Meggs and others..getting rid of clothes..NVR
Meggs, you have been doing a great job giving to Goodwill. I gave three or four large garbage bags of clothes to the Salvation Army a while back but still have way too many clothes. I know the 'if you don't wear it in a year' rule but how do you decide on the other stuff. I have massive quantities of t-shirts. Many from vacations or concerts and they are all very sentimental to me. None the less, some of my clothes have to go. I am finding it very hard to make a decision on what goes and what stays. I have been ruthless on anything that has a hole in it but I can't seem to part with many old favourites (even if they are old looking and very well worn). I just don't have the room to keep everything I have saved over the last 100 years.
HELP!
What I did with all my old rock t-shirts, and sentimental t-shirt souvenirs was to make a quilt/blanket out of them. I cut out all the designs into matching squares, sewed them together, then added a back from some material - viola, a blanket. This is super easy, I am not a sewer but still managed it on my friend's machine.
That's one way to keep down the clutter, and still not part with our sentimental favorites.
Otherwise, I'm just pretty ruthless. I stick it in a bag, and freecycle it. I like freecycle better because people will come pick it up. I'm too lazy to drop off!
I mainly think this to myself when looking at my things: does this add value and quality to my life or does it take away? It if falls in the former category, I try to find a way to keep it and wear it (or make it into a blanket). If it falls into the latter, I freecycle.
i have also made a blanket from old t-shirts... i love it!
What a great idea! I can barely sew a button on but if I cut the squares, maybe someone could sew it for me. A girl a work loves to sew to make some extra money.
Oh dear, I wrote out a really great response and I accidentally deleted it somehow. So, here goes, from memory:
It's really hard to get rid of clothing (I kept a pair of jeans that I'd never again fit into for about 9 years); you form an emotional attachment to them~ they remind you of a certain person, or situation, or thing... they're tangeable memories.
I think a blanket sounds like a great idea- I might start saving t-shirts for one!
I like the idea, with Goodwill, that if I see someone wearing something that I once had, perhaps they bought it after I donated it! (I know this isn't terribly likely, but it makes the whole recycle thing nice in my head) and I used to work there once upon a time, so I know that the clothing they cannot sell gets recycled into seat belts and other such fabrics. Shoes that cannot be sold are sold in bulk to some company that does something with them (I can't for the life of me remember the specifics-sorry!) but it's all in all pretty cool.
So, Di, congrats for what you did get rid of! That's great!
p.s. Thanks for putting my name in the thread title. I feel special. ;)
p.p.s. No joke. :)
Credit should go where credit is deserved. One of your goals, the one about getting rid of things and donating really touched me. I hired a professional organizer last summer to help me with my clutter issues. We got rid of over 250 garbage bags of things. Hard to believe I know. What could be donated was, what could be recycled was and what was garbage...well was. She was great. I would look at a outfit and say, I love that. It is so cute and she would say, it probably was in the 80's! ;D Just like Clean Sweep, she didn't give me long to make a decision which was wonderful.
I still have too much stuff and my BF can not finish the renovations if I don't clear more stuff out of my place. As I hired him as my renovator, I have money invested in this as well. That is how I met him.
I not only need to get rid of many clothing items, I have to get back on track and get rid of many things. I can not afford to get the organizer back. If I did, she would have my place cleared out in about a week.
You inspired me with your goals! This is a long weekend in Canada except for the province of Quebec and two of our territories.
It is going to be a beautiful hot sunny weekend so I am hoping to get in three hours each morning getting rid of clothes and clutter.
I thank you for inspiring me. It is something I have to do whether I like it or not.
Thanks Meggs!!!!!!
I was a pack rat until about five years ago. It was very hard in the beginning to get rid of things because I'm sentimental. It's gotten easier as time goes by. It's taken the entire five years, but my house (closets included) are on the way to becoming clutter-free. I donate a car load of stuff to Goodwill monthly. By now, they're mostly getting new stuff.
Before, I regretted getting rid of anything. Now, I feel refreshed. It helps move me away from consummerism and, if it doesn't sound too weird, my soul feels cleansed.
What I did with all my old rock t-shirts, and sentimental t-shirt souvenirs was to make a quilt/blanket out of them. I cut out all the designs into matching squares, sewed them together, then added a back from some material - viola, a blanket. This is super easy, I am not a sewer but still managed it on my friend's machine.
That's one way to keep down the clutter, and still not part with our sentimental favorites.
I did something like that too but not with t-shirts. My mom still had some of my dad's dress shirts from before he died. I took pictures of him from throughout his life, printed them on picture fabric, cut up the old shirts and sewed it all together to make a quilt for my twin. It's her most prized gift I've ever given her.
I did something like that too but not with t-shirts. My mom still had some of my dad's dress shirts from before he died. I took pictures of him from throughout his life, printed them on picture fabric, cut up the old shirts and sewed it all together to make a quilt for my twin. It's her most prized gift I've ever given her.
That's a really awesome idea. I wish I had thought of that for my grandpa's shirts. He was a cowboy and had lot's of quintessential cowboy shirts.
Thanks, Di, and thank YOU to starting a goals thread. Without which we both wouldn't have had good ideas planted into our heads!
Have a super long weekend!
This fits here and yet it doesn't. I am not feeling very well and I am a little weird tonight, but oh well.
Packratism is being recognized as a pathology in psychology circles these days. I have been a packrat, so it isn't like I can't see both sides. Clutter can make one depressed, it does me. I think that professional declutters / cleaners are doing a wonderful thing. Many of us get to a point where we can't dig out without professional help. The idea of making a blanket out of old things, rather than keeping bags of these things in the closet, is an idea they would really approve of.
I have done a lot of clearing out, giving away and decluttering over the last 7 or 8 yrs. If I don't have room to store it, there is too much of it. I have used freecycle to get rid of usable things. I realized that keeping things that others can use is not right. I gave away a diningroom set to someone who didn't have one through freecycle. He came in a beat up car and thanked me over and over for this table and chairs. He said that his wife was home making a nice supper because they would be eating at a table for the first time in several years!!! I felt terribly selfish for having too much, and yet very joyful to give it away. Since then, I have been happily giving away things and feeling very good about it.
I have kept too much for so long because I was fearful that if I parted with something and later needed it, that I would not have the money to replace it. That drilled into my brain the idea that I would always be lacking things I needed. As a result, I was always living with lack. The more I have given away, the less I buy, the less I store, the more I have cut back on possessions, the more money I have been able to make, and "lack" is no longer a part of my life. I think this is, in part, because I am not spending so much time trying to figure out where to put things and trying to tidy up the clutter (oxymoron you know?). It opened my life up to better things.
I consider passing things along to others to part of the Vegan Principle. Keep things out of the landfill by passing them on to others who can use them. Simplifying life. Using less of the world's precious resources. Being caring and generous. I am not expressing this too well (golly my head hurts) but hopefully you all won't pounce on me and remind me that I am FOS.
I have kept too much for so long because I was fearful that if I parted with something and later needed it, that I would not have the money to replace it.
I think that's what started it for me. I was literally, not figuratively, a destitute college student. To afford to stay in school, I slept in my small Tercel for a while. When I did start acquiring things I was thought it would be the only one like it (whatever it was) that I'd be able to afford for the rest of my life so I kept everything.
Di said:
A hundred years, Di?! :o
;D
It's stuff, Di. Somehow you have to get over the sentimentality of so much of it & let it go. Remember, those concerts live on in your memories. You don't need a tee shirt to recall that. I have gotten rid of so much stuff & it has been liberating. It is such a good feeling to whittle your material things down in number. You should pick a reasonable amount of space to store your stuff & go from there.
Last summer my mother visited & commented that I have the most uncluttered house she'd ever seen. :)
"Happiness doesn't come from having things; it comes from being part of things."
~Chris in the morning, Northern Exposure
I am boggled that you got rid of 250 bags last year. Wow!!! That is fantastic. Good luck in your ongoing declutter project. ;)
8)
In defense to concert tees. I drool when I see someone wearing a concert tee from 10, 20 or 30 years ago. There have to be other things, like blankets you don't use anymore or extra pillows, that can go before concert tees.
"Happiness doesn't come from having things; it comes from being part of things."
~Chris in the morning, Northern Exposure
I love Northern Exposure! They have an annual Northern Exposure gathering in Washington each year that I haven't managed to make it to yet.
A note on making blankets from t-shirts: they can be a beast to work with if they are a cotton/poly blend or poorly knitted. I strongly suggest you make a trip to a local quilting store and tell the manager or a helpful salesperson what you want to make. They will have all kinds of good advice. I frequent a quilting chat and several women were doing this, they suggested putting iron-on interfacing on the back of each "T-square" (forgive the pun) but it's best to go to a quilting shop to get high-quality interfacing that won't bunch up and come loose when it's washed.
You can "tie" the resulting blanket to the lining (use a lightweight cotton blanket, old jeans ripped up the seams and sewn together, or a layer of quilt batting) by using a heavy yarn needle and yarn or cotton string-type thread. Tie the four corners where the squares come together.
This sounds like fun!! I wish you could come here and I could help!!
I LOVE getting rid of "stuff." "Stuff" weighs me down. (Those of you who like "stuff," please think about bookpapa from time to time. He likes "stuff," too.)
And, Lezly and Humboldt_Honey, I've always been a fan of Northern Exposure, too. Chris in the Morning...well, 'nough said. ;)
I was partial to Ed Chigliak, especially in the later years when he had a little more confidence & grew his hair out long. :-*
In defense to concert tees. I drool when I see someone wearing a concert tee from 10, 20 or 30 years ago. There have to be other things, like blankets you don't use anymore or extra pillows, that can go before concert tees.
I will definitely not get rid of my concert tees that are in good shape. Nothing like going to see the Stones and wearing a 15 or 20 year old t-shirt from when you saw them before. The ones I have to do something with are the ones that have holes in them, will never fit again or are downright ratty. I don't sew so can't imagine making a blanket (unless I can find someone to do it for me). I just may have to 'dust' using my friends! :-)
Tonight, I filled half a large green garbage bag of clothes to donate to the Salvation Army. Over the next couple of days, I will try to fill the bag. I have already donated two or three bags but know I Have to get more ruthless.
I just may have to 'dust' using my friends!
If you make them into dust rags, cut out the image (or whatever part you'd want on a quilt - I say both the front and the back with the tour dates). You'd want them to be roughly the same size squares/rectangles. You can store the squares in a much smaller space and you can use the rest of the shirt to dust. That gives you a bit more time to consider the quilt. If you don't get quilt made, you could give away the squares at a later date. I'd bet you'd have a lot of takers.
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