About My --------- Upcycled Potholders!

 I thought I'd write a series of posts here about the things I sell in my shop DebUpcycles. Answering questions like... Why they're upcycled, how they're upcycled, what materials I use, and where I get the fabric. I don't have any big trade secrets so here it goes.

I'm going to start with my denim potholders. People, mostly men but some women (including me) wear their jeans until they're falling apart.

 Most thrift shops don't put these out, although I wish they would, so I go to the Goodwill Outlet here where they sell all the items not good enough for the stores by the pound. I also find some at yard sales where they'll either be very cheap or (awesome!) in the "free" box.

I also find scraps of cotton batting, leftovers from some ones quilt project, at various places.



 In the first potholders pictured I used scraps of denim in another shade to make the hearts and outlined them with machine stitching in red so they would stand out. In the picture above, you can see the outline of the stitching on the back of the potholder. For the ones on the left, the apples were cut from scraps I had leftover from making a pillow out of a mans shirt which was also found at the Goodwill Outlet, the leaves were just scraps I had picked up somewhere.
Everything except the thread is upcycled or used up from scraps, if I run out of something like the cotton batting I don't go running to a regular retail store for more. I just make something else until I find it again.

I love the challenge of finding ways to use the things I buy to their fullest extent. Even the scraps that are too small for anything else end up in pincushions or my compost pile as long as they're natural fibers.

Remember, we only have one Earth, it's time to start taking care of it.

From Pajamas to Pillows and More

I have a day off today with nothing to do except go out to dinner with some friends for my birthday tonight. That doesn't happen often, the nothing to do that is. The birthday happens only once a year.

We just had a Goodwill outlet open near us. If you didn't know, this is the place they sell all the stuff they don't think is good enough to sell at the regular thrift stores. I love the place but have to drag the college boy (24 year old son) with me because the walk from the nearest bus stop to it, isn't in the nicest neighborhood.

I found a pair of Christmas pajamas there the last time I went. Really nice fabric and just knew I could do something with them. After stretching them out on the bed and studying them I decided the top would make a great pillow and I could make gift bags out of the arms and legs. I've already sold the bags but will be posting more soon. The pillow is available in my Deb Upcycles Etsy shop.