How to Find Items to Upcycle

It's no secret, I love reclaiming discarded materials and upcycling them into something else. My craft supplies are equal parts commercially produced and found objects. One of the advantages of reusing is the cost: free! But where to get started?

Freecycle is a fast-growing global network of people who want to keep usable items out of landfills. Simple to use, just plug your zip code into the website to find your nearest group. Browse the "Offer" ads, you may luck out and get a sewing machine, yarn, fabric, or other supplies. I've personally given away big bags of fabric scraps and beads through freecycle.

Hudson Valley Materials Exchange, located in New Paltz, New York, is open to the public. The fees are extremely reasonable, and the place is a treasure trove. Be prepared to give yourself plenty of time to explore. The stock changes all the time, so you're bound to find loads of interesting salvaged items. According to their website the most recent donations include silkscreen frames, small boxes, and lampshade fabric and trim. Long Island's Material Resource Center in Ronkonkoma is a similar organization.
Another great source for upcycled materials is right under your nose- your house and neighborhood. Before you recycle or throw something away, give it a second glance. Magazines, greeting cards and other paper goods can easily be repurposed into gift tags, scrapbook embellishments, and other items. {NewNew} member Copabananas has used sewing patterns and manila envelopes to make the tags above.
Throw a party, and you'll have plenty of bottle caps to craft with. Deafdog is a bartender with many upcycled bottlecap magnets in her eclectic etsy shop. See pulpsushi's {NewNew} tutorial to learn how to make your own.Look at an item's packaging before tossing it. Glass jars are fabulous for storing small craft supplies like beads and buttons. Paint or pretty paper can make a simple box into a pleasing catch-all. A little glass etching can bring a boring jar or vase new life. Maybe that candy tin would make a good keepsake, like Waisze's scrapbook tins?

Participating in a cleanup is a fun way to find unique items for crafting while improving your community. I lead cleanups for my day job, and encourage volunteers to keep the most interesting items aside. Sea glass, broken jewelry, small toys and other interesting trinkets can easily be cleaned up and repurposed. Check out the work of {NewNew} member Glass is my Name. In addition to collecting sea glass from the beaches of Long Island, she upcycles everyday bottles into unique jewelry.

It's not hard to get into the habit of keeping an eye on the street when you go out. In my travels I've seen the sidewalks of New York City yield treasures ranging from a plastic monkey tiny enough to add to a bracelet, to a lone lost earring in SoHo, ripe for reinvention. The secret to sidewalk hunting is to keep your eyes open.

Lauren
paperelle.etsy.com

Using Upcycled Materials

Upcyle is a term generally used to denote the re-use of materials bound for the trash in the creation of new items. It's generally associated with environmentalism as it reduces waste and promotes imaginative recycling. Many {NewNew} members upcycle their materials into wonderfully inventive new pieces that are each unique.

Search "newnewteam, upcycle" on Etsy or look through these featured shops whose products focus on the re-use of materials. In all fairness, I will go alphabetically...

First we have Beadscarf, who focuses her products on re-using vintage scarves and neckties into new accessories. Items can be custom ordered, turning an old scarf with sentimental meaning into an original Beadscarf. I can't think of a better use for wedding ties or grandmas's old scarf to keep the memories alive in such a vibrant way.

Cakehouse also uses only reclaimed materials in her work, breathing new life into vintage bedding to create napkins, place mats and coasters for your home. Further decorated with her signature llama or cat water-based silkscreen, each item merges the old with the new.

As a self-proclaimed "serial obsessive crafter", Groundsel focuses her crafting activities on re-using a wide range of materials to create bags, wallets and tissue cozies. With purses made from upcycled sweaters, or wallets that began their lives as plastic bags, Groundsel brings an environmental consciousness to her crafting.Paperelle uses mainly upcycled materials in her paper origami, creating jewelry from upcycled Upstate New York maps or Japanese Teen Magazines to name a few, and sometimes embellished with crystals to further accent these One Of A Kind (OOAK) earrings.

All month long we will be featuring upcycled {NewNew} goods, tips on getting crafty while recycling, Springtime features and general about town reporting for metro New York!

-Kimm
KimmChi.etsy.com

Cabin Fever Project #2: The T-Shirt Book Cover

by Lorina of The Original Beadscarf

Everytime my mother-in-law goes somewhere on vacation, she has this almost primal need to buy my husband and myself t-shirts emblazoned with the place she has just returned from. Now while it's very endearing of her to think of us, and I do graciously accept it, I never, ever wear them. However, I do tuck it away so that I might give those shirts a second life someday.

And so here's a nifty little project for you to try out, when you don't want to go out, when it's cold out. It's a take on the paper book cover that we were forced as kids to cover all our books with.

The T-Shirt Book Cover

You'll need:

t-shirt (preferably one with an interesting pattern, you can also try concert T's!)
book (that you want to cover)
good pair of scissors
tailor's chalk/pencil
tape measure
straight pins
needle and thread, (preferably a sewing machine)

How to:

1. Place your t-shirt on a flat surface and your book (open) on to the area you would like to use for your cover.


2. Measure the book and cut the t-shirt around the book while giving an allowance of 3" on the sides, and 1.5" on the top and bottom of the book, like so:
















3. Fold the top and bottom excess edging parts in to create a sturdy and clean edge for your book cover and pin down like so:

















4. Sew the edges down:

5. Fold and sew down the sides of the cover being very careful to get as close to the edge as possible (1/8"), this is where you create the "pocket" for the front and back covers of the book.

6. Put your swanky new book cover on your book!



7. Show off your fancy new book cover.....maybe even to the mother-in-law who gave you that tourist t-shirt, lest it inspire her to give you more t-shirts!!!! Enjoy!!!


For more great blogs from Lorina of The Original Beadscarf, click HERE!

Upcycled Book Tote

There is one New Year's resolution that I'm really looking forward to, and that is to read more books. Motherhood and my home business keeps me so busy, that I rarely reach for a book now. There is nothing more satisfying to do on a frosty January evening than cozying-up on my couch wrapped in warm blanket with a cup of tea and reading a great book.

My kids really enjoy trips to the library, and check out tons of books to take home. To keep them safe and prevent loosing this precious cargo, I decided to make a tote from an old pair of jeans.
For this project you will need:
~ pair of old jean pants
~ machine thread
~ scissors or rotary cutter
~ measuring tape
~ needle
~ embroidery floss
~ buttons
~ fabric pencil or chalk
~ sewing machine
~ cutting mat
~ omnigrid ruler

1. Using side seams of the pants as a guide, make a cut all the way to the bottom.

2. Lay out back of the pants flat and tuck any excess fabric under the back seam until flat and pin it in place.

3. Measure 13 inches from the top of the pants and mark it with a fabric pencil or chalk in two places, then connect them drawing a line all the way to the edge of the fabric.

4. Cut with scissors adding 1/2in for seam allowance.

5. Using upper corner of each pocket as a guide, mark vertical seam lines and cut adding 1/2in of allowance. Make sure, that the distance between the pockets and edge of the fabric is the same on both sides.

Please note, if you are using pants in smaller size and would like to make your tote larger, add strips of fabric on each side.

6. Lay out leg part of the pants flat on your work table, pin down piece of the tote with packets on top and cut out with scissors using edge of the ready piece as a guide adding 1inch of seam allowance on top.

7. Measure bottom and the side of the tote piece without the pockets, and cut out one 5inch wide strip of fabric for the bottom of the tote, and 2 strips for the sides.

8. Cut out also two, 4in wide strips of fabric for the handles, I would like them to measure 30in and will add another 3in to the length to secure them in place.

9. Using fabric pencil or chalk, write the word "BOOKS" on the larger piece without the pockets, and hand stitch the outline using any type of stitch you'd like.

10. Time for sewing! Remember that axcess fabric we tucked under the "butt" seam? Using your machine, make a stitch on the edge of factory seam securing excess fabric.

11. Pin down two side strips of fabric to front and back of the tote, and sew all the pieces together. Your extra seam allowance will be sticking out on top of the tote. Make sure also, that the inside of fabric is facing out.
12. Using zigzag stitch finish edges of the seams.

13. Pin together and sew front and back pieces to the bottom strip of fabric between side seams. The bottom piece should have a seam allowance on both ends. Sew the short ends of the bottom piece and side pieces together and finish seams with zigzag stitch.

14. To finish the top edge of the tote, use zigzag stitch or double fold bias tape ( I had some leftover from another project). Fold the edge to the inside and stitch 1/2 in from the top edge.

15. To make straps, sew edges of previously cut fabric, iron the seams, turn them inside out and iron again.

16. Secure the straps to the bag and finish embellishing it with buttons.

Embellishing part is so much fun, so go wild! Let your kids make drawings of their favourite book characters with permanent fabric markers, use buttons to spell out "BOOKS" or "READ". Use ribbons, patches, beads or scraps of colorful fabric.
Have fun reading!!