This history skirt made from oddments a few years ago is further upcycled with a t-shirt to become a dress that works with matching woolly jumper, which has button feature patching a hole.

In addition to sewing every day for the 365-day Sew it Again campaign to demonstrate creative ways of reusing existing clothing, I’ve been weaving together my story about upcycling natural fibres.

Tonight I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to tell it for the first time at Carindale Community Forum at the Pacific Golf Club on Brisbane’s southside, at which all are welcome.

As there is rising interest in home cooking and food growing for health and wellbeing, there is a pressing need to rethink our approach to textiles and fashion.  My model includes empowering individuals to reimagine and recreate their wardrobe collection by resewing at home.

Of course the ultimate presentations are TEDx talks so part of my research was watching this great TEDx Copenhagen talk “Changing the world through fashion’ by Eva Kruse.

It is possible to keep upcycling existing clothing until it literally wears out – it just takes a little time and patience. I was not enjoying the synthetic waistband I’d used on this history skirt so decided to upcycle it, for a second time. I removed the waistband and stitched the skirt directly to a t-shirt, which I received as part of an ABC team participating in a fundraising walk for breast cancer research. I’m short-waisted so to shorten the t-shirt, I added a few vertical pleats at the midriff. This pink jumper had earlier been upcycled by chopping off the length and sleeves, and creating a rosette with the sleeve offcuts. I noticed a hole in the wool, which I mended then covered up with some silk thread and a heart-shaped button. The silk threads fray off when you tear silk fabric, which I gather together then roughly knot and store in a dish until a decorative purpose arises.