Slides 05.15: Upcycle Challenge Design Brief

Write U for upcycle, R for recycle, or N for neither.

1. A plastic bottle is melted down and made into new polyester thread.
2. A t-shirt with a stain is cut up and sewn into a tote bag that somebody carries to the store.
3. A sweatshirt is put in the trash.
4. A pair of jeans is cut into cleaning rags.

• Recycle: break a thing down to its raw material and make something new out of the material.
• Upcycle: keep the material and turn it into something worth more, or just as useful.
• Repurpose: same material, same shape, new job.

• Lesson 5.14 gave you four moves: buy less and better, care for what you have, repair, pass it on.
• This project is "pass it on," plus repair.
• It skips one card from the journey set. Which one?
• LANDFILL OR BURNED.

• Your material: free. It was headed for the trash.
• Thread: pennies.
• So what does the finished thing cost?
• Your time and your skill.
• That is the same question a tailor answers when they set a price.

• 1. T-shirt tote bag, no sewing on the body. Cut the sleeves and neck out, fringe the bottom, tie the fringe in pairs. Whipstitch the handle joins to reinforce them.
• 2. T-shirt headband. Cut a strip, whipstitch the ends into a loop, running stitch to gather.
• 3. Sweater sleeve phone sleeve. Cut one sleeve, whipstitch the cut end closed, backstitch a reinforcement.

• 4. Pillowcase drawstring bag. Running stitch the drawstring channel, backstitch the side seam, thread a cord.
• 5. Patchwork square. Four or more scraps, backstitched together, whipstitch the outer edge. Becomes a mat, a potholder-style square, or a wall square.

• 6. Jeans-leg pencil case. Backstitch the bottom, whipstitch the edges, sew on a button for the flap. Hard part: where the button lands.
• 7. Shirt pillow cover. The button placket becomes the opening. Backstitch three sides. Hard part: the corner where two seams meet.

• 8. Towel produce bag. Backstitch two sides, running stitch the top channel. Hard part: the towel may be too thick to fold twice.
• 9. Sock rice hand warmer. Running stitch to close, whipstitch the same seam again so nothing leaks.
• Rice rules: uncooked rice only. Nothing scented. Never heated at school. Heated at home, with an adult, 30 seconds maximum, and your card says so.
• Rice a problem? Use dried beans or flax seed.

• 10. Sweatshirt cuff wristlet. Whipstitch one edge closed, backstitch a small inside pocket. Hard part: does your hand still fit through?
• Design your own. Bring me the brief with a sketch and measurements. If it fits the four constraints, it is approved.
• Easy does not mean a lower grade. The rubric scores how well it is made and whether somebody would use it. Not how hard the idea was.

1. It must start from a used textile. Not new fabric off a roll.
2. It must be finished in two build days.
3. It must use at least two of the taught joins (hand stitches or a machine seam): running, backstitch, whipstitch, button.
4. It must be something somebody would actually use, and your brief names who.

• No sewing machine is needed anywhere in this project.

1. The plan and the design brief
2. Construction quality, including the stitches used
3. The item is genuinely useful and finished
4. Tool safety and the station routine, all four days
5. The display card and the explanation

• 20 points. Four levels each.
• Nothing on this rubric is a surprise, and you can read it while you build.

1. What I start with: what it is, its size in inches, the fiber if I can read the label, its condition
2. What it becomes, and its finished size
3. Who will use it, and for what (a name, not "anyone")
4. My two stitches, and where each one goes
5. My tools
6. Three steps, in order
7. The one thing most likely to go wrong
8. My reduced-scope version, written now, before I need it

• 1. The room's scrap bin. Free, open, enough for everybody. This is the normal way to do this project and it is full credit.
• 2. The class donation drive. The bin by the door. Clean, used textiles from anybody. Not required, not tracked.
• 3. Something from home, with the signed permission note. No note, no cutting. The note goes home today.
• Nothing valuable. Nothing borrowed. Nothing that belongs to somebody who has not signed.
• Closure line: my item starts as ______ and becomes ______ for ______ .