23 Stunning Ways To Turn Old Clothing Into Upcycled Decor

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Old clothes are a common find at home, in thrift stores, and landfills. According to a 2023 Fashion Transparency Index by Fashion Revolution, there are so many clothes in landfills that piles of them are visible from space. With so many clothes on the planet, it's just right to start looking for alternative things to do with old wears. Instead of donating or tossing your clothes, consider repurposing them on your own terms as home decor.

There are many ways to creatively transform old clothes into upcycled decorations that are stylish and customized for a house. Dresses, jeans, skirts, sweaters, T-shirts, and even accessories can be repurposed into stylish accents. Create anything from a shabby-chic garland made of T-shirts to charming vase covers made from old sweater sleeves. There are also multiple ideas to create one-of-a-kind artworks for any room. While some of these projects require basic sewing skills, there are also many you can do with just a pair of scissors and glue. You can use your own old clothing or go thrifting to find the garments needed to complete these projects.

Instead of tossing or donating a bunch of old shirts, cut them into 1-inch-wide strips about 12 inches long. Tie each fabric strip in a knot around a garland string, such as twine or ribbon, and continue doing so until the entire garland is full of T-shirt shreds. The result is a shabby-chic garland that you can hang over empty walls, archways, doors, or other home decor. Use shirts in certain colors for a cohesive color scheme, or go wild with various shirt patterns for a more eccentric look.

In a similar hack, design a boho-style macramé wall hanger from T-shirt strips. Keep in mind that macramé projects require long strips of fabric or yarn, as the final project will be much shorter in length. Make your T-shirt strips roughly four times longer than you intend the wall decor to be. You'll also need a hanging branch to weave the macramé over, such as the Byher White Birch Log. If you aren't familiar with crafting macramé, there are plenty of beginner tutorials, such as Lots of Knots Canada's helpful YouTube video.

There's yet another use for T-shirt strips, and you'll need between five to ten shirts to make a miniature round rug. Form bands by cutting horizontally along the hem then cut the bands to get the longest strips possible for this DIY. They should also be about 1.5 inches wide. Once the strips are cut, plait them in a traditional braid formation, following the instructions in Jessie Houff's YouTube tutorial. Coil and sew them together in a spiral formation as you go. Keep this rug out of high-traffic areas, since it will slip easily underfoot.

Before turning a former long-sleeved blouse into a vase cover, ensure the sleeve is long enough to cover the whole vase. Cut the sleeve from the shirt, pull it over the vase, and tuck the excess ends into the vase. Keep the cloth in place with super glue or fabric glue, like Aleene's Fabric Fusion Glue. Make sure the ends are sealed down so they don't fray and unravel over time. Now your vase has a soft exterior that boosts its aesthetics and protects the fragile glass if it gets knocked over.

Many thrifted clothes may be out of style, but their patterns still have potential as an adorable fabric heart garland. Don't try to freehand the hearts though. Ensure they all come out the same size and shape by printing out a heart template to base the fabric pieces off of. Hot glue the fabric hearts to a long piece of twine to maintain a classic vibe, and string it over your archways, empty walls, or staircase railings for a cozy, homemade touch.

Create textured geometric art solely using old clothes. Keep your design simple with a minimal color palette, such as three shades from three solid-colored shirts. The TikToker pattyboy89 used blue, black, and gray fabrics on a white canvas background to create a trio of abstract-style paintings for their walls. Follow their design, create your own, or get inspiration from other abstract art-inspired rugs for floors and walls. All you need are a pair of scissors and fabric glue to do this hack. Double-layer the cutout patterns to keep glue lines from showing through thinner fabrics.

Turn a stretchy top into homemade decor by following the TikToker elenhomestyle's idea that upcycles a small sweater into a vase cover and two decorative pumpkins, using just scissors, twine, and hot glue. Hot glue one of the sleeves over the vase as a cover, and tie a bow of twine around the middle. Then form the pumpkins by wrapping bunched-up fabric with twine to create a ribbed rotund shape. This adorable trio of decor is great for embellishing tables, shelves, and mantels as a chic centerpiece.

Do you have an old concert or graphic art shirt with a great design you can't give up? Tuck your shirt over a piece of canvas and flatten it out. Mark it about a half-inch with a marker on all sides and cut away the excess material. Staple or hot glue the rest of the excess fabric to the back of the canvas to pull the frontt taut. Show off the finished work by hanging the canvas as you typically would, turning personal memory as gorgeous artwork.

A small child-sized skirt from a thrift store is around the same size as larger lampshades. Look for a tulle skirt with an elastic waistband. Fit it over a lampshade at home to give it a flouncy, playful vibe. Just be wary that the extra layer may block the light. It will also pose a fire hazard unless you use LED bulbs, which give off very little heat. For extra safety, also attach your lamp to a timer to ensure it turns off after a certain period.

When an old pair of jeans has served its time, don't throw them out just yet. The sturdy denim material has a rustic look, and it's perfect for creating farmhouse decor. Cut out the back of your jeans, and tuck the pocket and surrounding fabric into a wooden picture frame. Tuck foliage in the back pocket, such as Lovmeety's Dried Pampas Grass Decor, to create a unique hanging plant display for most rooms. Avoid placing this design in bathrooms and near steaming appliances, since humidity will quickly destroy the dried plants.

Follow HGTV Home's YouTube tutorial for cutting and re-styling formal clothes with sleeves and cuffs into a hanging plant holder. String twine through the top for a more rustic aesthetic, or use a glossy ribbon for a more modern style. This idea is best used for artificial plants or plant species that need very little water. Houseplants that need regular watering will leak in these holders, since there's no room for a catch tray in the upcycled fabric.

If you're looking for a less flashy way to decorate a wreath, wrap it with fabric instead of artificial foliage. Tear old or thrifted clothes into fabric scraps, and pin them around a foam wreath using a pack of U-shaped pins, like the Etcar Floral Pins. You could also use a pool noodle joined at the ends instead of the wreath. Be sure to cut enough strips to hide all of the foam. Add a few strands of yarn and hanging pom-pom balls, like the Xfyuzr Large Yarn Pom Poms, for a fun twist.

You'll need several types of materials to craft a plush rug from clothing. Use a heavy material like denim for the base. For the rug ruffles, any fabric works. However, we recommend sticking to polyester blends, so they're easier to spot clean as needed. Cut the clothing into short strips and lay them in rows down the denim, securing them with simple stitching. Once the rug is finished, flip it and use something like the Trazon Double Sided Carpet Tape to keep the rug from sliding on the floor.

Thicker clothing materials like canvas, denim, and cotton twill can be repurposed into matching wall organizers with some hot glue and cardboard. Follow the YouTuber Dhara Patel's steps to turn a pair of cargo pants into wall hangers for office supplies and decorative plants. They hot-glued the fabric to cardboard cutouts for extra support and structure. Try cutting out a back pocket and the surrounding material, and adhering it to cardboard. That way, you don't have to DIY the pockets yourself.

If you have a skirt or pair of lounge pants with a bohemian-inspired pattern, transform them into stylish tapestries. These fabric wall hangings can be made in many sizes and shapes, giving DIYers the creative freedom to give it a flat or pennant-style bottom. Hot-glue the cut fabric over a hanging rod, such as the Yandood Tapestry Hanging Telescopic Rod before tacking the rod string to a wall. Use fabric glue or sew a zigzag stitch around the fabric edges to keep it from unraveling.

The next time you embark on a deep closet cleanout, you may have enough leftover clothing to craft a couch cushion entirely from scratch. Follow the steps in Creative Craft Mind's YouTube video to cut and sew multiple circles of fabric into a thick cushion and pillowcase. If you want to make your pillow extra plush, add American Excelsior Co.'s Premium Upholstery Poly Foam before sewing the cover layer closed.

Turn your old clothes into practical keepsakes by chopping them up into 3-inch fabric squares. You'll also need a piece of fabric that's about 15 by 21 inches to serve as the base. Stick an adhesive iron-on backing, like HeatnBond Ultrahold Iron-on Adhesive, to one side of the squares. Iron them to the base in rows of five by seven. You can try this idea with all kinds of shirts, but it's easier to keep placemats clean if they're made of similar fabrics, since none of the squares require special treatment.

There are many ways to repurpose scarves around the house, and one unique decor idea is to transform them into a boho-inspired bed canopy. Pin each scarf or pashmina from the edge of your wall to a spot on your ceiling. Don't pull them taut but allow them to drape down slightly to create a casual look. For reference, the TikToker thevelvetbeast's design only took three scarves to complete. Repurpose your accessories with tassels or pom-pom edges for a more unique bed canopy aesthetic.

Give your pets a cozy bed that smells like you by folding an old sweater into a customized pillow. Stuff the sweater arms with a polyester filler, like Poly-Fil's Premium Polyester Fiberfill, and shove a pillow insert, like the Soft Stuff Pillow Insert, inside of the sweater's torso. Sew the arms together, so they wrap around the middle pillow, and you have the perfect pet bed for cats and small dogs. Use clothes with complementary colors to your duvet or blankets, so the additional bed fits seamlessly with your interior design.

Make a cozy button-up pillow from the bottom half of a large flannel shirt. The larger the flannel, the better, so you can fit a standard-sized pillow inside. Instagrammer anuu_fashion_boutique cut the shirt horizontally through the middle. She then hemmed the edges, leaving about an inch of stylish trim all around. The final step is to slide a pillow or polyester filling inside the shirt before buttoning it closed. The finished design is a great addition to western-themed rooms with natural wood, leather, and iron accents.

If you have a large collection of unworn jeans in the back of your closet, you're in luck. The sturdy denim can be upcycled around your home, and the pockets can be collected for a country-esque Advent calendar. You'll need one pocket per calendar day. Stencil the numbers with fabric paint, such as Jacquard's White Fabric Color, and let them dry for about 3 days. Use a tapestry needle to thread twine through the top of each denim piece to create a hanging Advent calendar garland for any time of year.

Turn any pair of denim jeans into homemade fabric flowers. The YouTuber Anu's Fancy Art showed how they turned multiple strips of fabric into daisy-shaped flowers with scissors and Uhu All Purpose Adhesive. Scatter these flowers along a centerpiece, style them in a vase, pin them to garlands, or use them as accents on other decorative projects. With a little creativity, alter this project to emulate other flower species. For example, if the center denim piece is made a bit wider, it'll look more like a sunflower.

Repurpose an adult-sized, tie-string skirt to create a chic tablecloth for small tables. This idea is very straightforward. Simply drape it over a small round table and pull the string extra tight. Hold it in place and hide the open middle with a lamp, stack of books, decorative bowl, or another accent. This immediately transforms a skirt into a tablecloth that adds a soft texture to furniture. It's also a clever method for masking a damaged or out-of-style table.