Upcycled Sewing Projects- Recycling
Jul 2, 2010 by Violet
Upcycled sewing seems to be a fairly popular buzzword lately in craft circles
When we decided we were moving to Melbourne I was worried that I wouldn’t fit my whole wardrobe in our car… let alone anything else! So I spent hours trying to decide what to donate to op shops and what to keep.
Some items I was keeping just on the off chance I would like them in the future even though I secretly knew I would never wear them again…I didn’t want to part with some of them but they were un-wearable in their current incarnations so it forced me to think of how to change them so I would wear them.
And that is the story of these two sewing projects I did before we left!
Firstly I had these two skirts to give the upcycling treatment:
The white one sat really strangely and didn’t go with anything I owned while the pink one was completely see-through in bright light as I found out the first time I wore it out >_<
| 2 snips of the waist bands and 1 row of over-locking and I now have this:
Cute, comfy, opaque and quite versatile in my wardrobe! Problem solved!
Next I found this dress in a thrift store quite a while ago and really loved it… well some of it. I loved the pattern, the frill, the pearl buttons and the fact it was made out of comfy t-shirt fabric. Unfortunately it looked really terrible on because there was no definition between bust and waist and the skirt had a bubble hem. Not flattering at all so it was banished to be room wear.
I couldn’t leave it behind so I cut off a lot of the hem, added a ruffle with the parts I’d cut off, replaced the button, added darts for waist definition and re-worked the waist tie. I haven’t decided yet if it will be a going-out dress or remain super cute at home wear but either way it’s certainly an improvement ^_^
Have you guys ever recycled your clothes?
I keep getting requests for more sewing and sewing related tutorials but I’ve been a bit hesitant to write anything because it’s hard to write sewing tutorials that will work for everyone.
I am thinking about it more and more though so I think there will be more upcycled sewing in the future ^_^ |
You’re so clever!
I have so many clothes I never wear but can’t part with, I need to learn how to sew and make them prettier :P
Diana xx
Oh yes sewing is very fun! You just need to pick up the basics and things like this are nice ad easy!
i love the dress and yep i love finding things and revamping them :3
I love looking at your creations too :D
Oh, I think you should definitely keep writing sewing related tutorials. Even if the don’t work for everyone, we can all get inspired by you and get inspirations from you. Your tutorials are brilliant :) You’re so creative!
Ok that’s another vote for more sewing, I think that settles it! I’m so glad you find the tutorials useful, I’m glad I’m not just writing for myself anymore XD
T.T I wish I could sew, do I need to take up sewing lessons? T_T
I’ve never done proper sewing lessons, you just need to learn some of the basics and it will all fall into place ^_^ Maybe I should start making basic tutorials!
I love how creative you are with things you already have! Both items are really cute. I’m going to learn how to sew this Summer. :)
Oh that sounds like fun! Sewing is a really great skill to have :D Thank you for commenting!
Great ideas!! I don’t do as much as I should..I have many clothes hanging around that need altering to be wearable, or ‘creatively interfered with’ to be “wow” enough to wear :)
I’m opnly a beginner sewer myself (have a machine but rarely use it), so appreciate tutes that aren’t too hard.
I know what you mean, I’ve been a bit lazy lately with alterations lately. Ok nice easy tutes are on the way!
I’d love to see more sewing tutorials, since I’m just a beginner myself! I should do this with some of my clothes, since I’m moving in about a month and I’m worried I won’t fit everything into my new apartment XD
That’s exactly why I did it, it’s actually a good motivation haha! Ok I’ll see if I can make some nice easy sewing tutorials ^_^
Hello Violet,
We’ve been really enjoying reading your blog, and would love to link to you! If you like what you see on our site, we’d be delighted if you linked to us too :)
Hi Rebecca :) You’ve got a very nice site and I’m glad you’re enjoying my blog! I don’t actually do link exchanges as all the people I link to are actually people who’s blogs I regularly read but I have added you to my reading list and if you’re still interested next time I update the list we’ll go from there :) Thanks so much!
Sorry for the very late reply! (Oops!)
Thanks so much for that Violet, I really appreciate you taking the time to have a look our blog :)
Not to worry about linking at the moment; as we’re quite new ourselves, we’re just trying to build up a network of quality blogs & sites.
Keep the inspiring work!
No worries Rebecca, hope it goes well :)
Wow, what you did to that dress is amazing! I also want to start sewing, but I don’t know how to get started, hehe :)
Ok lots of people have said that so maybe I should make some really easy beginners tutorials and then you can all start sewing together!
I love the dress! The pattern is adorable and what you’ve done with it is a -vast- improvement!
:D Thanks so much, I think it’s an improvement too!
Oh wow that’s such a good idea! I have so many clothes in my wardrobe that i’ll probably never wear again either so i should totally try something like that!! I’ve never really recycled my clothes before but i did dye a lot of skirts and tops purple (they were white originally) because it’s my favourite colour and added more colour to my wardrobe!
That dress is especially adorable!
You should totally give it a go, the best part is that even if you fair, you were never going to wear it again anyway so it’s ok! Purple is a really pretty colour and dying things is quite hard, I’m envious!
I’m about to start some sewing to remake some dresses i got off ebay for cheap that are MASSIVE. As a fat chick having a dress that is 10 inches too wide is mystifying, thinking about the fact that there were 3 more sizes above this one makes my jaw drop. so now im start making them into somethign wearable.
Also love the dress remake. Seriously no one looks good in bubble hems. frills are much better
At least you’ll have lots of fabric left over for accessories :P Ugh I so know what you mean, bubble hems are one of the most unflattering thing fashion has ever invented.
Very crafty :-D Love how you can turn something average into something awesome :-D
:D Thanks Esz!
That you can sew just amazes me. You’re so ingenious. With those types of things I just send them to charity recycle shops instead of trying to make it work >_<;;
XD Not having cash to replace them makes me quite inventive hahaha.
Ooh, tardy on the commenting, but home late from camping! ^^ I love the skirts but especially the dress. Like you, I can’t wear dresses like that (Are those called empire waist dresses?). But that was so creative how you added the ruffle and cut off the “bubble”. Very cute! :D
Haha no such thing as a tardy comment all of them are good! Yep those are empire waist dresses, they are not good for people with a large bust >_<