I have a pair of ¾ length lightweight travel pants that I bought about 8 or 9 years ago. I have been wearing them for some time with a patch just below one knee, however, the fabric around the patch has given way, too. I love these trousers as they are really comfortable and have several deep pockets.
I decided to salvage what I could from them. The latest buzzword seems to ‘upcycling’ but you could call it ‘refashioning’, ‘making do’ or just plain ‘thrift’. I cut the lower legs off and was left with a pair of knee-length shorts which just needed hemming. Since they are an existing garment I know that the fit and function of them will be perfect.
The bottom of the legs had drawstrings so I removed them and they will be used for the drawstrings in two of the Christmas gift bags I am making as they match the material rather well.
There were a couple of button tabs on the lower legs so I removed the buttons to add to my collection.
All I had left was the lower leg pieces.
So I cut them into strips to use for tying up plants in the garden.
Here are my ‘new’ shorts and nothing else has been wasted. I hope to get a few more years wear from them.
I would love to hear your thrifty/upcycling stories.
organised castle 
I often cut the legs off pants to make shorts and also the long sleeves off a shirt to make a short sleeve shirt. This is because it is so hot here and I like shorts and short sleeved shirts for coolness.
I always look for King size doona covers because they are on special more and because I have queen size doonas I put a wide hem at each side. It works out really well because we have a thick mattress and the hem hangs down and covers the timber of the bed more.
Great tip about the king size doona covers. I am thinking of getting a new one sometime soon so will be keeping an eye on the king size ones. Thanks.
Oh yes, my comfy pants are always eventually cut off to make gardening shorts, and then eventually they go into the rag bag. I read about making plant ties from old t-shirts a while back, thanks for reminding me.
I just love making things last and getting a bit more use out of them. I wore my newly refashioned shorts yesterday – so comfortable!
Thanks for the reminder about garden ties. I have bags of old t-shirts but DH always steels my stockings to tie up his plants. I stopped buying them, now I can remind him about the t-shirts and get some more stockings for Winter!
Time to put the t-shirts to good use. They make excellent cleaning cloths, too.
Thanks what a greet blog
My favourite salvage story dates back nearly 30 years. Without going into details of _why_, suffice to say that sleeves from heavy-duty coveralls got removed. When I was aware of it in advance, I made sure that they came off neatly at the armhole. The complete sleeves were a nearly perfect shape for toddler sized play pants. By placing the pattern piece such that the sleeve cuffs would become leg hems and the main part of the sleeve a generous leg, all I had to do was trim the wider bit to shape, stitch in the crotch seam and add an elastic waistband. Bonus: as the child grew, the turned-up cuffs could be turned down, and they got a further season’s wear out of them. 🙂
That is impressive!