With over 12 million tons of textiles trashed annually and less than a quarter of it being recycled, cloth is a huge part of our waste stream. Keep your old clothes, blankets and towels out of a landfill with these three crafts.

1.  Darning 

Ever snagged your favorite sweater only to watch helplessly as it unravels? Fret no more. With the old practice of darning you can become the knitwear hero. Darning is a cross between sewing and weaving that uses a needle and thread. The goal is to weave a new patch of thread over worn fabric or holes. Darning can be used  to repair many of your favorite items including socks, shirts, and hats. 

2. Quilting

Have any outgrown clothes? Maybe a worn towel? Well, start a collection. Quilting is the art of turning scraps of fabric into an intricate and often beautiful blanket. Once an item has been used beyond repair or lost its use, store it until you have gathered a good amount. You can then cut it up into usable pieces and sew them into a warm and cozy quilt.

3. Felting

Shrunk your favorite wool sweater? Does it have a hole that just can’t be fixed? Turn it into felt. Felting is a technique that turns woven animal fibers into a sheet of matted material. This transformations allows you to cut, shape and sew knitted material into others objects. I have seen many slippers and mittens. You can even use felt as a design element or turn it into cuddly stuffed animal.

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