Recycling in textile art

I've been thinking a lot about recycling in textiles. I always try to do this where I can and I'm always looking for new ways to use up the bits. I'm a terrible hoarder and I save EVERYTHING!

... scrap paper, wrapping paper, envelopes, labels, tags, etc. all get used either in my sketchbooks, inchies, collages, made into mini journals (which I paint and stitch on) or recycled into paper pulp, handmade paper or papier mache. Recently, I used up some of it in the Erosion Bundle Project

... tin foil, sweetie wrappers, plastic carrier bags, card bags and acetate sheets usually get zapped with my heat gun or soldering iron to make beads or are distressed, distorted or heat bonded to other materials to create interesting textures in textiles

... jam jars and glass jars are used to store my Brusho inks when I mix up my ink powders. I like to mix the powders to create different shades and it's handy to have jars already mixed up

... leftover metallic threads and fabric scraps (even the tiniest pieces) are kept in little pots for re-using in my glitzy bits fabric sandwiches and embellishing tiny pieces of textile art

Distress

This is a piece I'm working on at the moment with my global warming theme in mind. I'm thinking about distress and holes and icy water melting. The base is made from a layer of felt, a layer of chiffon, glitzy bits and leftover snippets, then another layer of sheer chiffon fabric. I'm in the process of free machine stitching circles for holes all over the piece

You can see I've started to cut away the edges in the corner. I will do this all around the piece. I've also started to "zap" the chiffon layer with a heat gun, soldering iron and scissors to get through to the glitzy bits. The heat not only melts the chiffon layer but also distorts the little bits underneath melting and bonding them together giving an interesting look and texture

Detail of distress

Detail of distress
















I will show it finished very soon ... that will make me get on with it!

Heart detail

I used some of the fabric to make a sweet heart

I tried using sweetie wrappers to make beads. I found that wrappers from Quality Street choccies wouldn't melt at all! Sweetie wrappers from Cadbury's Roses, however, worked fine! They were thinner and melted and bonded a treat

Melting fun!











I made a little batch of beads using various materials, Tyvek, sweetie wrappers, plastic bags, metallic fabrics that melted to a plastic texture and chiffons which distorted, wrapped in Madeira metallic thread

Lovely textures!

Have a good creative week and try to think about ways to recycle in your projects.

I would love to hear your ideas for recycling in textile art

Carolyn x