21 Ways To Repurpose Old Clothing In Your Home & Garden If Donation Isn't Possible

If décor is how we express ourselves in our homes, clothing is how we display our personalities when we're out in the world. Because of this, most people have a fairly expansive wardrobe filled with various items that are fit for different situations, moods, and seasons. Over time, these items have a tendency to wear out, no longer fit, or fail to align with our personal style, but that doesn't mean they're at the end of their lives. Mending, modifying, or donating pieces can help to reduce our negative environmental impact, but sometimes, things are just too far gone to continue to wear.

According to data from the Environmental Protection Agency, a whopping 11.3 million tons of textile waste ended up in landfills in 2018. While some of this is unavoidable, a significant portion of this problem can be cut down with a simple change in perspective. Only invest in pieces that you know you'll wear routinely, keep them in your rotation for as long as possible, and then repurpose them once they've served their purpose. By looking at your clothing not just as items in your wardrobe but as pieces of fabric that can be reused, you can make a change that's both good for the environment and your wallet. Whether you're cutting up old T-shirts to use as rags or transforming a pair of jeans into a unique décor piece, you can rest assured that you're getting the most use you can out of your pieces.

One of the simplest ways to repurpose your old clothing is by turning it into rags. This is great for pieces that are stained or have large holes and can't be used in other projects. All you need to do is cut down your item and use it to clean up messes around the house or outdoors. Keep in mind that this works best with fabrics that are more absorbent like cotton, but other materials that don't absorb liquid well can be used as dust rags. Once you're done, just toss them in the washer and reuse them.

This idea from Create with Claudia allows you to turn even the smallest denim scraps into a fashionable coaster. All you'll need are some pieces of fabric, batting, binding, and a sewing machine. Cut out squares of your batting and fabric, then layer them together with the batting up. From there, add on small pieces of fabric, starting in the middle of the coaster, and sew along the edges as you continue outward. Finish everything off with your binding to clean up the edges, and you have a quick and easy coaster made of repurposed materials.

There are plenty of different plants that are perfect for using with a trellis, but when you first introduce the structure into your garden, it's likely that even the most eager plants won't latch on immediately. To train them to grow in the proper direction, secure them with plant ties. To make your own, cut down your clothing item into narrow strips, then tie them around the plant to keep it in place. Fabric plant ties are gentle on plants' stems and easy to remove, so they're a great option for just about anything in your garden.

Quilting might seem like a difficult project to take on, but if you know how to sew a straight line, there's not much more to learn to pull off this craft. DIY patchwork quilts have grown popular in recent years as a way to display and make use of sentimental T-shirts that no longer get much wear, but this idea can also be applied to just about any piece of clothing in your closet. Keep in mind, however, that this is very tedious to do by hand, so it's best to stick to machine stitching.

Creating an entire quilt out of your old clothing requires quite a bit of fabric and effort so, if you're looking for something that's less of an undertaking, consider whipping up a patchwork pillowcase instead. This is, of course, a great way to repurpose old sentimental T-shirts, but the simple patchwork process means you can combine scraps of just about any material together. When you're sewing, make sure to leave one end open or add on a fastener so you can easily remove and toss the pillowcase in the washing machine when needed.

Sweaters can be a bit more difficult to repurpose than basic items like T-shirts, but they can still find quite a few uses around the house, including as a mug holder. Place the sleeve of your sweater over your mug, then cut it off with a bit of extra fabric at the bottom. Sew a hem to keep this raw edge from fraying. If you're using this on a travel mug, you can leave it as-is. With traditional mugs, you'll also need to cut a hole for the handle and finish off the edges.

The packaging on your presents is almost as important as the contents themselves, so if you really want to give your recipient a luxury experience that's also eco-friendly, consider wrapping the gift with fabric instead of paper. To create this wrap out of an old garment, all you need to do is cut out a large square or circle that leaves enough excess to tie over your gift. Place your box on top, fold in two sides of the fabric, then finish everything off by tying up the two remaining edges into a neat knot or bow.

If you have a more heavy-duty clothing item on hand like a pair of jeans or a jacket, consider turning the fabric into a dog toy. Pieces of the fabric can be cut out, sewn together, and stuffed to create a simple yet durable toy, or you can cut your item into strips and weave them together to create something without having to sew. This is a great hack if you have a dog that has a tendency to tear up toys — they still get something new to play with, but you're not wasting your money.

Sturdier fabrics like denim also have another unexpected benefit: stiffness. Because of this, crafts made out of denim can hold themselves up without support. This bucket idea from Curly Made is an easy no-sew project that can be accomplished in just a few minutes. You'll cut off the bottom of a leg, cut out a circle of fabric that will act as the base of the bucket, and sew or glue these two pieces together, then create a cuff at the top. This can be used to hold anything either indoors or in the garden.

If you're a fan of crocheting or knitting and you're looking for a more interesting twist on plain yarn, consider making your own yarn out of T-shirts. To do this, cut your shirt into a tube of fabric, then trim off the hem. Cut around the shirt, spiraling until you're left with one long strand, and stretch it out so the edges curl in on themselves. Because it's so thick, it's great to use in projects where you want to showcase texture, like this planter cover idea from The Snugglery.

If you've decided to turn your old T-shirts into yarn, there's another more large-scale project that you can create with these repurposed materials. While it might take more time to accomplish, T-shirt yarn rugs are a great way to make use of a lot of old clothing at once. This project can be accomplished with the help of a crochet hook, but if you don't know how to crochet, you can also simply braid the strands of yarn together and sew them into a spiral pattern to build your rug.

The decoupage technique might be more commonly used to spruce up objects with paper appliques, but it can also be done with pieces of thin fabric. If you have an old scarf or sheer top lying around that's seen better days, consider using it to bring more life to a plain plant pot. According to this tutorial shared by Angie Holden, all you need to do is prep your pot with paint, cut out a piece of your fabric to cover the surface, stick it on with some Mod Podge, and trim and clean up the edges.

The pockets on your clothing are meant to hold items when you're out and about, so why not repurpose them as some additional storage at home, too? If you have an old pair of pants that have seen better days, remove the pockets and attach them to a cork board with pushpins. These pockets will give you convenient places to store smaller items, bring more visual interest to your space, and provide you with a chance to reuse every part of your garment. You could also place them above your gardening station to hold all your supplies.

Whether you use them to bring home groceries, transport your essentials, or pack for overnight trips, it's incredibly convenient to have a few tote bags around the house. Luckily, they're also incredibly easy to make out of old T-shirts. YouTuber WhatsUpMoms shared an easy method to DIY your own no-sew tote in minutes. Cut off the sleeves and collar of your shirt, then cut some fringe pieces along the bottom. Flip the shirt inside out, and finish off by tying the fringe pieces together to secure the bottom.

Throw pillows are great to dress up your interiors, but over time, you might find that the pieces you once loved no longer align with your style. Instead of tossing them out and buying brand-new pillows, consider giving them an upgrade with a new cover. To create your own pillowcase out of an old piece of clothing, all you have to do is cut out two squares of fabric that are both a bit larger than your pillow. Cut fringe along the edges, place the pillow between the pieces of fabric, and tie the fringe together.

In the process of repurposing your old clothing items, it's likely that you'll end up with miscellaneous trimmings, small scraps of fabric, or pieces that are too damaged to be reworked into something for display. In these cases, consider cutting down your material further and using it as stuffing for other projects. Store-bought stuffing can get surprisingly expensive and isn't all that great for the environment, so if you're planning to DIY a stuffed animal, throw pillow, or plush dog toy, consider filling it with excess fabric pieces instead.

Reupholstering vintage furniture is a great way to extend its life and make it feel more modern, but it can be difficult to source the exact fabric you're looking for. If you really love the material used to create one of your old clothing pieces, however, you have a fantastic opportunity to turn it into a more permanent fixture in your home. Because clothing items are usually fairly small, it's likely you won't have enough material to completely upholster a couch, but you can likely use old garments to cover seat cushions on stools and chairs.

A major part of reducing your textile waste is mending items that have minor damage instead of tossing them out right away. If you want to ensure these improvements hold up with wear, however, it's a good idea to add on some patches for reinforcement rather than just relying on thread to close up holes, especially if you're working with a large area of damage. Cut down your clothing items into smaller pieces, then keep these patches on hand so you can easily repair damage to other textiles around the house.

If you're looking for a way to repurpose an old lampshade that no longer fits in your space, consider upgrading it with fabric sourced from old clothes. Most lampshades are essentially just fabric that's been stretched across a metal frame, so they're fairly simple to revamp on your own. To completely alter the piece, remove the existing fabric and replace it with the fabric from your clothing item. If you're looking for a quick fix, all you have to do is glue a layer of fabric over the existing shade to change the look.

Composting is a great way to turn your food waste into something you can use to improve your garden, but did you know that you can also incorporate fabric into your mix? This, of course, is dependent on the fabric's composition, but 100% natural fabrics like cotton, hemp, and silk can be added. Make sure you've removed any pieces that won't break down like buttons, synthetic thread, and zippers, then cut your garment into small pieces and mix it up with the other materials in your compost bin.

If you have old clothing items that you find particularly sentimental or beautiful, consider turning them into wall art. This can be accomplished with some scissors and a frame if you just want to display the graphic on a T-shirt or a swatch of a bold pattern, but you can also get creative with how you lay out and embellish your pieces of fabric. Sew them together to create a patchwork-style display, add some embroidery to spruce up a plain textile, or cut out and glue down more complex shapes to build your own unique fabric collage.