This dress is an old hemp top upcycled with a salvaged silk trim which matches the colour of frangipani flowers that fall from a tree on my local bush-walking track.

Gathering beautiful fibres and found stuff is second nature to me as an upcycler – and for this Sew it Again year I’m integrating these traditions with new knowledge and fresh ideas from a range of sources.

I’m grateful to yesterday have been able to spend time with Head of Fashion Kathleen Horton and Lecturer in Fashion Alice Payne at QUT Creative Industries and source their views on upcycling, fashion and the factors which influence the way we dress.

Kathleen spoke about how fashion is splintering in many different directions and 3D digital printing of clothing is not too far away.

Information about another new-age development came via my WA friend Lucinda Giblett who sent a link to the work of designer Suzanne Lee who is growing vegetable leather using kombucha fermentation techniques. See her amazing ‘grow your own clothes’ TED talk here. 

And I picked up the engaging Grazia magazine last week and found many touch-points to enjoy – the fashion shapes and styles, the insights into popular culture, and the more sophisticated gossip (if there is such a thing).

Coming back to my upcycle for today, it’s based on a hemp outfit I made about 15 years ago of which only the top remains (the pants literally wore out). An unusual silk op-shop top was a perfect colour match and its lightweight a good foil to extend the neck and hemline. I literally cut the top in half, with the bottom having similar circumference to the hemp and being sewn directly to the hem. The other part of the silk top is loosely sewn to the hemp neck, with the sleeves falling to points at the front. Vintage buttons are used to disguise a mark on the hemp-front and hold the silk in place at the back.  I love that the colours are drawn from the natural beauty of a frangipani flower.