Pamela Ward - Upcycling DIY Projects: 45 Crafting Ideas for Gifting, Decorating, and Fashion

Upcycling DIY Projects

45 Crafting Ideas for Gifting, Decorating, and Fashion

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U pcycling is not only a great way to reduce your impact on the environment by reducing your consumption, but it is also a fun and creative way to express yourself. There are so many facets of life that upcycling can be applied to, from fashion to dcor to gifting and this book endeavors to share just 45 of the most popular upcycling ideas!

Upcycling DIY Projects: 45 Crafting Ideas for Gifting, Decorating and Fashion contains 15 upcycling gift ideas, 15 upcycling fashion ideas and 15 upcycling dcor ideas to choose from! So whether you are looking for a new dress or a new tabletop centerpiece, we have just what you are looking for!

U pcycling is an increasing trend in todays society, both as a means to reduce the human impact on the environment and as a way to repurpose usable items. While upcycling is a great hobby, there seems to be some confusion as to what it actually is. In this chapter, we will take a look at everything you need to know to understand the process of upcycling and how it can benefit you!

In this chapter, you will learn about:

• What is Upcycling?
• Upcycling Versus Recycling
• The Benefits of Upcycling

U pcycling is a method of creatively reusing items that have been discarded to make items that are more valuable or better in quality than the original item. While upcycling is particularly popular in todays society, it is not a new concept and is one that has been used for generations. While upcycling today has become something of a trend, and an outlet for creativity, generations ago upcycling was utilized out of necessity due to limited economic and material resources.

So just what can be upcycled? Anything! This is one of the greatest things about upcycling; it can be used to create just about anything from anything! Whether you are working with newspapers, old clothes, wine bottles or tires there are plenty of ways that these items can be repurposed.

S o if upcycling involves the reuse of items that have previously been used, what sets it apart from recycling? Upcycling focuses on the reuse and repurposing of items to create something new. In contrast, recycling involves breaking items down into their base materials so that those materials can be used to make something else. Where the items that are made during upcycling are often of more value than items they are made from, this is not usually the case with items that are recycled.

An example of upcycling would be taking old t-shirts, cutting fabric squares from them and creating a quilt out of them.

An example of recycling would be the recycling of glass bottles where the bottles are washed, crushed and melted so that the glass can be used to create new glass items such as bottles or jars.

S o what kinds of benefits come from upcycling that make it so popular and such a beneficial hobby? Lets take a look!

• Upcycling encourages creativity!
• Upcycling reduces our impact on the planet because it encourages the reuse of existing items instead of the production of new items. This in turn reduces a number of items in landfills and reduces pollution caused by new item manufacturing processes.
• Upcycling promotes the celebration of handmade and unique items.
• Upcycling is a way for some people to make money from items that would otherwise be thrown away!
• Upcycling is a great way to reuse items that you love that are no longer functional as they are because they are too worn, broken or used up.

T here are hundreds of ways to turn upcycling ideas into gifts no matter who your gift recipient is! In this chapter, we will take a look at 15 great upcycling gift ideas that you can take advantage of!

In this chapter, you will learn about:

• 15 Incredible Upcycling Gift Ideas

W ant to make that bottle of wine look a little special? How about a pant leg wine bag? Grab a pair of pants (skinny jeans tend to work best!) that have leg openings of around 6 wide. Measure up the leg of your pants 15, this will allow you 1 for seam allowance and a little extra room above the wine bottle to close the bag. Cut at your 15 mark, cutting straight across the leg. Turn the leg piece inside out and sew together the cut seam. Once sewn, turn the pant leg piece inside out and put your wine bottle inside! Finish this gift idea off by tying up the top around your wine bottle neck; you can use ribbon, twine or even strips of denim! You can even add a little more flare by adding craft flowers and a gift tag!

A great upcycling gift idea is a t-shirt pillow either made from the recipients favorite but exhausted t-shirt or made from a shirt they would like. Begin with an unwrinkled shirt and measure the shirt for your pillow size. With the measurements and shape of your pillow in mind, take a large piece of paper and draw out your pillow shape using the measurements that you took. Now pin your pattern to the t-shirt making sure to pin through the front and back of the shirt. Get the pattern as close to parallel to the sides of the shirt as you can. Now cut along the edges of your pattern and when you have finished unpin the paper from the shirt. You now have two pieces of material. Flip both pieces of material inside out and once again pull out your pins to pin them together. Keep your pins perpendicular to the edges of the edges of your material. With your sewing machine ready leave a border and sew up one side of the material using a straight stitch. Continue to sew up all sides of the pillow BUT leave a 2 gap at the end of your last edge to stuff the pillow. Now turn your material inside out and push polyester filling through the gap that you left on the last side. Once your pillow is full just sew up that small gap, and youre done!