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Saturday, December 23, 2006

Do You Have a Rag Bag?

You have a rag bag, right? You know what a rag bag is - a bag, box, or storage container where you keep all of your old, torn, stained, or unwearable clothing and linens.

I knew you did. Who would throw all of that great material away?

A rag bag isn't just a frugal way of re-making your cast-offs into something useful, it's also a fun place to let your imagination go wild. I love my rag bag, because there is always something in there that I can use to fire my imagination.

I have found that there are some things that are just impractical to save, though. I can't come up with any useful ways of re-purposing bras and underwear. Although I have tried to re-use the elastic from them, they are usually too worn or stretched out by the time they make it to the rag bag.

Other things that I have found too impractical to save as material:
  • coats or clothing with many decorative seams - the useable material between the seams is too small to be of use
  • socks - these are good as dusting cloths though, so save them for that
  • slick, slinky polyester or nylon - I find this material too hard to handle and difficult to sew

The best things to keep in the rag bag:
  • cotton or blend sheets - remake into pillows, throws, window quilt backs, crocheted rugs
  • towels - remake into wash cloths, rugs, cleaning rags
  • curtains - remake into pillows, quilts, window quilt backs, crocheted rugs
  • tablecloths - remake into any of the above
  • cotton or blend dresses - remake into pillows, quilts, shirts
  • flannel, cotton, or blend shirts - remake into napkins, pillows, quilts
  • fleece or sweat pants and shirts - remake into reusable cloths for the Swiffer or Wet Jet mop, cleaning cloths when you need a material that holds water, throws
  • sturdy polyester or nylon - remake into pet beds, pillow covers for outdoor furniture
  • denim - remake into floor pillows, sit-upons, bed pillows, throws, purses or totes, rugs
A rag bag can be a treasure trove for those of us who like to sew or make crafts. Don't throw all that great material away unless it just can not be used for something else.

3 comments:

Dawn said...

I had a small rag container - I used a cut up milk container, but somehow we don't have it anymore and need to replace it.

(I fear that the consumerist monkey came in the night and stole it!)

Angie said...

That darn monkey! How did he get in there?

I keep so much material that I have (2) 3-drawer rolling plastic storage units to hold all of my rag material :-)

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