My husband and family-in-law had a good (kind hearted) laugh at me when I sat down one evening with a pair of my son's outgrown pyjama bottoms and my pinking sheers.
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| Pyjama handkerchiefs |
Ideally though, with the 5 R's of Waste Reduction in mind, I didn't want to rush out buy new ones.
I read a whole lot of tutorial online about how to make your own using material at hand at home. The problem for me was that they all involved nicely sewing the edges of the handkerchiefs to stop them from fraying.
I don't have a sewing machine and I also need to be realistic about myself if I am going to seriously try to cut down on my waste - and in this case the reality is I am not going to put the kids to bed and then sit down and hand sew a whole heap of handkerchiefs.
So, I tried out the next best thing - I pulled out my trusty pinking sheers. Pinking sheers are a special type of scissor that you can use to cut material. The way these scissors cut the material is supposed to reduce fraying edges.
METHOD
- Choose an appropriate material
- Use the pinking sheers to cut squarish shapes or rectanglish shapes or whatever shape takes your fancy out of the material
I decided to cut up my son's outgrown flannelette pyjamas because they were going to be donated to the Salvation Army.
Flannelette feels good on the nose and they were made from 100% cotton so no microplastic pollution when they're washed.
OUTCOME
They aren't all cut evenly. They are all very different shapes and sizes. Despite the pinking sheers, the edges have frayed in the washing machine.
But do they work - yes!
Have I been using them - yes!
Have the children been using them - mostly!
Has it cut down our use of tissues - yes!
HYGIENE
A note on hygiene. I think that it is fairly well established that the use of tissues is the most hygienic option. My husband won't use a handkerchief for that reason.
When any of us are really sick - I'm talking serious colds, flus and other virus' - then we will use tissues and dispose of them rather than having the virus hanging about on our handkerchiefs.
Most of the time though, we aren't sick and just need a hanky nearby for those occasions when you just need to blow your nose or wipe a bit of rogue snot off a child's face.
WILL I KEEP MAKING HANDKERCHIEFS?
Will I keep doing this - definitely.
I already have my eye on some other pyjamas my son is about to grow out of and a t-shirt my husband continues to wear despite it being almost totally ready to be taken out of circulation.
Yeah, they're not as pretty as store bought handkerchiefs and I am not opposed to purchasing some nicer ones made from re-purposed fabric at some stage as I increase my handkerchief collection.
But overall, I have really had some amazing use out of these handkerchiefs and my family can expect me to be pulling out my pinking sheers and chopping up more clothes in the future.
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