Old denim jeans are a dime a dozen and for today’s offering, I converted a pair of jeans to a skirt by cropping them at the knees, turning upside down and creating new waistline.

My year of upcycling existing clothing with Sew it Again is all about transformation – of old clothing, damaged clothing, ill-fitting clothing and myself!

I can see how my bossy left brain – the maths/science part – has inhibited my creative right brain with this conversion because it looks a bit too ‘neat’ for my liking. I started off well, upending the jeans is creative, but then tried to tame them with a neat waist and bow.

The exciting thing is that I know that if I work at it every day, my actions and commitment to creatively pursue new ways of doing old things, such skirts in future will be wilder and freer.

Denim is a fashion perennial and according to MX Style it is ripped, pale, overalls and dresses, and boyfriend denim that’s on-trend this season. And apparently rips are back big-time.

That’s upcycling heaven for those like me interested in reusing existing resources as a way of contributing to a more sustainable and ethical world.

To make today’s skirt, I cropped the jeans then cut out the inside leg and the pockets. I sewed the front seam from the bottom of zip to new waist, after a bit of fiddling to get it sitting evenly. I created a few darts front and back to shape the new waistline. After opening out one of the left-over legs, I cut diagonal strips to make belt loops and a belt, all finished with zigzag stitch. The back-opening of the skirt is fastened with a fabpin (fabric-covered safety pin).