Thursday, May 19, 2011

Thursday's Tip from the Green Housewife - Make Wedding Decorations from Recycled Dress

When I was in college, we had a "banquet" every semester. I always went with my girl friends because I was never asked by a boy I was interested in.  That is, until Pete asked me! I had little spare change at the time, so I bought the dress I wore at an estate sale for 8$. It was classy - a long, sleek, dark purplish-blue satin, not the sort of dress you would hate for your Aunt Matilda to buy you second-hand at Goodwill, and was one of my favorite dresses until it tore in one of the armpits beyond repair! I loved it so much that I couldn't bear to throw it away, even before I realized how much clothing gets thrown into our landfills. Over the years, I've used the material to wrap Christmas presents, make bows, and just recently to make rosettes for a flower girl basket and wreath for my 5 year old niece Julie for my sister Melissa's wedding.
      The basis for the wreath was an old artificial flower garland I used to hang in my kitchen when I was in my "country Victorian" decorating phase. It was very tacky, with huge fake looking pink roses, but I saved it as my style evolved because I knew it would come in handy someday ;). The light blue flowers I bought at Goodwill - about 50 of them for 2 dollars! Here is the final result, with some pearls added for flare:

The basket I also bought at Goodwill, for a dollar. Since it was such a pretty basket, I decided to just decorate the handles with the roses.
 My niece was very happy with it, and so was my sister. With all of the craziness before the wedding, I was only able to get this one shot of my niece:
     

What are your green or frugal tips for reusing cloth?

11 comments:

  1. Very creative recycling uses for the dress. I love the headpiece on your niece ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anything I've grown out of (or bored with) goes to charity or clothes swaps with friends. Anything beyond repair goes into the rag bag for cleaning and anything that I love and can't bear to see as a rag out goes into my sewing scrap bag to be used later for something else. I don't know why anyone would need to throw away fabric, there's always something that it can be used for!

    ReplyDelete
  3. P.S. I meant to say that the flowers are beautiful! That is a very creative re-use!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks Joyful and Farmer Liz! My mom taught me to be creative like that :). Farmer Liz, I completely agree with you that fabric doesn't need to be thrown away - it can at least be composted if nothing else!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I was recently going through my closet and found a couple of summer dresses that I never wear anymore. I gave one away and I'm saving the other to make an apron out of. It already has the halter straps around the neck and straps around the waist. so it should be perfect. I will use the extra cloth I cut off the back as pockets. Any extra? I guess I'll start saving scraps for a quilt. :) Loved this post!

    ReplyDelete
  6. What lovely flowers and what a great idea. I haven't the patience to piece a quilt but I hate throwing fabric away so I make it into things like drawstring storage bags, handkerchiefs and napkins which don't require much sewing skill. Old jumpers have become cuddly cushions, and I've even used raggy bits as wadding inside those draught-excluder door sausages. I love the idea of making an apron, and that's gone on my project list! Thanks for the inspiration - Karin.

    ReplyDelete
  7. What a fabulous idea and what a great result!

    ReplyDelete
  8. how very sweet...well done. I am blessed to have quilts my mom has made from clothing previously worn and loved. such fun to lie under quilts made with memories!

    http://bettermebetterworld.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  9. Heather - I can't wait to see your new apron- how exciting! I love that idea!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Karin - I don't think I would have the patience to piece a quilt either, but I would like to try - once! I love the idea of making cloth napkins out of old material - very good idea!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Those are great decorations. What a great and frugal idea.
    I love the colours too. I'm sure you've had a fantastic day.
    Have a wonderful weekend.

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...