My grandmother always wore dresses. When they got stained or couldn't be worn as a dress, she made aprons out of them. When they were too stained or torn, she tore strips from them and made rugs with a loom. She took every zipper, button, hook and eye, off everything and saved it. That had to do with going through the depression. I sure wish I had one of her rugs. Once a year, she made soap using lye and some other stuff. It smelled awful while she was boiling it. As I recall, it didn't suds much.