Fiber Monday - Reduce-Reuse-Recycle

Back in May, when my pattern drafting class ended for the summer, I had just finished drafting a peasant blouse for myself. And the pattern then sat around for a couple of months waiting for me to do something with it. Last week I finally cut it out and took my time sewing it up. (I enjoy sewing so much more if I can really take my time with it.) Today I finished the buttons and buttonholes on the cuffs, which was the last thing needed. 

I'm very pleased with how it turned out and with how it fits. I made it out of an old 100% cotton sheet that had ripped and was too far gone to be repaired. As a result, it is incredibly soft, like a very old favorite shirt but without the breaking in period. Here it is:




The buttons came from my rather extensive button stash.


About that button stash as well as other sewing notions I have on hand. Many of them have been salvaged. Here's an example. This is a pair of J.'s shorts that had become so worn out that they just needed to be thrown away. No amount of repair could really fix them. 



But it is the rare textile that just gets put into the garbage around here. Shirts are often cut up to be rags or for the fabric scraps. Anything with buttons always has the buttons cut off before being thrown out. This is one of the sources of my own button collection. 


And zippers can be rescued as well. They are just sewn-in and nothing bad happens to the zipper if the seams holding it in are ripped out. Here is the one I took out of the shorts. 


I will be able to use it again at some point and now lives in my stash of zippers. These are all important items for constructing clothing. They still work even if the fabric in the original item of clothing is beyond saving. Plus, it is never bad to have them on hand because you can't just run out to JoAnn's anymore to grab sewing notions. (And please, I don't need to tell you not to shop at Hobby Lobby, right? The reasons are numerous. Just don't.) If you don't sew, still salvage the usable items and pass them on to someone who does. There is no reason to throw away perfectly useful items. 

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