#DIY Upcycling: Sweaters

Continuing on in my decluttering and reducing efforts, I'm moving on to sweaters.  Kid sweaters, my sweaters (I don't really mess with hubby's clothes, but there's probably a few that I could get rid of on his side of the closet, too.)

You know when sweaters are done. They get all pill-y; and sure, you could shave and pick off all those little bits of worn yarn, but at some point, it's just too much.  They get too small, either lengthwise, widthwise, or you washed or dried it in too hot a temperature.  You get tired of that same old sweater that you've had for 5 years.  Your kid never really liked it anyway, but you did and its still a really good sweater.  All sweaters come to an end. Or at least their end as that original sweater.

Now with my pile of sweaters, I came up with a few ideas to re-use, up-cycle, and of course, donate.  These are simple, not a lot of sewing, no pattern necessary type stuff, because really who has time for all of that?  You can get really fancy, but if you're like me, anything too intensive will end up in the "to do one day" pile, further adding to your clutter.  These can all probably be done in less than a half hour while you're watching TV, then you'll happily say "ta-da!" and can go enjoy your new thing.

Make a cool new cowl.  For that sweater that you love the color or the stitch design, but just have fallen out of love with it as a sweater.  My such sweater was a cozy fuchsia, which I've had a couple winters.  It was getting pill-y, and I was in denial, only to be reminded every time I put it on.  Before reconsidering again, I cut off the bottom, ran a quick hem around the cut edge so it wouldn't unravel, and ta-da - a cozy new cowl in a great color.

Very little sewing - cut off the bottom of a sweater for a new cowl.

Make cozies for your coffee cup.  Save the environment, have a cool little coffee cup, save yourself the $5 these things cost in the trendy boutiques.  Cut off a sweater sleeve, about 3-5" in length.  Hem it so it doesn't unravel, embellish if you wish.  Ta-da. The envy of all your coffee-drinking friends.

Cut the sleeve off an old sweater for a cute coffee cup cozy.

Embellish and make it new again.  Being the practical mom, I bought my daughters basic, good quality cardigans from Lands End. Being the stylish, cool girls, they thought the sweaters looked like school uniforms and shoved them in the back of the closet, but then complained that they didn't have any sweaters.

I found a dress in their closet that one had outgrown and the other would by the time it came in season again with pretty little ruffles on it.  So I carefully cut off the ruffles, then sewed them onto the hem and sleeves of the sweater.  Ta-da! Cute new, ruffly sweater!

Find embellishments from other too-small clothes to dress up a plain sweater.

This requires the most sewing of all these projects.  I did it on a machine, but you could easily do it by hand while sitting at [whatever] practice waiting on the kids.  You could also add flowers or bows or other pretty things, also from other worn out or too-small clothes.  There's a belt on the dress that I think would be cute worn with the sweater, too in that Michelle Obama belt & sweater look that I can't quite pull off, but my daughter probably could.

Of course, there are many other ideas out there on Pinterest. Check out my favorites on my Reuse * Recycle *Upcycle *DIY board.

What are some of your best ideas for re-using a sweater?

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Currently... Decluttering Everything. Clothes. Books. Stuff

By now, you've probably seen, Material World, a photography collection of people around the world with their earthly possessions, published years ago by Peter Menzel.  To see some of the photos from countries other than the U.S., we realize the embarrassment of riches that we have.

I've been thinking about those photos lately, as I've been feeling quite crowded and cluttered in my own house.  I don't even feel justified in buying one other thing because - where would I put it?  I'm not saying that I'm going to get rid of everything, dwindling our belongings down to a blanket and a water bucket, but I could get rid of a lot and still have plenty.  So I'm trying to slim down a significant bit before the end of the year. Yes, this is my December, end of the year, push.

Some of the stuff is actually useful, if I could just remember I had it or had an efficient way to get to it. Some stuff is useless, to anybody.  Some can be repurposed and reused, in ways I mentioned in a previous post about reusing old clothes, or donated for various purposes.  I'm sorting through it all, one thing at a time, to figure that out.

So what have I got? On the top of the list:

• Toys. I'm always sure that we are going to find that 1 missing puzzle piece and the rest of the games cards. And I keep picking up those little battleship pegs.  It's a process, but I'm admitting that none of that is going to happen, so it's time to let it go.  (Are you going to be singing Frozen all day now?)
• Socks. All those 1-socks, particularly the ones that don't even fit anybody anymore.  I'm losing hope that the matches will ever resurface. But I do let my kids, the youngest especially, wear mis-matching socks of the same style.  Do you know that you an actually buy mis-matched packs of socks? What brilliant mom (I'm sure it was a mom tired of matching socks) came up with this marketing genius? I wish it was me. Then I'd be writing this post from a sunny beach somewhere.
• Magazines.  I don't really read digital magazines, so that's not my replacement. I just need to admit that I'm actually not going back to that Real Simple article from June of 2010.  It was enjoyable then, it kept me occupied at the pool, now it's time to fill the recycling bin to make some new paper bags or newspapers or something.

Also - cookbooks, kids' clothes, sweaters, books to start.  I'll get into more details as I work through the piles, so come on back for all that.

What have you got that's piling up in your house that you need to get rid of?

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Currently...Getting Ready for October

How's your Monday so far? Monday really does set us up for the week, doesn't it. It can be so full of promise and positivity, or it can make you want to crawl back under the covers and try again tomorrow.  Hope your Monday's going well.  Here's how mine is filling up.

Fighting a cold. Or something. I don't get sick often but it seems that when I do, my body is playing catch up for all the time I wasn't sick.  I've been drinking hot green tea since yesterday, because that is the cure for any illness (you knew that, right?)

Planning meals for children who won't be at the dinner table. We're in full extra-curricular mode, so we're spending a lot of time in the car.  Dinner either has to be ready exactly when they get home and stay for a few minutes (crockpot and 1-pot dinners are great) or portable (quesadillas, rice dishes that can put in plastic bowls) in order to stay out of the drive-thru lanes.

Bracing myself for the onslaught of Halloween decorations. Its not my favorite holiday. And its not because of the candy; the candy in fact, is the one thing that makes it bearable. It's the skeletons and ghosts and goblins and spiders and scary things that will be everywhere for the next 33 days.  It's a tall price to pay for all those little packs of M&Ms and mini-chocolate bars.

Rearranging clothes drawers and closets.  It's the seasonal switch. Move clothes from the front of the closet to the back. Set aside clothes that will be too small or too out of style when it gets warm again. Pack away clothes that will make it to the next season.  And I always imagine that we're going to take this South Pacific vacation in the middle of winter and will need those bathing suits and shorts and sundresses, so I don't pack them too far away.  (You never know, this could be there year!)

Panicking because October 1 means there's only three more months to get done all the things I had hoped to get done in 2014!

Have a good week!

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What's the Closet-Life of a Dress?

As we start heading towards fall, it’s about that time to start moving sundresses and tank tops aside and pulling the sleeved-shirts and pants to the front of the closet.  This transition time is also the perfect time to do some closet purging, as you notice, but maybe don’t really want to admit, that you did not wear that linen skirt all summer. Nor last summer either. And truth be told, you’re not sure you even really like the color so much anymore.  So you fold it up, put it aside with everything else, just in case you might like it next summer.

Let’s admit it – cleaning out the closet isn’t just a physical process of taking clothes out that have exhausted their usefulness.  There’s a couple mental obstacles in the way of moving clothes into piles so that they can live another life in someone else’s closet.

When has a dress has passed it’s useful closet-life and it’s time to let it go?

It is not flattering, now or ever will be again.  I really like empire waist dresses, you know, the ones where the waistband hits the bottom of your bra. Its comfortable and breezy in the summer, and yes, hides all those scoops of ice cream.  Or so I thought!  Someone took a picture of me in one of my favorite dresses and I realized that I look like I’m in my second trimester!  But I thought it was a fluke (bad lighting, camera phone, bad angle) and kept wearing them. Until I took another picture in another dress and surprise – same thing, me and my second trimester self.  I’ve piled all my empire waist dresses aside.  Some are destined for some woman who needs the flowy-ness, the rest are now restricted to wearing around the house or walking to the busstop when there is no danger of being photographed.  (Sorry, I couldn’t truly truly give them all up.)

There was a different President in office when you purchased the dress.  You know that dress that you recall the exact event you bought it for?  And that event was long time ago?  I have a few dresses that I did the math and calculated five, six – or more - years ago.  I’ve kept it because, on a good day, it still fits. But even when it does – it was six years ago.  I can get away with a classic fit dress, a black skirt, a navy dress, but anything else – it either looks too young for me or dated by style.  Even the color is wrong.

It never fit right anyway.  You buy the dress, maybe it was on sale, maybe it looked great on the mannequin and you are sure that once it shakes out, once you put on some Spanks, lose a couple pounds, wear a different bra, its going to fit perfectly.  But it just never does.  Let it go.  That goes for those shoes, too.  Even the cute ones. They always did hurt your feet, anyway.

You have no idea where you will ever wear it to.  I have tops and dresses that require a much more active night-life than I have, which right now is pretty much dominated by PTA meetings and kids sporting events.  I have a really cute one-shoulder zebra print silk blouse.  Perhaps someone else has the right party to go to.

Shorts that have lasted through more than one summer.  Don’t take this as a disposable clothes idea, it’s just that regardless of whether I actually still wear that size or not, shorts never seem to fit right after one summer.  Maybe the ice cream reshapes my behind and thighs, same weight, different shaping. Like sand.

Anything two sizes too big or two sizes too small.  I’m letting a larger or smaller woman enjoy my shopping.  I don’t want to return to the too-big size and by the time I get back to the too-small size, the clothes will be out of style.  Okay, even that skirt I really like, it looks crazy slipping down my hips.  And the other one, well, who knows when was the last time it fit to know how it looks.

And to top off the pile?  Anything you just don’t like anymore. The why the heck did I buy this, the what was I thinking, the it used to be cute outfits. Why are these so hard to let go?

Now, when all those are gone…. Hey – I need to go shopping, I haven’t got anything to wear!  

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Don't need it anymore? Donate it!

I mentioned in my post on cleaning out the kids’ closets that donations is one of my sorting piles. It’s actually a few mini-piles. And as I suggested, anything that goes into these piles should be clean, still fashionable, and wearable. Use the “would I want this?” rule. Broken zippers, hole in the sleeve, missing buttons? If you’re handy with a sewing needle, take the time to make the repairs if you intend to donate the item. Otherwise, re-use/recycle or trash them.

Clothes Donations

• Pass down to friends – These are some of my favorite outfits that I thought particular friends would like. Also included, my aunt hand-knits sweaters for my kids, so I prefer to personally give them to someone rather than put them in the anonymous donation bags.
• Moms’ group – When our kids were smaller, we used to exchange some barely worn clothes in our moms’ group. This is great for boys’ suits, girls’ special occasion dresses, and infant and toddler winter coats, all which hardly get worn out before the child grows out of it. This is also a good pile for specialty wear like dance costumes and sports equipment (swim flippers anyone?)
• School – The nurse and guidance counselor at our elementary school keep a stash of clothes for the inevitable little kid accident, whether it’s someone falling in a mud puddle, spilling their chocolate milk at lunch, or not making it to the bathroom on time. I put our too-small school logo shirts, along with a few casual pieces in this bag. In the winter, I also include mittens and jackets. Be sure to ask first if they need it, if the school doesn't have a regular collection.
• Local clothes collection – When I have seasonal clothes to donate, I take them here. They will accept any clothes, but space seems to be tight, so I figure that in-season clothes are more welcome than out of season items.
• Pick-up donation – I admit, I don’t know what the various agencies who pick up clothes and household stuff do with it all, but I’m glad to be rid of it. For this reason, this is my pile of last resort.

Non-clothes Donations

Books – I don’t get rid of a lot of books, but sometimes I acquire books that I don’t really intend to keep or I have craft books I don’t need anymore. And my kids have used books that we don’t need to keep because they’ve outgrown them. I pass these on to the next readers:

• Donate to library or one of the local schools for used book sales
• Take to a kid-focused event (for example, PTA, Girl Scouts, the swimming pool) and invite the kids to take whatever they want
• Donate to women’s shelters
• Give to the guidance counselor and teachers at school for their classrooms

Towels and sheets – The mis-matched sets, the towels that don’t match the new bathroom paint color, the towels that are worn or torn – I’m taking them to the animal shelter.

Craft supplies - Donate to the school for the classroom and art teachers.

If you're closets are like mine, you'll find that most of the stuff you are getting rid of isn't in bad shape, you're just done using it. Pass it on and help someone else enjoy it.