Years ago, when the kids were little, I never threw out old clothes without checking to see if there was anything useful left to them. I learned this by watching my Mom, who tirelessly dismantled old clothes and salvaged parts of the fabric, buttons, trim, patterns, and even took out the zippers.
If it was a skirt that I especially loved the way it fit, I would take it apart, iron all the pieces, and use it for a pattern to make a new skirt.
All these were expensive components to someone (that being me) on a very limited budget. I loved the challenge of making something new out of something "not so." It was fun making designer clothes for Martha and Molly out of anything and everything, and I even made some "Oshkosh B'gosh"-like overalls for Noah when he was a toddler. (Remember those cartoonish bib jeans that were as wide as they were tall? Too cute!)
The weirdest thing I did was in 1970. Some friends had just reupholstered their couch and had given me the leftover fabric. I had just seen the first pictures of "hot pants" in Women's Wear Daily, or Vogue, so it was a new concept. I decided to make a pair out of some of that leftover velvet upholstery fabric. They looked great and I actually wore them to a wedding party at their house. (Luckily, I was nowhere near their new couch!)
Anyway. . . I was thinking about these wonderful memories last night as I was trying to get to sleep. Then I thought . . .
What if I "harvested" parts of old tangles, re-purposed them and gave them a new life??? Of course this exciting new idea- didn't help me to get to sleep, but, hey, you do what you gotta do.
I went through my old tiles looking for salvageable parts that I could re-assemble into new versions of themselves. I came across some lovely Printemps, and thought, hmmmm. . . . what would these look like in 3-D from a side view? Or some Silly Putty(R)-ed cubine, stretched beyond recognition?
Maybe sew them together into a Renaissance "Ruff"? Or, if I sliced up a cool version of Huggins, hammered them into ribbons and edged it with some "beads". If, over time, I harvested and trimmed a "mess of wild and crazy mookas", could I not crochet them into a lace of sorts? absolutely. . . . I must!
But . . . it was only when I pulled apart the zipper, that I could really see . . .
. . . the sky was the limit in the world of Zentangle!
Jane Franco on
Annie Sargent, CZT (33) on
Alice Roche, CZT 29 on
Angelina Arcari on
Playful and inspiring as ever Maria. I love browsing back through old tiles, old sketchbooks and picking things out and adding to them or retangling with more finely tuned tangle-skill. I might well ‘snip’ a bit of your Mooka lace, or borrow a Doodah zip for my own pieces!
Jem Miller on
Betsey Youngs on
Manon Hughes on
I love, love, love this idea. I have been recycling and repurposing for decades. I too sewed overalls for my sons who were born in ’70 and ’73. Ah, such great memories. Thank you for the great trip down memory lane and for a different way to look at and transform past tiles! :o)
Maureen Stott on
Hi Maria
What a fabulous post! I used to do dpŕ
Sharon Jerkovic on
Two of the most powerful words in my vocabulary are “what if”. Thanks for the time travel through memories! My mom never met a button she didn’t love. She had a can for each color! Thank goodness my sisters didn’t get the “frugal gene” that they teased me about. My inheritance of Mom’s button stash lead me to being a member of the National Button Society. Mary
Mary D'Angelo, CZT on
Debbie Shepard on
Isn’t it amazing how many people have been reusing, remodelling all their lives and continue to do so. My zentangles are often on the inside of envelopes!
Noilin Dempsey on
Oh! How I love the way you think, Maria! And your ability to share and jog old memories always delights me. We are all so different yet the same.
I also knew the value of frugality and creativity growing up in a large family. My mother was an amazing seamstress and taught me to use what you have. I loved her button box, helping her choose just the right buttons sometimes. When my own children were young, money was of course, very tight. But I did have a sewing machine. I used to go to the thrift store on Bag day…fill a bag for a buck, and get dresses that had lots of fabric, or clothes with cool buttons, everything I might need to make outfits, or costumes for my kids. Even doll clothes and stuffed toys.
Thank you for today’s inspiration. 💖
Nancy Roth on
Oh Maria this was such great fun to read🥰. I love your creative mind of thinking and your possibility of always looking at opportunities in every situation. It is a creative force beyond compare. Your blogs spread happiness into the world. Thank you 🙏 for sharing your thoughts. Have a great 🌞 day. Karin
Karin Godyns, CZT Belgium on
Kat Van Rooyen on
Jessica L Dykes on
Linda Dochter on
Linda Dochter on
Maria Vennekens on
Anita A Westin on
CAROL PARRY on
pure genius! what a terrific way to reinvigorate the art of zentangling, and to know that if a particular design doesn’t work, you can salvage it somehow in some way!
Debbie G on
Kathy on
Lisa Hoesing on
I have cut up tiles I wasn’t overly pleased with and tangled on the other side of the cut up pieces, and carefully glued them together to make three dimensional “things”. Ornaments? Play objects on a desk?
Susan Browning CZT 34 on