6 new uses for old shirts

Have an old, worn, favourite shirt that you're not willing to part with? Revive it by getting it into a more wearable state. There's still lots you can do with it, so don't toss it yet. Take that worn shirt off your back and put it to good use.

1. Shorten a long-sleeved shirt. If your shirt has frayed cuffs but otherwise looks fine, cut off and hem the sleeves to make it a short-sleeved shirt. You'll get lots of extra wear out of it this way.
2. Worn-out long-sleeved shirts make great painting smocks. On your next household project, don an old long-sleeved shirt. You won't have to worry about paint splatters and mud. And of course, old-shirt smocks are de rigueur for kids during creative painting or arts-and-craft time at home or at school.
3. Make a shirt into a backpack. Tie a knot in the bottom of the shirt and stuff items in through the collar part. Tie the sleeve ends together, and sling it over your shoulder. This is a good way to carry a small load of laundry to the laundromat.
4. Old shirts make great rags. They are particularly good for cleaning cobwebs and other dust from ceilings and corners. Just stick one on the end of a broomstick and start dusting. Rags made from shirts are also good shoe polishers.
5. Make napkins. Cut the backs of shirts into 30 centimetre (12 inch) squares of fabric. Hem each side, and you have a new set of dinner napkins.
6. Cut off trims. Remove all buttons and embellishments from your shirt, and set them aside for your grandchildren, who will love all of the trinkets you have given them for future arts-and-crafts projects.