Guest Blogger: Teaching Kids How to Upcycle Their Old Clothing

Guest Blogger #724, Entry #1681, October 4, 2012

If you want your home to be one that is completely eco-friendly, then you definitely have to get the children involved. And actually, because children learn quickly and tend to absorb information much faster than we do, incorporating some tips on how to recycle and upcycle will probably not be as challenging as you might initially think.

Take upcycling clothes, for example. Kids (especially girls) tend to enjoy clothes at a fairly early age. So, if you teach them how they can take a piece of their clothing and make it better rather than throwing it away (which is basically the definition of upcycling), once you provide them with some basic tips and rules, the sky is definitely the limit as it relates to what they can come up with.

Upcycling your kids’ clothing can save money & resources

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Do you think your child is ready to learn some upcycling techniques. If so, we have a few tips below:

Turn winter clothes into spring/summer clothes.

If your child has some jeans that they’ve outgrown or a long-sleeved shirt that no longer reaches their wrists, rather than throw it out, or even give it away, get your kids excited about transforming those things into springtime and summertime gear. Some scissors and some hem tape can change a pair of pants into a pair of shorts and those same scissors along the seam line of the shirt (at the area where the sleeves meet the shoulders) can change it into a sleeveless shirt or tank top in no time.

Make headbands.

When it comes to a child’s wardrobe, some T-shirts and pajamas have definitely seen their better days. As a matter of fact, some things may look so shabby that it would appear that there is simply no way that they can be useable. If you have a daughter, yes they can. In order to make headbands and other forms of hair accessories, all you need is a bit of fabric and a few simple instructions. HeatherBaileyDesign.com is one website that actually has a really cute way to make a pretty headband (www.heatherbaileydesign.com/Headband.html). Oh, and if you happen to have some of your old lingerie like some Bare Necessities bras or Victoria’s Secret’s slips, the lace and satin can be transformed into some really pretty headbands for special occasions too.

Let them make some suggestions.

Once you introduce your child to a few ways that upcycling their old clothing can work, they will probably be ready to make some suggestions of their own. That’s great because without them (probably) even noticing it, they are also getting excited about making eco-friendly decisions. They may want to try and turn some of their old clothes into a patchwork backpack for school. With your help, they can. Just go to YouTube and put “make a backpack from old jeans” into the search field. Or, they might want to turn their shoes into sandals. OK, that might take a bit more doing, but it’s not impossible. As a matter of fact, YouTube has a video for that as well. Just go to the site and put “jeans into sandals” in the search field and viola! A step-by-step way to do just that.

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