T-shirts can make you and others smile, evoke good memories, and start conversations with friends and strangers. That all goes for naught, though, if through age or sheer number they stay deep in your closet.
A Redditor crafted a fun new purpose for 25 shirts with a bespoke quilt that gained one big fan in their parents' dog. They shared pictures of the quilt and the pup to the r/upcycling subreddit, and cited it as a "great way to upcycle."
The modest Redditor characterized their skills and the quilt as "pretty basic," and revealed they learned how to use a sewing machine for the project. They also gave a tongue-in-cheek nod to the dog in the photo who "helped." They say the pup will be getting "some tug-of-war rope toys" that they'll fashion out of remaining shirt scraps.
As for the quilt, it was a crowd-pleaser on the subreddit. A "Dumb of Ass" T-shirt got a couple of shoutouts, while another user praised the OP's concept overall by writing that "it's like the T-shirt wall at Hot Topic" and that they "love it."
Not only is the Redditor's solution fun and creative, it does a lot of good for the planet.
Discarded clothing can fill up methane-producing landfills that contribute to the warming of the planet. Finding new uses for clothes through upcycling avoids adding to that problem. Other clever uses for old T-shirts include creating tote bags out of them without any sewing required, as one mom did. These hacks can also save you money if they allow you to avoid buying something new.
There are other ways to prevent clothes from ending up going to waste. Services like Trashie and ThredUp can pay you for used textiles. It's also encouraging to see that recycled materials can result in some very trendy clothing, as a partnership between Uniqlo and student designers put on display.
The OP's T-shirt quilt galvanized users to do the same.
One wrote: "You've inspired me! I've always steered clear of this idea because quilting intimidates me, but this looks great!"
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Giving me money back 💰 Another user suggested it as a great way to memorialize loved ones.
"For anyone who has to deal with the really difficult task of going through a loved one's things after they pass — this is a great project to make with their clothing," they wrote.
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