Fringe Benefits: Free Napkins From Shirts

You can recycle your worn-out flannel shirts to make excellent cloth napkins.  They're comfy, absorbent, and free!  Here's how to do it.

1. Cut napkin-sized squares from the front and back panels of the shirt.  12" square is what I use, in order to get 4 napkins from one shirt.  This makes a smallish napkin (cocktail-sized), but it still works fine for daily meals.  If you want them bigger, like 16" square, you'll probably only get one or two from the back panel of a shirt.

2. Once you've cut your squares, fringe the edges.  To do this, pull parallel threads off an edge until there's about 1/4" to 1/2" of fringe created by the loose ends of the threads going the other direction.

These napkins wash like a dream.  Sometimes an extra thread or two will try to liberate itself from an edge after washing.  In that case, just peel it off and throw it away (or compost it if it's a natural fiber).

Repurposed Furniture

This bench was made by my good friend, Steve, who built it for our patio out of recycled wood.  As you can see, he used cedar fence boards, posts, and other odds and ends.  I think this is a great example of the success you can have with a little imagination and some old stuff.  Steve builds all kinds of furniture for his wife's shop, Just Looking, in Texas.

Here are some more examples:

Outdoor bench made from recycled cedar fence materials.

Side table made from old sewing machine cabinet.

Standing cabinets made from old kitchen wall cabinets.

Child's bench made from twin bed headboard and footboard.

Hutch cabinet made with old window shutters.

Coffee table made from recycled weathered wood.

Absinthia Returns, Part 10

A second-hand store in Rockport, TX

This is part of a continuing series of email letters exchanged with my Swedish friend, Absinthia. To see the whole series, start with  Living a Simple Life.

Second-Hand Crafting: Fabrics, Yarn

The practice of recyling and re-using is something my mother and the women in her family were very good at.  Since then, our culture has done a flip-flop on that, and I'm happy to see that Absinthia is leading the way back to this important way of life!

Hello,

When I go shopping, I go to second-hand stores. Mostly I look for curtains and bed linens in natural materials like cotton, linen, hemp, and wool. I never care what color it is. I can dye it easily if I don´t like it, as long as it is in a natural material. I mostly look for solid colored items, but sometimes I find a nicely patterned cloth too.

When I get home I wash everything as hot as possible, depending upon what kind of material it is. When that is done, I dye it if necessary. And then I make it into whatever I want to make it into.

If I find something knitted or crocheted, I buy it if the yarn is a natural fiber and in good condition. At home I frog the yarn, wash it, and let it air dry hanging with a bit of weight to make it straight again. If needed, I dye it too.

Curtains

Bed sheets can be made into curtains with very little sewing.  I make a small ordinary hem at the bottom.  Then at the top, I make a wide hem, wide enough to fit over the curtain rod. Then I either crochet a nice curtain tie-back, or if I have enough left over from the sheet, I sew a curtain tie-back. Very easy.

Table Napkins

Second-hand curtains and bed sheets can be made into napkins, as long as the fabric is cotton or linen.  Hemp is too scratchy. Just measure up what you think is the ideal size for a napkin with extra allowed for the hems. Fold the cloth into a bunch of this size, cut up, and then hem the edges. Voíla, you have a family pack of matching napkins, for almost no cost at all!  :-)

-Absinthia

Dear Absinthia,

My good friend, Alice, owns a resale shop.  She told me that often when a customer is interested in an item but hesitating to buy, she says to them:

“I don't want you to buy this if you're not going to use it or display it.  Will it end up in a closet?  The garage?  There are other people waiting to find it and love it.”

Now that's the kind of shopkeeper who helps us stay on track!!

-amanda

The conversation continues here:
Absinthia Returns, Part 11