6 Ways to recycle an old denim

We moms, should learn everything about recycling so we don't waste anything instead we make something new out of waste. Denims are pants that usually made of maong fabric. A denim easily becomes out of fashion. We've witnessed the sudden change of denim trends from bootleg to straight cut, from straight cut to skinny and we don't want to be left behind the trends. 

This is the main reason why most of us, especially ladies have a collection of different denim cuts.

Some straight cut denims can be easily converted to skinny style by cutting an inch or two from the sides.
Cutting should begin at the hip line down the bottom. I did this procedure in some of my denims but you can't do the same to other styles of old denims. In this case, you have to know that there are other creative ways to recycle or reinvent your old fashioned denims. Below are some if the great and easy ways to give your old fashioned denims a new life:

• Three Fourths- by cutting the below knee part of a denim, you easily converted it into a three fourths pants or as what they so called pedal. Just fold the  bottom about 3 inches and from there, fold an inch inside to prevent ripping. You can either sew the entire folded part or stitch the two sides alone.
• Shorts- if you don't want it to be long, you can cut it shorter so you make a shorts. Used denims are comfortable to wear as shorts and it's even better than buying a new one.

• Cellphone case- the leftover denim cloth can be recycled to a cellphone case. It needs just a basic sewing. Simply measure the size of your cellphone and cut the denim according to your measurements. Remember to leave a half inch allowance for the stitch run. Adding zipper or magic tape is optional.
• Coin purse- cut small square about 4x4 inches. Attach a zipper on the mouth and sew the three sides then revert and you're done with a coin purse. Please view our complete tutorial in making a coin purse out of waste materials at http://diycraftarts.blogspot.com/2012/09/diy-coin-purse-from-remnants-of-cloth.html
• Pot holder- a maong fabric is best to make a pot holder. Because of it's thickness, you can hold hot metals with it. I have written a DIY tutorial to make a pot holder and you can find it at http://diycraftarts.blogspot.com/2011/12/how-to-make-pot-holders-kitchen-rags_19.html
• Doormat- last but not the least, a doormat made of used old denim. A denim fabric is durable and absorbent. Making a doormat out of it is a great and a perfect idea. You can find a complete DIY procedure of doormats at http://diycraftarts.blogspot.com/2014/08/make-super-absorbent-doormats-out-of.html

DIY Quick Repair of defective zipper

It happens oftentimes when you're out of town and the zipper of your backpack has defunct unexpectedly or you have favorite jacket, short or pants which has zipper malfunction. If you encounter such situation, do not immediately cast your things into scrap, recycle them  instead.

There are two types of defective zipper: one is non-repairable.
This defect has no other solution than bringing them to a sewer to replace with a new zipper. The zipper is non-repairable if it has missing teeth. The other type of zipper defect is the one which is repairable. When all the  teeth are still intact, the zipper can be repaired easily and quickly.

 The common reason of zipper malfunction is because of a loose slider. A zipper slider is the zipper head with two sides sliding to close a zipper. If it gets too lose, it won't be able to zip a Zipper. It's very simple to repair a lose slider. You just need a pliers to tighten the sides of the slider.

Here's the DIY procedure to quickly repair a zipper.

• Get a pliers 
• Tighten the sides of the slider 
• Then zip and you're done! 

 There's another diy procedure of repairing a worn out zipper. It requires a little stitching but you can do it by following the procedure, please refer to the images.

• First find a used zipper from your old pants, shorts or jacket. 
• Cut both sides of used zipper 
• Pull the slider and disjoint from the zipper 
• Untie the stitch of the top Zipper you wanted to repair( see the images)
• Insert both sides of zipper to slider as a replacement 
• Slide down the zipper 
• Then restore the untied stitch of the pants.

You can use this diy procedure to repair all kinds of zippers. If you find this article helpful, please share!

Different Ways to Recycle old T-shirts

No matter how old or worn out your shirt is, there still different ways to reinvent it. Recycling T-shirt is a hobby that could give you so many ideas. I was amazed when I searched the internet about T-shirt recycling or up cycling. There's so much ideas that you can use to recycle old t- shirts. I tried to make my own T-shirt recycling ideas ang this is what I'm gonna share to you my dear readers.

A T-shirt is usually made of cotton, a durable fabric that you can reuse even after it's worn out. I only picked some easy ways to recycle a shirt so I could make this post fast and simple.  I cut my old shirt to 1/2 inch thick and those strands lead me to make different recycled crafts like what you see on the picture.

• Cord- the strands can be used as cords of different purposes. Sometimes we need a cord to tie something like packages, a cord to replace a duster's straps or a cord of mosquito net. Just roll the straps and keep for future purposes.
• Braided jumping rope- make your own jumping rope to lose weight or to be played by your kids. The cotton fabric is heavy when braided so its perfect to jump on it.
• Braided Belt- braid shirt strands to fours. Braided T-shirt strands is best to make a belt. You can match it with your pants or dresses. It can also be a kid's fashionable belt.
• Tied net- tie the strands together one by one and make your own basketball ring's net. Tying is very easy just look at the image to catch the idea. Tied shirt cords can also be made a swim suit tops or a simple head band. It's definitely no stitching needed.
• A yarn for crochet- you can also make yarns from the strands you made. An ideal thickness to make a yarn for crochet is 1/3 inches. From these shirt yarns you can crochet rugs, hair bands, purses, bags and floor mats. You can also make bonnets out of shirt strands.
• Bolero (blazers)-the leftover shirt top can be kept to be your blazer or bolero in tagalog. This can be your sleeveless tops to keep your arm flesh from exposure.  
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• Aother way to reinvent and to recycle T-shirt is to weave the strands. From weaving, you can make bags, doormats, vase mats, pot holders, pouches and purses. The idea of recycling old shirts is not limited as long as your heart is engaged into recycling. Always remember that waste materials can be reinvented just reduce, reuse and recycle.

DIY foldable eco friendly shopping bag

Here at Crafty Mom Ideas, we give attention in making DIY products to help all interested mothers out there to learn how to make basic products we need in our house holds. This post is very special because it concerns our environment and how to protect it.
I'm so glad that authorities in most provinces and cities are now strictly implementing the "no plastic bags" policy in all merchants. It should have done a long time ago, maybe it did not become this worst. We all knew that plastic bags are non biodegradable, it can be very harmful to our environment. It takes 15 years or more before these plastic bags are totally decomposed.The tendency is to accumulate these wastes in our environment. It's very possible that we can create another mountain, a mountain of garbage! I'm inspired to make this article, why? Because this is another helpful DIY project. It's something we should learn to. I know some of you see things like what I do.I hate paper bags! I hate it because it's messy,it's not durable, and most of all it's not comfortable to handle.Eco-friendly bags are good but do I always have to buy it every time I buy groceries? Well, I have a simple solution here, to make DIY Eco shopping bag.This Eco shopping bag is something different. It's durable,reusable, handy and foldable. You can use new fabrics but I suggest,use recycled fabrics to make a double purpose: one is to save money and the other one is to recycle. Recycling is a very good hobby, it can do a lot to save our environment to its speedy destruction.This is why I created this DIY recycling craft blog, I am an advocate, I want to teach and encourage people to be one too.

Things needed to make a foldable shopping bag:

• 2 pieces 15x20 inches used cloth. You can also quilt assorted used clothes.
•  2 pieces 5x20 inches cloth for straps
• 5x30 inches cloth to hold straps 
• 12 inches zipper 

Procedures :

• Connect the ends of the three sides of your 15x30 cloth. 
• Double the stitch to ensure durability. 
• Fold the straps lengthwise , the edges inside. 
• Sew both sides.
• Attach the straps by inserting the ends to the holder. 
• Position them 5 inches below the mouth of the bag. 
• Attach the zipper at the face of the bag, please refer to the picture to figure out how it should be attached and 
• Lastly, fold and sew the mouth of your bag and your done!