Easy Peasy T-Shirt Fabric Flowers

There was a lot of interest for the Fabric Flowers from last weekend's workshop.  I thought I'd publish the pattern here, for anyone looking to keep on making flowers!  This pattern is the no-sew version.  If you are so inclined, it is very doable to put a tiny hand stitch in each fold as you go along, rather than the hot glue.  Either way, you'll have an adorable accessory by the time you are finished.

Easy Peasy T-Shirt Fabric Flowers

1.  Draw a circle on the back of your t-shirt scrap and cut it out.
2.  Mark the center of your circle with a small dot.
3.  Put a small amount of hot glue on the dot.  Fold the bottom edge of the circle up to meet the dot
     and glue.  Fold the top edge to the dot and glue.  Repeat for the two side edges, bringing them to 
     the center and gluing.  
4.  Take one corner and slightly unfold it.  Bring this up to the circle and glue.  Repeat for the other 
     three corners.
5.  Embellish the center with buttons, beads or gems.  DONE!  

The trickiest part of this pattern is Step 4.  It might help if you think about origami and how sometimes corners are unfolded and brought to the center.  It's the same idea.

Make lots!  Enjoy the process!

 
**all of the pictured flowers were made by my daughter.  :)

Links for Clothing and Footwear Recycling Programs

Here is a follow-up to my workshop Creative Reuse:  T-Shirt Transformations.  While doing research for the session, I found a bunch of great sustainable resources and organizations that will take your used clothing and textile items and repurpose them for other uses.

Here are a few:

The Bra Recyclers: An organization that will find a way to recycle, reuse or repurpose bras. You can find a drop-off station or mail old bras directly to them.

Planet Aid's yellow collection bins (popping up soon on a street corner near you) offer peace of mind with a convenience factor. The nonprofit sells collected textiles to vendors in developing countries and uses the profits to support sustainable agriculture programs in sub-Saharan Africa.

Earth911.com is a one-stop-shop for recycling resources. Save time with their search engine that lists recycling centers by item type and zip code.

Soles 4 Souls: A national shoe recycling program.

H&M has a new policy allowing shoppers to donate bags of clothing (which don't have to be in good condition or carry an H&M label) in exchange for a 15 percent discount on an item of their choice. Puma and The North Face stores also accept worn clothing, and other retailers such as Levi's, Gap, and Patagonia offer recycling sale events—inquire at local locations to see what's planned.  Visit www.2hm.com for more information.

Secondary Materials and Recycled Textiles: An online platform that will help you find the nearest textile recycling outlets near you.

Donation Town: A site that helps you find a local clothing donation pick-up service in your area.

Patagonia, Common Threads – Bring back your unwanted Patagonia clothing and accessories to any Patagonia store and they’ll recycle it and give you store credit!

The North Face, Clothes the Loop – Recycling clothing and shoes from any brand at North Face stores.

Nike collects old athletic shoes from any brand that they grind up and use to create courts, fields, tracks and playgrounds.  Find out more at www.nike.com.

For local people, here is a link to The Downsizing Donation Guide that gives an extensive listing of New Haven County CT community organizations to help people place gently used items from their homes or businesses.

The Downsizing Donation Guide

Happy recycling!  If you use one of these recycling options, or if you find any other good program, send me a message at marsha@marshamakes.com and let me know!

Creative Reuse: T-Shirt Transformations in New Haven!

What an amazingly awesome workshop at Mitchell Library yesterday!  I feel lucky to have spent the afternoon crafting with such creative and talented people.  Each and every participant brought their own sense of style and technique to the table, and the results were astounding.

Here's what we were up to:

And here are just a few of the results:

All this, just from a few old, soon-to-be discarded t-shirts.  Beautiful! Thanks again to everyone who came out for the workshop.  It was a sparkling, fun afternoon!

For those who missed the workshop but are still interested in learning how to upcycle their t-shirts, I will be posting a few patterns and other resources in the next few days.  Check back soon!