Sunday, May 18, 2014

My Upcycled handmade 'Tea Towel' Aprons in 'Upcycle' Showcase. Also..... The difference between Upcycling & Recycling

Upcycle Showcase starts tonight at 8.00pm.
It's a collection of Upcycled Handmade items made by a collaborative of sellers to showcase their
creative talents on Facebook.
All items are available for purchase (while the showcase is open).

I have entered two of my 'Tea Towel' Aprons.
As you have guessed, made from tea towels & vintage retro bed sheets!

Please head over to
'Sew you say - The Heart of Handmade' to have a look.

Click here for link to showcase.













The difference between Upcycling & Recycling:
Upcycling is: “The process of converting waste materials or useless products into new materials or products of better quality or a higher environmental value.”
Recycling is: taking old materials and making them back into their original form.
Re-cycling is redoing the cycle; in other words, reprocessing paper so it can be printed once again.
Up-cycling, is removing something from that process, eg  This includes taking an old tire and making it into a swing, old vintage plates into a cake stand or a bed sheet made into a dress.
Upcycling gives an item a better purpose.
eg. To use vintage fabric straight off the bolt, is not upcycling but fabric from a sheet, tablecloth, pillowcase and making it into something better for reuse is Upcycling.

Recycling is: a practice that takes an item and targets it for reuse, returning it back to the cycle of daily contribution to society rather than discarding it.
Recycling is the process of making or manufacturing new products from a product that has originally served it's purpose.
It often means
taking consumer materials such as plastic, paper, metal and glass and breaking them down so their base materials can be remade into a new consumer product, often of lesser.

Upcycling is described by some as reusing a material without degrading the quality and composition of the material for its next use.
There are no breaking down of the materials, just possibly refashioning the original item.

Simply: Upcycle is reuse (discarded objects or material) in such a way as to create a product of higher quality or value than the original.

Upcycling is eco-friendly. It makes a positive impact on the environment as you are reusing the same item and saving it from the global garbage stream.
It’s converting waste materials or useless products no longer wanted or needed into new materials or products of better quality or for better environmental value

I love to upcycle and give a new life to something that had an intended previous use.
My ‘Retro Metro’ Aprons are made from Tea Towels and the added fabric to the ‘sides’ and straps are made from vintage / retro bed sheets!
Some of my tea towels are brand new but many are retro vintage - that is 20-40 years old! They are in excellent condition as they have never been used for their original purpose.

Also, my vintage retro flag buntings are made from bed sheets and sometimes includes lace doilies!
Made to last & eco friendly, they can be used for many joyous occasions ‘time & time’ again.

Creating handmade upcycled items means (to me) making items that are often One of A Kind (OOAK), unique - as much as the intended buyer/recipient!

1 comment:

  1. thanks for the explanation, i was a little fuzzy in the difference between the two and as it happens misused the terms on my blog :)

    ReplyDelete