Tag Archives: upcycle

Clothing from Flour Sacks

I was talking to a group of ladies at a local sewing group and they told me all about how women used to repurpose flour sacks into dresses and clothes in the 1930’s during the great depression, when money was very tight.

The flour companies heard this was going on so they decided to start printing the flour sacks with patterns so that the clothing looked pretty. Some of them even came printed with instructions which would then wash out. You can read more about this and see images here.

When the clothes wore out, the fabric was reused again by being cut up and used for quilts.  When the 2nd world war began cotton was rationed for soldier’s uniforms so flour was packaged in paper bags and still is today.

At Impact Trading and Cotton Roots, we manufacture aprons and we have made them for customers from coffee sacks. Another great way to upcycle waste fabric. You can order coffee sack aprons from here.

A Spring Range for Barbie

The team at Impact Trading and Cotton Roots often take home waste fabrics or packaging to reuse at home, such as plastic garment bags used as small bin bags. 

This week we were delighted to get a photo from Jenny who works in our office, who had taken home some fabric scraps for her children who were keen to make some new clothes for their Barbie dolls.

We were delighted to see that they had created an entire spring range that any self-respecting Barbie would be glad to be seen in.  We all agreed that Jenny’s daughters are definitely heading towards a career in sustainable fashion!