As The Husband wrote in one of his posts we’ve been trying to minimise our belongings and taking more consideration before we buy things. As part of this new mind set I’ve been trying hard to reuse things we already have, mend things and repurpose existing things.
I’ve been very fortunate that a friend has passed on to me masses of clothes for my youngest so I rarely need to buy new things, as a result when things start getting a bit worn or holey I’ve put them straight in the rag bag and bought something new to replace it. After watching the documentary The True Cost I was totally shocked at the environmental impact of the clothing industry and made the decision to try and look after the clothes we’ve already got a bit better. I’ve been mending holes in leggings and ironing on patches on worn tops and trousers. The kids haven’t batted an eyelid and when they’ve fallen over for the umpteenth time I’ve not been so worried about the damage done to their clothes. I’ve darned my favourite winter gloves and I’ve mended the holes in The Husband’s work trouser pockets. I must point out that my sewing skills are only just above basic so some of the mending isn’t the prettiest but it’s doing the job!
Some of my making projects have been a bit more ambitious – I turned a jumper I accidentally shrunk in the wash into a hot water bottle cover and an old pillowcase into a PE bag for my youngest. Others have required virtually no effort – we had several candles in glass jars and they now serve as a toothbrush holder and storage jars. If you put the finished candle in the freezer for a few hours the wax pops out easily and a quick wash in hot water gets rid of the rest.
All this admittedly takes a bit of effort but probably no more time than it would have taken to travel into town and buy new items.
My attempt at darning!
Old jumper turned into a hot water bottle cover – this was nice and simple to make. I cut the sleeves off and then cut the body of the jumper into two rectangles. Sew round the three sides with the right sides together and the turn the right way round so you’ve got a little bag. I used the bottom of the jumper as the top of the cover and with a large needle threaded some ribbon near the top edge so it gathers up.
Eco Family Life 