Recycling Two Favorite Shirts

One of my sons came in while I was looking through some of my mother's old clothing, wondering what to do with it... Was it good enough to give away? Or should I make something out of it...?

I don't suppose you'd ever consider just throwing it out? he asked.

Actually, ... I find that very hard to do, I replied.

Raised in a household where both my parents had grown up in hard times, I was never taught to throw things away. Their poverty had nurtured their creativity. Recycling old things came naturally to them and, later on, to me. (Interestingly, I don't believe that my brother - four years younger than me - suffers from this same burden of guilt!)

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(Now on to what I was planning to write about!)

I have three favorite fleece-lined plaid shirts, purchased years ago from L.L. Bean. They suit our winter weather very well, particularly our indoor temperatures. We don't keep our house all that warm, so I wear them as an extra layer around the house most winter days. 

Two of them are particular favorites, so of course, they were the first to develop holes in the sleeves...

Should I throw them out?! If not, what else could they be used for?

I toyed with the idea of making them into a blanket, fleece on one side, plaid fabric on the other... Or what about removing the sleeves and making them into vests?

So that's what I did, leaving a little fleece trim on the edges! 

Will I like them this way? I'm not sure. I'll try wearing them like this. Then - if they aren't all that warm and cozy, I can still make them into a quilted blanket!

And if that doesn't work, I can always throw them out... (though that would be a real struggle)!