Recycling Your Fabric Scraps (Yes, Recycling!)

I’ve always hated throwing away fabric. Even the little pieces. As you probably know, I have an entire Etsy shop dedicated to reusing fabric remnants! So why in the world it didn’t occur to me to recycle my fabric scraps before… I don’t know! I have no excuse! Except that maybe, just like everyone else, I didn’t really know you could! Oh I knew you could reuse fabric, and I do a lot of that. But I didn’t’ really know you could recycle it. But then I watched this video (if you haven’t seen it yet, it is worth watching!):

And it blew my mind. Zero waste. ZERO.
 
And then I watched True Cost on Netflix. Which is another eye opener. I recommend watching that too. It really got me motivated to do everything I could to lessen my negative impact in the fashion and manufacturing world.  

True Cost is a documentary that came out in 2015, about the impact the fashion industry has on the world. According to the film, there has been a 500% worldwide increase in clothing consumption when you compare it to the 90’s. There is also a huge increase in the amount of clothing that is disposed of every year. The average American wastes 82 lbs of textiles in a single year.
 
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that 85% of post-consumer textile waste ends up in our landfills, and that textile waste makes up almost 5% of all landfill space.
 
But what can I do to help this??
 
I went on a Google spree. I became obsessed! I looked up everything I could on how to recycle fabric in my area. I know that not all of these options are going to hold up everywhere, but these ideas will at least help you get started!

1. Buy more environmentally friendly, sustainable, fabrics. There are some fabrics that are less damaging to the environment than others. I won’t pretend to know enough about this to guide you. I’ve even been hearing about more small batch fabric companies, like microbreweries, but for textiles!
2. Buy less new fabric. Eeeek. This might be a sewist’s worst nightmare. Less fabric?? It’s not as bad as it sounds! First, use your stash! I know you already have a massive amount of fabric just waiting to be used. And if you really need to buy more, be aware of what you are buying. Try looking for remnants or seconds, or using secondhand wares like curtains, or thrift store clothing as a fabric source. I can tell you that I’ve gotten gorgeous lace fabric from old curtains, for only cents on the yard. It is possible! Lastly, if you do end up picking a newly made fabric for your project, simply know exactly how much fabric you need. That way, you won’t have as much fabric waste!
3. Create less waste. Other ways to reduce your fabric waste include things like zero-waste patterns, and ignoring grain lines. They are obviously not always an option. But don’t automatically rule them out! A Zero-waste pattern is one where all the pattern pieces fit together like a puzzle, with no fabric scraps in-between the pieces. This can often lead to your finished project being much more interesting than a standard garment. Another way to reduce the fabric scraps in between pattern pieces would be to change the layout on your fabric. Perhaps by ignoring the grain lines on your pattern pieces. It completely depends on the individual project you are working on. Sometimes the grain is very important. But, sometimes, like for a pillow, or an accent piece, it really may not matter! Also, switching up the direction of a pattern in your fabric can add a whole new level to your garment design!
4. Repurpose your fabric waste. Even though I run a business creating things from fabric scraps, even I can’t use up every piece of fabric that comes my way. Some fabrics aren’t the right type, or size, or I simply think they are hideous. But that doesn’t mean that other people can’t still use them! After some googling, and some emailing, I’ve curated a list of people in my community that I can pass along fabric to. My list includes: a woman from Project Linus, a local Middle School that has a makers space (how cool is that??), a teacher that is helping her pre-schoolers learn how to sew, and a local 4-H group.
5. Recycle the fabric waste. Fabric is recyclable! For real! And it is surprisingly easy to do! You just donate to Goodwill. I emailed my local Goodwill store, and also another local thrift store Mission 27, and they both let me know that they do indeed accept fabric scraps. All the textiles that they cannot resell (including these scraps) they sell off to textile recycling plants.

With all the different people and groups I’ve reached out to about fabric scraps, I’ve developed a bit of a system in my apartment. I now have a series of containers where I separate my fabric scraps into large, small, and unusable. Once I fill up my containers, it’s time to pass them along. The unusable scraps go into a trash bag marked “fabric scraps” and get delivered to one of the thrift stores. The larger pieces go to the 4-H and Project Linus groups. And the small pieces go to the kids just learning how to sew! I have a spreadsheet complete with everyone’s contact info, and I rotate who gets the next delivery of fabric goodness.

The recap: If you are going to take one thing away from this post, it should be that Goodwill accepts fabric donations. You can literally throw your (clean) fabric into a trash bag, and drop it at goodwill next time you go shop there. That’s it. You don’t have to do any separating or spreadsheeting like I do. It is so easy that you don’t have any excuse!