Montilone - The upcycled T-shirt: 28 easy-to-make projects that save the planet - clothing, accessories, home dec & gifts

Publisher: Amy Marson

Creative Director: Gailen Runge

Art Director: Kristy Zacharias

Editor: S. Michele Fry

Technical Editors: Julie Waldman and Mary E. Flynn

Cover/Book Designer: April Mostek

Production Coordinators: Zinnia Heinzmann and Rue Flaherty

Production Editor: Katie Van Amburg

Illustrator: Lon Eric Craven

Photo Stylist: Lauren Toker

Photo Assistant: Mary Peyton Peppo

Style photography by Nissa Brehmer and instructional photography by Diane Pedersen, unless otherwise noted

Published by Stash Books, an imprint of C&T Publishing, Inc., P.O. Box 1456, Lafayette, CA 94549

Dedication

My dedication is to those who have come beforemay I be a worthy heir. To those who will come aftermay I be a worthy ancestor. For those I walk alongsidemay I be a worthy companion. To a legacy of courage, hope, honor, and loveI wrote this book for you.

Acknowledgments

If not for those of you who believed in me, even when I didnt believe in myself, my words would have never found their way to these pages. Im grateful for the unconditional love and support of my family and friends. Nothing you do goes unnoticed.

To Grammy and Nana for all the love.

A special thank-you to Lorie and Paul, who gave me my first sewing machineand Nick, who let me keep the nine or ninety that followed. I seem to have lost count.

To TW, DV, AF, DM for the Spark.

To Jessika Hepburn, Karen LePage, and Kimberly Klingthere is no doubt youd risk your hide for me.

Eternally grateful for cupcakes and the Oh My! Handmade Goodness community.

To the Hanics and the Devers families.

To Roxane Cerda, Michele Fry, and everyone at C&T Publishing for sharing in my enthusiasm and clocking endless hours to see it through.

To Britta Folden, Seth Godin, Lori-Ann Claurhout. To Turnkey Enterprises, Alice Voss-Kantor, Jo Leichte. And to Pinos Pizza delivery.

INTRODUCTION

How wonderful that no one need wait a single moment to improve the world.
Anne Frank

Youve taken the first step to help change the world. Armed with a pair of scissors and a pile of unwanted, outgrown, stained, or ripped T-shirts, together we are changing the way we consume and create. Whether you are looking for ways to reuse creatively, learning to sew, adopting eco-friendly habits, or trying to save moneythe T-shirt revolution wants you. Ive written this book as a pair of goggles that I hope will inspire you to look at things differently. Today well start with T-shirts, but tomorrow maybe you will seek ways to shift the status quo, freely express your inner desires, and make the world a better place through art.

SAVE THE PLANET: SEW!

I can still remember the day I fell in love with sewing. Frustration had me standing in front of my cleared-off kitchen table, staring at a boxed-up Brother sewing machine. I was tired of shopping for little boys clothing when I walked into every store and faced the same lackluster options. I wanted instead to design clothes for their quirky personalities (and to match their cloth diapers!). So I gathered up different materials I could find around the house, took a deep breath, and promised myself I was going to give sewing another try.

Yes, another try. The love hadnt come on my first attempt. My previous experience had left me with thread nests and a few broken needlesbut I had been all too stubborn to read any instruction manual. This time I was ready. I set out to repurpose or upcycle some clothing for my two little boys, and a few short hours later I emerged victorious with enough time to clear off the table and prepare for dinner!

Growing kids meant that a donation pile was always in progress: prime for picking fabrics where I would find just the right colors or patterns to use on whimsical appliqus right at home. Talk about convenience! As friends and family took notice, they began dropping off their unwanted clothes and requesting custom clothing for their kids too!

Sewing evolved into a passion of mine, but this story begins even before then. It was within the walls of the high school in my hometown of Phillipsburg, New Jersey, where I gained interest in all things agricultural, filling my class schedule with landscaping courses, animal science, and environmental education. I even picked up a part-time job on a local dairy farm. Did you know that a cow has four stomachs? Its true. I was intrigued and empowered by the direct connection that the agriculture sciences have on our economy, environment, and communities. Paired with my love for the outdoors, I pursued an environmental science major in college. My dream was to become a park ranger or teacher, so I could inspire younger generations to foster a connection with the natural world and responsible actions to sustain it.

These deep-rooted values are at the core of my sewing philosophy. I know firsthand the effects of our consumption and waste. Our daily choices impact future generations in ways we dont often think about. For instance, today the United States has 1,900 active municipal solid waste landfills. Within the next 20 years all of them will be full. What happens then?

I spent a lot of time honing my craft and mastering different aspects of sewing before launching my own clothing line, TrashN2Tees, in 2010. Every original design is made from 100% reclaimed materials. I joke that Ive found a way to combine all the loves of my life and call it a day job. But really, its true.

Sewing with a Purpose

Soon the TrashN2Tees blog was started. There, I began to share tips and tutorials to encourage and inspire others to consume less and recycle more. Although many of us cut up shirts to use as cleaning rags around the house, an alarming 11.1 million tons of textiles are discarded each year in the United States alone.

The numbers are staggering. The average person in the United States throws nearly 70 pounds of clothing into our landfills every single year. The Environmental Protection Agency says that 95% of this could be reused or recycled. I say that 100% can be creatively repurposed! I know that if I can teach people to sew, sharing tutorials, tips, and ideas to reimagine our waste, we can have an enormous impact.

Also, used clothing can be recycled into industrial rags, used in car seat insulation and sound-proofing material, or even shredded and respun into new cloth. Unfortunately, reliable local programs are not widely available, but some nonprofits accept used clothing and resell what they cant use to textile recyclers.

In 2011, I offered a mail-in rebate incentive and in doing so helped divert nearly 2,000 pounds of clothing from our landfills. In 2012, I launched a large-scale clothing recycling program that spans from the Midwest to the northeastern United States, and together weve collectively diverted more than 72 tons of clothing (equivalent to 404,407 T-shirts!) from our landfills. Even if you make only one project from this book, you are a part of that growing number. Can I count on you for T-shirt number 404,408? Why not invite a friend over and create together (404,409)! Just like that we can continue to grow our movement.

Today, locations nationwide participate in TrashN2Tees clothing recycling. You can find the nearest location by visiting trashn2tees.com.

Why T-Shirts?

You might not have a donation pile from a pair of kids with super growing powers at home, or a third-floor studio space with 200 pounds of T-shirts, but T-shirts are everywhereand sometimes even for free! If we peek inside any closet or drawer, we are bound to find at least one unworn T-shirt. Were more likely to find a dozen. After youve checked your own bottom drawer, ask friends and family for any shirts they might be waiting to turn into rags, and scout around for promotional tees at local events. If youre still on the hunt, T-shirts can be purchased for anywhere from 25 cents to $2.50; head to your nearest thrift store or stop by your neighborhood yard salesmeccas for T-shirt hunters. Scope out online sites, such as ThredUP, Craigslist, and eBay, for secondhand clothing. Keep in mind that small stains, rips, and cracked screen printing graphics or logos are welcome; were not simply refashioning these shirts but reinventing them into usable fabric. After you get your newly acquired stash home, be sure to run everything through the wash.