Wait! You Can Make That? 43 Brilliant Upcycle Ideas: Free Tutorials
Upcycle your useful leftovers into gifts or other useful items; after all, you’ve already purchased the necessary materials! You won’t believe the great things you can make out of discarded waste. I’m getting ready for another quilt retreat, so I’m digging into my scraps for an ‘upcycle’ quilt top!
All of these tutorials and patterns are free, and I really think you’ll love putting useful materials to use in creative ways. As always, I love seeing all the ways you use my patterns and ideas; please tag me on Instagram @sewcanshe so I can check out what you’re working on now.
Adorable Gnomes from Old Socks
I know you got Christmas socks last year, and maybe the bottoms are worn. Use the adorable, snuggly material to whip up some sock gnomes. The possibilities are endless!
Chic Decor from a Cutting Board and a Pocket
Pockets have many uses! Old cutting boards (or inexpensive ones from garage sales or thrift stores) have fewer. But when you put them together you get something really special. The Apple Street Cottage shows you their idea here.
Pretty Vases from Yogurt Bottles
Julie teaches how to make real pressed flowers and use them to make these delicate and one of a kind home flower vases.
Warm Slippers from Old Sweaters
That sweater isn’t completely ruined; use it to make slippers! Learn how with this free tutorial.
Unique Fandom Art from Second Hand Paintings
Hit the thrift stores and grab up some landscapes for your next project. These upcycled art pieces are clever and personalized. If you can’t paint, consider dusting off your die cutter or cutting out the bits of packaging from your geeked-out accessories.
Useful Denim Wine Tote from Old Jeans
Everyone loves to upcycle jeans because denim only looks better with age! Spoonful of Sugar shares how to make this darling upcycled denim wine tote, but I think the tote would be great for lots of other things too.
Cozy Denim Quilt from Old Jeans
One of the most popular materials for upcycling projects is fabric from used jeans! Denim quilts are warm and durable. They are also beautiful and easy to sew.
Pro Tip: Use a denim needle to eliminate frustration. Denim needles are stronger and sharper than the average sewing machine needle.
Convenient I Spy Game from Leftover Container
When my kids were little, they loved having games to make road trips go by faster. Cat has an awesome idea to turn a Chick-fil-A container into an I-spy travel game. Don’t forget to hot-glue it shut!
Snuggly Pet Bed from a Fleece Sweater
You won’t believe the clever way Stephanie turns a fleece sweater into a cat bed. You can use it for small dogs too, of course.
Sturdy Pincushion from a Candle Jar
It always seems a shame to throw away a perfectly good candle jar, especially the ones without a lid. Now you have something amazing to try, and as a bonus you get to use up some scraps! This upcycled pincushion is beautiful and something I would totally use.
Handy Button Pouches from Shirt Cuffs
Look at the cute button pouches you can make from shirt cuffs! This is a great tutorial for teaching kids to sew. They’ll have an adorable pouch when they’re done, and no one has to sew a buttonhole or attach a button!
Cute Tote Pocket from a Jean Pocket
We all love the pockets on our favorite old jeans! The pocket can be removed with scissors or a seam ripper and sewn to a different item, like a bag. This project works with inexpensive new canvas bags or a bag that you make yourself from a simple bag tutorial.
Sweet Doll Bed from a Magazine Rack
I don’t do very many furniture upcycle projects, but here’s one that I would love! And after making the darling doll bed, I would have so much fun sewing all the doll bedding!
Glitter Pencil Pouch from Old Packaging
Use leftover vinyl from a package of bed sheets to make this sparkly glitter vinyl pouch! All you need is the upcycled vinyl, a zipper, and your favorite glitter!
Nostalgic Quilts and Soft Toys from Baby Clothes
Precious baby clothes that were outgrown too fast have so many uses! Cut hearts to make an applique baby quilt, make soft plush toys, or use this adorable tutorial to turn a memorable outfit into a bear!
Comfy Drawstring Bag from a Shirt
This upcycling project is perfect if you are learning to sew. Turn an unwanted tee shirt into an incredible drawstring backpack. Kids, teenagers, and adults all use them!
Sweet Smelling Sachets from Fabric and Potpourri
Use your scraps or cut small, pretty pieces of fabric in simple shapes. The DIY Mommy has a tutorial for this no-sew upcycle project, but you could also sew around the edges of other shapes to close them permanently.
Practical Tote from a T-Shirt
Did you know you can make a bag from a t-shirt with very little sewing? Learn how to make a 5-minute shopping tote or book bag in this tutorial.
UnPaper Towels from Used Towels and Flannel
If an unwanted towel still has good fabric in it, cut that fabric into squares, sew a cute piece of fabric to the other side, and you have darling washcloths in any size you want to make! This upcycle tutorial shows how.
Reusable Makeup Wipes from Washcloths
Say goodbye to single-use makeup wipes! Here is a great zero-waste alternative.
Child’s Dress from T-Shirts
Any tee shirt can turn into a cute dress with a little bit of elastic for the waist and another shirt, skirt, or some fabric for the bottom of the dress. Get inspiration from this free tutorial.
Warm Mittens from Wool Sweaters
There are so many uses for used sweaters! One of my favorites is mittens. Throw a sweater with wool fibers into the washer and dryer, and it will become felted. Felted fabric makes warm and water-resistant mittens. Here’s a darling free mitten sewing pattern.
Felted Wool Hat
Let’s not forget that you can create other items from wool sweaters that you intentionally (or unintentionally) felted. This includes hats, bowls, and small toys.
Easy Plastic Bag Holder from Shirt Sleeves
Sew a perfect bag holder for a cute kitchen accessory. It’s a fast and super useful project, and a bit of a memory as your husband’s sleeve is holding all those bits of plastic!
Cute Girl’s Skirt from the Rest of the Shirt
The sleeve is gone anyway, so turn the rest of the shirt into a cute little girl skirt.
Rope Covered Bin from an Old Bin and Scraps
Turn an unwanted bin into a decorative basket with some inexpensive rope. I love how this tutorial helps you turn something unwanted into something usable and pretty!
Portable Pressing Table from a TV Tray
How many times have you seen those old-fashioned TV trays at the thrift store? Grab one to turn it into a portable pressing table to have next to your sewing machine. Amy, at Diary of a Quilter, has an easy tutorial showing how.
Patchwork Quilt from Clothing Pieces
Sometimes called a memory quilt, a simple patchwork quilt made from meaningful clothing items is a treasure. Here’s an easy patchwork quilt tutorial to get you started.
Patchwork Quilt from Sweaters
Wrap up in a beautiful blanket sewn from sweaters! This would be a gorgeous way to keep everyone warm during holiday movies.
Fun Bean Bags or (Boo Boo Bags) from Clothes
Old fashioned bean bags are still in style. A small bag is called a juggling bag. Fill them with rice, keep them in the freezer, and it’s a boo-boo bag. Warm it up for a therapeutic heating bag. Fill them with a coarser material, like beans, to play cornhole.
Colorful Rag Rug from Larger Scraps
Making a braided rag rug requires many fabric strips. It’s easy to cut or tear these strips from new or old fabric such as clothing, sheets, or curtains that are no longer usable.
Rope Bowl from Smaller Scraps
A beautiful rope bowl requires shorter strips of fabric that can be cut from sentimental clothing pieces or other items we don’t want to throw away. The only other material required is an inexpensive clothesline rope.
Upcycle Earrings from a Toothpaste Tube
No one will know these beautiful earrings came from a plastic toothpaste tube! Cat shares a step-by-step tutorial showing you exactly how to make upcycled earrings.
Decorative Pillow from a Chunky Sweater
Throw pillows are an excellent way to repurpose and upcycle old sweaters. Sometimes they have a hole that you don’t want to repair, and sometimes they’re stained. Other times they’re just too small or worn. Those are the perfect sweaters for a throw pillow! It’s an easy project for a beginner too!
Stylish Scarves from Vintage Lace
Vintage lace can be beautiful again on so many projects. Sew lace to the ends of a store-bought or handmade scarf.
Pencil Roll from Burlap and Lace
Another way to upcycle vintage lace is to pair it with a contrasting material like burlap or canvas that can be recycled from other items. This burlap and lace pencil roll is especially pretty. Use lace on top of burlap to make pretty table runners, pillows, and wall art too!
Gift Tags from Scraps of Fabric and Paper
Make some thoughtful peek-a-boo gift tags to keep with your wrapping paper stash. You could even use leftover wrapping paper instead of fabric, now that I’m thinking about it. Here’s the tutorial that will get you started and keep you hooked on upcycle projects!
Zipper Pouches from Candy Bags
Whether you want to keep the garbage out of the dump, or you want to highlight the treats you love, this free upcycle pattern and video tutorial are for you! Sew useful zipper pouches to sell at a craft fair, or to make a personal statement.
Durable Chew Toys from Denim
There are so many ways to upcycle denim; it’s a tough and beautiful fabric with endless uses! Here is a video tutorial for making dog toys from your old jeans. A benefit here is that you don’t have to sew these! Learn some braiding and tying skills along the way; I love learning new techniques!
Reusable Shopping Bag from Pet Food Bags
Every time I throw away a dogfood bag I think, “I know I can use this for something amazing.” I mean, they’re so tough it’s not like it’s going to tear. Even if you try to tear it you really can’t! I actually remember my sister-in-law introducing this idea to me many years ago, but I have never taken time to make it happen. Today is the day! So here is a video tutorial on how to upcycle a stellar material into a reusable tote.
Farm Girl Apron from Denim
Do you see the usefulness of denim? Actually, you’re probably here because of that giant bin of usable denim just waiting to be upcycled. I have one too! This is a clever and pretty way to use denim. You can even keep the pockets! Check out this pattern from creativegreenliving.com.
Handy Sewing Kit from a Potholder
One thing I love about this is that it’s already the perfect size! Upcycle an old potholder into a useful sewing kit with this tutorial, and rest easy knowing you didn’t waste anything today.
More from SewCanShe
20 Sewing Supplies You Can Score at Your Thrift Store!
Warm and Wonderful: 62 Free Throw Quilt Patterns
25 Dog-Worthy Sewing Patterns – Treat Your Best Friend
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