Sewing & Recycling


Resourceful people don't like to waste anything --including common household items. Here are some ideas for putting old things you have to new use.

1.      Recycle thoroughly rinsed squirt-top detergent and cleanser bottles into water dispensers for filling your iron, or leave them empty and squeeze them for a "burst of air" to remove lint from your sewing machine or serger.

2.      Convert old natural-fiber cloth napkins, diapers and handkerchiefs into press cloths.

3.      Use plastic bags from stores or freezer bags as garbage catchers attached to your cutting table or serger.

4.      Store small notions, such as buttons, pins and snaps, in empty film containers, pill bottles or baby food jars.

5.      Create a new ironing board pad from an old cotton mattress pad or wool blanket.

6.      Use a dried-out ballpoint pen as a tracing wheel.

7.      Store your tape measure in an empty adhesive tape dispenser; wind the tape around the spool and snap the ring over it.

8.      Use a soap sliver for marking fabric, as a hand sewing needle lubricant, or rub it over hard-to-sew fabrics before stitching.

9.      Remove lint from your machines with a clean mascara brush.

Give your household the once over and use a little imagination to develop your own unique ideas for keeping your sewing room in order without great expense.