It is exciting to be in central Queensland for a creative upcycling workshop supported by Biloela Arts Council and the Banana Shire’s Regional Arts Development Fund.  This marks the beginning of a community-wide REfashion Revolution in which we open our minds to chopping and changing dated garments into something more current and wearable.

Some people toss out unworn clothes, hopefully to an op shop rather than into the rubbish. Many others treasure the natural fibres or the sentiment of garments and hold them in the back of the wardrobe – even though they aren’t wearing them because they no longer fit, are frumpy or old-fashioned in style or stained in some way. 

While we engage traditional sewing skills, there is a shift in thinking required to take the scissors to lovely natural fibres garments in a way most of us have not done before. It seems sacrilegious to tamper with the clothing as we know it. However if it is not being worn, it is reasonable to take the risk, make a leap of faith, and invest in mindful creativity to generate fresh and exciting results.

When you put your mind to it, it is possible to turn a jumble of waste clothing into wearable creations that come from your own imagination and application. You don’t need an exact pattern, you just need to be confident that whatever happens, you can get a good result – and sometimes it is the mistakes or accidental chops that end up delivering the most interesting effects. We’ll post some more photos of our Biloela creations tomorrow but here’s the work in progress.

Sew 165 is another trouser mend I did yesterday before flying up to Biloela. Dear Darcy has been looking hopefully at these most favourite grey trousers draped over a chair for many weeks and finally he can wear them again. They had been mended once already and needed to come back for more. I used an offcut from wool tights to create a patch that have some movement because of the location of the main tear in the crutch area.  It was just a case of pinning the patch in place on the inside, then doing lots of zigzag stitching to secure.  Part of the leg hems also needed mending and a button was replaced.