Appreciation post: I used to hate the idea of using old work clothes in my designs

Last month, I was cleaning out my garage and found a box of my old canvas work jackets, the kind with the faded company logo on the back. I was about to just toss them, but my friend Mia, who does textile art, came over and saw them. She pointed out how the wear patterns on the elbows and the sun-bleached stripes on the shoulders told a story. She convinced me to cut one up and use the fabric as a base for a new vest design. I spent a week deconstructing the jacket, keeping the heavy-duty zipper and the patched pocket, and built a new piece around them. The texture and history in that fabric gave the final design a weight and character I could never get from new material. It completely changed how I look at sourcing fabric now. Has anyone else had a moment like that, where something you saw as trash became the best part of a project?

3 comments

3 Comments

eva_thompson102mo ago

Found a ripped concert tee I turned into a quilt square.

mitchell.jesse2mo ago

My mom kept all my old band shirts in a box for years. I always thought they were just taking up space until I saw someone make a pillow from one. Now that quilt square idea... it makes me want to dig that whole box out and finally do something with them. It's a way better memory than just stuffing them in a drawer.

blair_hill592mo ago

Absolutely, that worn-in texture is impossible to fake. My dad gave me his old leather tool belt when he retired, all cracked and stained. It sat in my closet for ages until I used strips of it to make the straps for a bag. The leather was already broken in perfectly, and those marks from his tools make it feel like a real piece of history. It’s my favorite thing I’ve ever made.