Upcycling, Repurposing, and Conserving

Here at Peachygreen we are all about upcycling , repurposing  and conserving.  Use it up, wear it out and make it do is our motto and if you can take a worn out something and give it new life as a something else, that really gets our attention.

My friend Meg, who is a dedicated web entrepreneur and life long creative craftsperson is a case in point.

In addition to selling unusual, hard to find notions (things like silk thread and left handed scissors) on ebay and in her online store, she also quilts, sews, knits, does embroidery and needlepoint and  hooks rugs and a bunch of other things that I, who barely know how to thread a needle, cannot even name.

She and I are both yard sale and flea market mavens. We often spend fine Spring Saturday mornings checking out local offerings.  I go for the used books and antique silver while she makes a beeline for fabrics and laces– old clothes, bedspreads, curtains.  She loves fabric and has an eye for quality.

A couple of weeks ago she took an old charcoal grey wool blazer that had been hanging in her closet for years and felted it herself( yup that’s why they call it boiled wool)  The thing was twenty years old and she was never going to wear it again so Meg decided to upcycle it.

A couple of days later she emailed me the pix you see here .  She had taken the old blazer, paired it with some  dupioni silk  bought when a fabric store went out of business several years ago, fashioned a pattern and created  delightful cat accent pillows, adding hand embroidery and bits of ribbon and lace. Each cat is unique. She even weighted the bottoms of a couple of them and is using them as door-stops– how green is that?

These little pussycat pillows have turned out to be big sellers online for her and she can’t keep up with the demand. She only had one old blazer after all.  I’ve told her that I have an old charcoal grey blazer in the attic she can have  and  I think she ouught to make more of these cute kitties, but Meg says when she’s done with them, she’ll go on to the next thing. The joy for her is in the creation and in finding new life for old but still beautiful fabrics.

Meg is part of a growing group of artists and craftspeople who are  upcycling and re-purposing all manner of items and who are definitely doing their part to lower our collective carbon footprint by re-using an amazing variety of things in miraculous and inventive ways.   Kudos Meg.  Keep up the good work.