Eco-Friendly Fancy Rags

I mentioned yesterday that I was going to use up my knit t-shirt scraps from the Sienna dress for another project and today I’m sharing what I made, fancy rags. Using old clothing for rags is nothing new, when I was growing up we had a drawer full of rags cut from old stained shirts, but these are a little nicer.

I cut up my dress leftovers and two old white shirts from my scrap pile (I really can’t throw anything out and it’s really more of a mountain) into 5” x 7” pieces. Using my colorful thread from old projects I zigzagged around the edges of two rectangles layered together. This was a great way to use up leftover colors of bobbin thread, I cleaned off two whole bobbins, yay!

For the white ones I tried to sew right along the edge and I rounded the corners when I came to them. I got smarter on the colored ones and just sewed near the edge, making the corners square, and trimming the edges closer to the stitching when finished, they look much neater, lay flatter, and it’s a lot easier. On the top left you can see I even used the printed part of the shirts, just remember to turn it to the inside. I will be throwing these in with my regular wash, I expect them to last quite a while and if I ever use them for a particularly nasty job I won’t feel too bad throwing one or two out along the way.

I will be keeping these on my kitchen counter in a basket and they will be used as a substitute for napkins, paper towels, Kleenex, sponges, and dish cloths. I have 24 and I will slowly be making more as I use more of my knit stash. I am excited to switch over to these and am hoping to create even less trash and save a little money as well. Slowly I am trying to make my household more eco friendly and this is just one more small step.