Do It Yourself - Delightful ways of putting your old scarves to new uses

Scarves are beautiful pieces of clothing. Beautiful rectangles of varied design that thrill the senses, they not only succeed in raising the style quotient, but those small areas of colored cloth also offer very many other possibilities when one tires of wearing them.

Some uses are already known, different people know different uses, so why not pool them to allow very many more people to know what they didn’t know and what they could try out? Maybe many more ideas could be added to the list?

1. Make a shirt

When your old printed scarves lie more in the cupboard rather than on your person as interesting accessories, it is time they were used differently. Two different printed scarves can be used in the manner of covering yourself as two portions of a stylish shirt. Funky is it not? Attaching them at two points in the front and two at the back with barely visible safety pins, below the neck and at just above waist level , you have two scarves fashioned to be like a shirt. Very innovative and definitely eye popping!

2. A nice Vintage Scarf Pillow for your sofa

Scarves serve as interesting pillow covers. But what if the stuffed pillow had two different sides with two scarves with a zipper about two or three inches above the end border on one side. This gives comfort and convenience. Common scarf size could be 22“ to 20”. If you have the oblong scarves that are often very long then it becomes convenient to try size pillows bigger as well.

Try out a mix of square and oblong shaped pillows to decorate your sofas.

3. Turn it into a handbag

Spread the scarf on a flat surface. Take each of the corners by turn and either knot them at the end or bunch like a knot and put a rubber band. Do this for all the four ends. Now taking two adjacent ends together tie a small scarf from one end to another. You have two handles with a deep bottom like a bag. Mind-blowing isn’t it?

Good floral designer scarves would look so attractive.

4. Make sun catchers

Use a silk scarf fitted in a fabric hand held vice that is used during embroidery work and hang it from any convenient place so that the sun glint catches now and then. It would be a nice sun catcher.For info, A sun catcher or light catcher is a small, reflective glass or iridescent piece that is hung indoors at windows  to "catch the light" from a nearby source. It is in fact like the optical equivalent of a wind chime. Some designs are simple and abstract with perhaps some mobile-like chained elements, while more complex designs often evoke plants or animals. Many designs combine sun catchers with wind chimes. It is believed that sun catchers were first made by the Southwestern Native-Americans.

Sun catchers may be mass-manufactured, or created by hand, and can be of varying simplicity of design from an arts and crafts project to a professionally handmade glass sculpture.

5. Wrap gifts

We use a lot of paper in gift wrapping during common gift sessions, parties etc. which nobody thinks twice about unwrapping them nicely so that they could be used again. If old scarves with good prints were used instead the purpose would be served and they would just be untied and kept aside to be re-used again. A novel idea that would catch on .

6. Make a quilt

Good floral handkerchiefs and scarves when laid side by side, and arranged to quilt size could be stitched at adjacent borders to form the desired quilt that could also be soft, light and extremely attractive with so many ‘cheerful’ designs as well.

7. Frame them

With so many diverse designs and in different fabrics you could frame them and arrange on the wall of your choice to have created your own art gallery. Novel and enterprising effort that would earn praise all round.

8. Fashion a tunic

There is nothing like a good Batik design or Bandhani scarf if done with a little ingenuity would result in a self-styled tunic that would draw the ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’.

9. Turn it into a camera strap

If you are bored with your standard black strap that comes with your camera, a designer scarf could serve as a refreshing change.

10. Refashion an old shirt

When you have scarves to do what you please with, use lovely designer scarves to adorn plain shirts that you feel seem very plain and boring. Wrap the scarf you choose around a certain portion of the shirt and make the border stitches to make it a permanent affair till you want the next change. Then just remove the current one and replace with another.

11.Spruce up your bun

A simple, but very cute way to use a scarf is to simply wrap it around a low bun and tie a bow underneath it.

12.Make a silk jacket

Want to do things with your scarf yet not lose it completely? Tie the two adjacent ends and create the openings on both sides and wear them like a jacket. The colorful silk jacket would be a welcome change, light and designer over your outfit. And the best part – you get back your scarf intact any time.

 

13. Wear it as a head scarf

Here is one of many ways to use the scarf as a head accessory. You use the scarf on the days you feel your hair is a bit on the oily side. You cover the back portion of your head and take support by tying around the bun, covering it.