Declutter with Meaning: What to Do with Clothes You Can’t Part With

Happy 2026! It’s time to kick off the new year with a fresh start, and that means making your space as fresh as possible. Why wait for spring cleaning? Decluttering right at the start of the year will clean out your home––and your mind––for a refreshing start to a brand new chapter.

Now, decluttering is often easier said than done. Many items in your home––especially clothes––can carry lots of emotional weight. Even if some clothes haven’t been worn in months or years, the memories connected to them will still mean a lot to you. These clothes aren’t so easily donated or thrown away, but they also take up lots of space in the closet. What can balance a refreshing start-of-the-year declutter with a meaningful preservation of memories?

So, to help declutter while paying due respect to our favorite memories, let’s take a look at all the challenges that come from decluttering and how crafting creative keepsakes––like a MemoryStitch t-shirt quilt––can be extremely impactful.

WHY LETTING GO FEELS SO HARD

Decluttering the closet, basement, attic or the entire home can be an extremely rewarding task, so why does it feel so hard to do? Often the difficulty really comes down to our emotional attachment to all the items we collect in our home. Almost everything is connected to important milestones, events or people to some extent, and even if it’s only a subconscious feeling, we want to preserve those memories. There’s also potentially a feeling of guilt. If we want to discard or donate something that was a gift from someone special, we sometimes feel as if we’re also discarding our relationship with that person. And for even older clothes and items, nostalgia certainly plays a role as we hold on to our past. It’s a long list of reasons why we like to hold on to our clothes and possessions, but remember that it’s entirely normal to want to keep things that are meaningful––we all do it!

CREATIVE WAYS TO PRESERVE MEMORIES

Luckily, as difficult as it is to let go, there are plenty of creative ways to declutter while preserving the clothes that mean the most to you. One of the best tools at your disposal is upcycling your most treasured belongings into something brand new and functional. Here are two fantastic ways to do just that:

• T-shirt quilts: A pile of well-loved shirts can transform into a tapestry of memories. Show off your shirts that mean the most to you or have the coolest graphic designs in a collage that can be as abstract or specific as possible. That horde of pop culture shirts can make for a fantastic new bed spread, or a collection of custom family event shirts can be displayed proudly in your living room. The opportunities to tell stories with your collection of t-shirts are limitless when you turn them into a t-shirt quilt and create a durable keepsake you can display or cuddle with.

• Memory pillows: For a smaller collection of shirts or clothes––or to highlight one or two extra important items––consider crafting a memory pillow. As a keepsake, a pillow is much more compact and can be easily displayed on furniture all around the house. Your favorite shirts can now be the perfect comfy spot to rest your head.

Whether a quilt or pillow suits your fancy more, MemoryStitch is here to help! On our online store today, you can check out all of our customizable options to craft the perfect t-shirt quilt or pillow to match the size and style of your collection of well-loved apparel.

PRACTICAL TIPS FOR DECLUTTERING

We’ve addressed some solutions for what to do with meaningful items you choose not to get rid of, so now let’s look at some tips to make the entire process easier and possibly enjoyable:

• Make an organization scheme: Creating a clean space starts with deciding how you want to organize everything. Try making groups of what you want to keep, what you want to donate and what you want to include in your memory keepsake. Keeping your system simple like that is often the best way to help make decisions.

• Set a goal: Make a clean choice of how much you want to keep and how much space you’re hoping to clear. A helpful tip to make this even easier is to look at the size options for MemoryStitch t-shirt quilts––you can have as few as 12 t-shirts and as many as 128 on a single quilt! Determine the size you want so that you know how many shirts need to make their way out of your closet and into your quilt.

• Ask yourself the right questions: If you ask yourself very literal questions like “Do I use this?” then you may not get very far. Instead, ask questions like “Do I have strong feelings attached to this?” or “Will I regret not preserving this?” to reach a deeper understanding of how you emotionally relate to your belongings.

GET STARTED TODAY WITH MEMORYSTITCH

And just like that, the hard work is over. Although decluttering can be a difficult process, it will lead to a tremendously rewarding and refreshing start to your 2026. Another benefit to the process? Getting started on your MemoryStitch t-shirt quilt! After some small preparation steps, your collection of preserved t-shirts can be shipped to us, and then we’ll take over the hard work from there to stitch your perfect t-shirt quilt. For a full breakdown on how our process turns your favorite shirts into keepsakes, check out our How It Works page.

Don’t throw out your memories––transform them into lasting treasures. Take a look at our collection to pick out the perfect t-shirt quilts or pillows to make from your decluttering haul. Also, stay tuned to our Instagram and Facebook for our latest deals, savings events and more. Bring your home some warmth for the new year with a t-shirt quilt or pillow from MemoryStitch!

Written by Zander Gibney.