, and threading elastic through before sealing the ends. You can also make a simple headband by braiding fabric strips and, if you’re feeling adventurous, try cutting and sewing / glueing fabric flowers onto your headband.
5. It’s a Wrap
Beeswax reusable food wraps are a great way to use fabric off-cuts. You can buy beeswax pastilles or grated beeswax online or at a local grocery store. Simply melt the beeswax in a saucepan along with some jojoba oil and resin and apply the mixture to your fabric with a paintbrush. Hang the wrap up to dry in a cool dark place and then bend it to the shape of any food container to wrap up yesterday’s leftovers. This is a much better way to store food than using cling film.
Key Takeaway
Hopefully our ideas for upcycling show how you can make a difference to the planet and cut down on textile waste by turning your old clothes into something new rather than throwing them out. We hope this guide to recycling and repurposing old clothes inspires some new additions to your wardrobe and shows how upcycling techniques are an effective way to reduce your carbon footprint while having fun with fashion.
Author’s Bio:
PARO Store helps people discover emerging designers driving the fashion industry towards sustainability. The clothing industry is one of the most damaging for the planet, and PARO Store doesn’t want to stand by, they want to take action.
