Rejected highstreet to high fashion?

I found some of my old freelance work - I used to work for a lovely company producing embroidery designs. I learn a lot when I worked there, but now question if that way of producing, selling, buying and re-producing textiles for fashion is sustainable. I had to produce designs before I knew if they would sell or not (the norm in freelance textile and work and clothing production). I still have quite a few unsold designs (I wasn't as good as I would have liked!) and wondered if there is something I could do with them. So, far I've just done some sketching, to see if these rejected designs could inspire something that will be loved.