Matter, especially fabric, I am convinced, can be neither created nor destroyed. Therefore, we must recycle. That thought is not as scientifically accurate as the original law of physics, but it works for those of us who sew. Such fabric matter can, like magic, be changed from one state to another. A length of flat fabric can become a curvy dress, the dress can become a sleeveless blouse, and the blouse can be cut into small pieces and stitched into a quilt.

Quilters, it seems to me, are good at improvising on the recycling theme and at keeping scraps of fabric out of the waste stream destined for landfills. They take small scraps of cloth left over from other projects and turn them into crazy quilts they donate to shelters for the homeless, or send off to aid those digging out after hurricanes and earthquakes. Or they create a quilt so innovative and visually astounding it hangs in an art gallery or gets wall play in the home of a collector.

Artists and designers also keep fabric out of the waste stream by taking discarded clothing and making it into something new. Some of these clever practitioners are writing books about it.

“New From Old” by Jayne Emerson promises to teach readers how to “transform and customize your clothes.” Emerson doesn’t limit her ideas to the transformation of recycled clothing. She tells how to make a tablecloth into a skirt, a silk scarf into a halter top, as well as how to make a bolero jacket from an unfashionable sweater and cropped pants or shorts from ankle-length slacks or jeans – recycled or new.

She discusses how to add trims to spruce up a ho-hum garment, how to dye fabrics and trims, how to add beads to shoes, how to rebead old necklaces into new creations and how to use simple embroidery stitches to jazz up a blazer. The Changing Forms section gives the scoop on how to use tucks to reshape a loose-fitting shirt.

It’s a useful book that those who sew well or those who sew only a little will enjoy as a source of inspiration and ideas.

Another book artsy seamstresses, aspiring or experienced, will want to peruse is “Sew Subversive: Down and Dirty DIY for the Fabulous Fashionistas” by Melissa Rannels, Melissa Alvarado and Hope Meng. The authors are the founders of the Stitch Lounge in San Francisco. The women were childhood friends with degrees in engineering, math and economics. They thought it would be cool to open a place where customers could buy old clothes and transform them right there on the premises. The lounge opened two years ago.

Their book will give those who don’t sew the courage and the basics to get started. Readers will discover how to connect with a sewing machine that will respond to their needs, learn Fabric 101, gear up for that first sewing project, set up a sewing space and storage options. (Those big bins that hold many yards of fabric may be the real reason plastic was invented.)

After you’ve pored over the first 75 pages of the book, you’re good to go. Make something, such as a pillow. After that, sew something else, such as topstitching a shirt in funky colors, or giving your hoodie an animal theme with dragon scales or kitty ears.

The book is full of clever ways to refashion old stuff into new, such as skirts from pants, leg warmers from sweaters and tote bags from T-shirts. You can even transform a pillowcase into a tank dress.

Although the clothing items in the book are aimed at the young and hip, the ideas are universal so those of us of a more staid age can employ those ideas in a more sedate way – or not – if we choose.

And this just in – “Customizing Cool Clothes: From Dull to Divine in 30 Projects” by Kate Haxell. The projects in this book start with easy-to-find garments such as jeans, a velvet jacket, a skirt or the clothes in your closet. The author leads readers through various ways to put pizzazz into clothing using trimmings such as rickrack, buttons and beads, ribbon and patching. Another of the author’s ideas is to print a computer image onto image transfer paper and iron it onto a T-shirt for instant oomph. Another is to perk up a blouse by highlighting its machine embroidery pattern with beads and sequins hand-sewn to the garment.

This book, along with the other two, make the perfect core library for those who want to customize clothing.

The Salvation Army and Good Will stores, and other thrift shops are great places to find clothing to rework into something uniquely your own. Good Will even makes it possible to shop for used stuff online at www.shopgoodwill.com.

Recycling fabric and clothing gives new meaning to that old phrase, “What goes around comes around” – is that another way of saying matter can be neither created nor destroyed? How else can you explain a tablecloth finding new life and adventure as a skirt?

Snippets

Those of you who are learning to sew will find plenty of advice on how to get started in sewing at www.simplicity.com, which features a Sewing 101 online classroom. Learn what tools you need, how to determine your pattern size and what type figure you are, plus lots of other useful information.

The Bangor Area Sewing Guild offers the class “Tumbling Blocks: Two Ways” at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, March 10, at the Hampden Municipal Center, Western Avenue. The cost is $10 for guild members, $15 others. Call Kathy Childs at 941-8815 to register and for a list of supplies.

Call Ardeana Hamlin at 990-8153, or e-mail ahamlin@bangordailynews.net.