Deborahlees

Have you priced new buttons lately....$4.25 a card for simple buttons at Joanns....my mouth dropped....took them back and went to walmart.... under a dollar....I remember when I was a girl and my mother cutting buttons off of discarded garments and removing the zippers....we need to do that more...I still have her button box

valleyquiltermo

I recycle everything same as my moma and my grandparents family did for years, I just got in the habit when I was young. Moma and Granny went through the depression.
So I save all buttons, zippers, old jeans and skirts and pants and ties and plastic bags which my great aunt crochet into bathroom rugs. Nothing goes to waste if it can be used.

rj.neihart

I make use of good quality of material from yard sales, thrift shops, as well as use sheets for the backs of quilts. Sometimes I find an electric blanket not working, pull out the wiring, and use that blanket as the filler. This makes a warmer blanket for those colder days of winter. Also, the older quilts I've found at auctions, when repairing them it seems the older patterns in clothing are easier to find when repairing worn places. And, guilty, of making use of my kids worn out clothes, to make them a special more personal quilt.

Ramona Byrd

I'm making another one of my most disliked lap robes (I'm the one who doesn't like them, kids adore them) ice cream cones. Medical scrubs have the most yummy solid colors you can imagine. A thrift shop sheet for backing, and I can usually find one that matches one of the ice cream cones on the front. A bigger cake on the back holds the name, etc.
I'll try again to post a picture when it's finished. Still have to work on that darn printer's imaging to the computer.

BKrenning

So far I have only turned old denim jeans, corduroys & mens shirts into quilts & one denim purse. I have saved an old leather jacket to be turned into a purse. I also remember my grandmother saving plastic bread bags to make into braided rag rugs. The "good" rugs were made out of clothing torn into strips and braided.

ptquilts

old mattress pads can be used for batting in quilts, placemats, potholders,etc.

sandrabrueggeman

I recycle cloths, I have to stay out of my closet, I'm always cutting up something and I use sheets for the backing.

rob529

I go for the 100% wool. Use it for rug hooking and wool applique. Save all buttons and zippers. I find it very relaxing dismantling them. The felting, not so much fun, scent of wet sheep stinks. LOL
Robin in TX

Val in IN

I actually MEND clothing. I don't get rid of clothing unless it is truly beyond fixing. If it is beyond hope, I take the buttons, zippers, etc. off and turn them into cleaning rags or garage rags. Old tank tops can be turned into shopping bags with a simple seam along the bottom. Old jeans become shorts, then after they can't be worn anymore, they become purses. I can't understand how people can get rid of clothing because a button fell off, or a hem came loose, or a seam came apart. I actually saw a very well dressed young lady the other day wearing pants that had BOTH hems STAPLED up! We really have become a disposable society, to the detriment of ourselves and our planet.

ksea

Lots of great ideas, thank you