Leigh sent me an email a few weeks ago and it dropped into the black hole that is my email inbox – I only found it when looking for something else this morning. I *must* get better organised, I *must*.

Anyway, she asked about how to reuse or recycle a number of things so I’ll feature them over the next few days. First up, scarves:

i picked up a bunch for almost nothing at a garage sale, some silk, some not, all different colors and shapes, thinking they would be useful for something, but I’m not sure what!

I’m a sucker for scarves too – they’re one of my favourite things to look out for in charity shops because there is usually a good variety, in as-new condition and often unbelievably cheap (especially compared to buying similar printed fabric new).

One of the easiest things to do with them – particularly square ones – is to make them into cushion/pillow covers. Another no-sew idea for big square ones is to use them to make furoshiki bags.

Any other suggestions?

(Photo by Gerbera)

I put together a “Recycling Baby Stuff” guide the other day and I was surprised how few entries we had in our baby-stuff category.

The biggest surprising omission was cloth diapers/nappies – we’ve covered disposable ones but not the already more eco-friendly cloth version.

Obviously they’re reusable – that’s the point of them – but that doesn’t mean they’re reusable forever: they might wear out at critical points or the fabric become rough/otherwise unsuitable for baby-wear. And of course, the thing about babies is they have a tendency to grow and eventually learn how to use the toilet too – so unless they’re going to siblings or similar, there will be leftovers.

Old-school folded flat square ones obviously have as many reuses as an other square of fabric: one very close reuse might be to cut them up into smaller squares and use them as cloth wipes, a green alternative to toilet paper.

But what about shaped? Any other great reuses for flat ones?

We’ve had an email from Adele:

What can I do with some old bath mats? I have two in pale blue which I don’t want to use in the bathroom any more because they’re discoloured but I can’t bleach them because they’re blue. Any ideas?

If it’s just a case of things being discoloured, depending what they’re made of, you might be able to dye them a darker colour to hide the murk. I can’t say I’ve looked that closely but I’m pretty sure most mats I’ve seen are, like towels, 100% cotton to cope with super-hot cleaning – and pure cotton is usually reasonably easy to dye. Maybe take them to a mid or dark blue instead?

Aside from that and depending on the thickness, you might be able to use them for the same things as old towels. If they’re flat mats, like heavy towels, they would work well as soles on towel slippers; conversely, the big loopy kind would be fun as uppers on the same slippers. You could use the non-discoloured parts of the mat for the visible bits, and the discoloured parts for the hidden sections.

Any other suggestions?

(Stock photo by konr4d)

We’ve had an email from Jacqui:

Any idea what to do with old karate belts? They are around 2m long, very strong and in all different colours. Thanks for any suggestions.

Using them as straps for homemade casual bags springs instantly to mind – but probably only because I was looking for something to serve that purpose last night.

Any other ideas?

(Photo by Sucker)

Amy Quarry dropped us an email this week with a link to her blog post on ten ways to repurposing old clothes, reusing as much of the original structure/shape as possible to save time.

Half the list take big clothes and turn them into little clothes: for example, with some pleating around the top and some arm holes chopped in the sides, an adult size skirt can quickly become a child’s dress (right). Or shrinking a woman’s blouse widthwise to make a baby/child’s dress. All very cute.

For those of us without small people (and/or willing cats) to dress, she includes ideas such as making a mini-skirt into a bag and sundresses into aprons (below).

I love these ideas because I’ve got quite a few items of clothing that I love but either which don’t fit any more or don’t suit me as they are any more – but could easily be repurposed like this. Time to unleash the sewing machine!

(Pictures with permission from Amy’s blog)