Monthly Archives: July 2014

Sew 192 – Conversions for coast comfort

Carol wears upcycledChanging clothes to suit yourself is simple when you know how and have a little confidence. My friend Carol purchased this Pringle cashmere cardigan from a vintage shop without trying it on, only to discover the cuff bands were uncomfortably tight. Our creative solution was to chop them off, leaving about 1cm of the rib to hold the sleeves together and then blanket stitch the raw edge.

For the no-sew skirt, a large men’s blue cotton polo shirt was turned upside down and waist elastic inserted into what was the hem of the shirt. The collar and ribbed sleeve bands were cut-off and the shirt sliced along the shoulders to create a flared, contemporary hemline that was great for rock-hopping and bush-walking at Noosa during a brief break at the beach. Continue reading →

Sew 191 – Beach beanie + jumper skirt

upcycled jumper skirt and beanieLots of laughter with this wool jumper upcycle as the beanie attracted comparisons to attire worthy of a Dr Seuss character. It was created from the sleeve of a hand-knitted wool jumper, which I unpicked from the body of the jumper and simply tied a knot at the end.   

The body of the jumper was then turned upside down to become the skirt after the sleeve opening was hand-stitched together.  I harvested strips of fabric from a dated blue silk dress – one strip was used to form a narrow waistband, others were used to trim the bottom of the skirt, while the long bottom frill of the dress was knotted to become an elongated scarf. There were several holes in the body of jumper (probably the reason it ended up in the opshop for me to salvage) which I darned with grey wool and they are barely visible in the complex patterned knit. See photos below.  Continue reading →

Sew 190 – Eco-dye with tea leaves

eco-dye wool with tea leavesIt’s taken a while, but I’m now dying with tea. Cream wool is pretty but the colour doesn’t seem warming enough for winter. This men’s wool knit is a favourite op shop find from a few years ago and I enjoy its soft cosiness. Its upcycle as Sew 190 happened by chance – when I splashed it with tea while lounging on the sofa. Although I immediately sponged it, the tea stain remained.

The solution was to gather all the ‘best before 2012’ tea leaves and make a big brew. The wool absorbed the colour beautifully and evenly. I left it soaking in the brew for about 30 minutes, spun out the excess then dried it in front of the fire. The jumper is now a beautiful caramel shade and smells of Earl Grey.  Continue reading →

Sew 189 – Jumper to jazzy skirt

jumper to skirt convoTradition and convention tend to keep us locked into established patterns – be that of behaviour, processes and possessions. A jumper is a jumper – until you turn it on its head.

Transforming old reject jumpers/sweaters into skirts is one of my favorite and easiest upcycles – and it’s the focus of an upcoming workshop on July 25 at the Jumpers and Jazz Festival in Warwick. If you’d like to join us, at the Abbey of the Roses activity, you can book here.

I love wearing long wool skirts with tights for winter warmth so I’ll be making more in coming days to demonstrate creative ways to reuse old wool jumpers with holes in them.  Continue reading →

Sew 188 – ARLF farewell honours

Dr Lesley Fitzpatrick wears upcycledIt was an honour to be commissioned to create a unique, relevant farewell gift for Dr Lesley Fitzpatrick who led the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation as CEO for seven years.

The ARLF’s flagship program is the Australian Rural Leadership Program which provides a rare opportunity to enrich, enlighten and empower selected individuals – and I was fortunate to be sponsored through the program in 2009 thanks to the Fairfax Agricultural Media scholarship.

One of Lesley’s achievements as CEO was securing Graduate Certificate status for ARLP through James Cook University. I found the Grad Cert transformative because It led me on a creative journey into eco-leadership, reusing natural fibres to reduce waste and help shift the way we think about fashion and clothing.  Continue reading →

Sew 187 – Individual, comfortable, unique

Pamela wears upcycledThose who do it, know. They know how satisfying it is to magic something out of not much, in a style that pleases, and is comfortable on yourself.

Pamela knows. She created this outfit from a black cashmere sweater (her husband’s) that had seen better days and was about to be consigned to the reject pile, combined with a two-metre piece of hand-printed silk purchased at a market in Udiapur, Rajasthan when living overseas in a previous life.

Pamela has been making clothes since she was about 10-years-old, so she has sewing skills. But in the same way Pamela doesn’t follow a recipe when cooking, she doesn’t follow a pattern when sewing. I get where she is coming from – and we had fun together upcycling and experimenting with what was to hand.  Continue reading →

Sew 186 – Quilted vest remodelled

Gwen wears upcycled skirtSometimes we invest a lot of fabric, effort and energy in handcraft only to find we don’t particularly enjoy the end result. This is off-putting and something to guard against if we are to continue to invest time in creative work. I don’t know what the answer is, except to say that handcrafted items can be upcycled.

Gwen had made a lovely quilted vest some time ago but wasn’t wearing it because she didn’t like its shape.  It is rare that I suggest unpicking anything, but in this case I could envisage the front panels becoming character-filled deep pockets, so I suggested Gwen unpick the side-seams of her vest and resew the lining to create two stand-alone pockets from the front panels. Continue reading →

Sew 185 – Meredith made a cape

Meredith's skirt becomes capeA bit of lateral thinking can go a long way. Meredith brought this gorgeous embellished red wool skirt to our Biloela workshop wondering what she could do to morph a cast-off into something she was more likely to wear.

After turning it upside down, around and about for a few minutes, we came up with the idea of turning it into a winter cape. The skirt was comprised of panels, and Meredith unpicked most of two seams that lined up with her arms. She then used blanket stitch and wool thread to secure and define these openings as armholes.  The zip became the collar when half-unzipped and with the edges secured by a couple of random vintage buttons. The zip and fastenings remain in place as collar features – and a signpost to the fact this is a refashioned creation. To finish off the neckline, Meredith sewed a piece of elastic inside the back of the ‘collar’ so it sits up neatly at the rear. Clever!  Continue reading →

Sew 184 – Darn holes in wool

Jane Milburn in upcycled wool skirt and topFor those preferring an eco-lifestyle, winter means delving into the wool stocks to keep oneself warm rather than heating the entire house – especially in a climate like Brisbane’s where the winter sunshine works its magic by late morning.

That’s how I found one of my favourite scarves had developed a hole – which I darned using an op-shop-gathered ball of wool of similar tone. I like the idea of wool being visibly mended – it’s a badge of honour that says upcycled, sustainable, care of natural resources.

After mending, I used this scarf as a wrap skirt teamed with an opshop found wool skivvy from which I removed the high neck and turned it into a head band.  Continue reading →

Sew 183 – Yay, half way post

Audrey in her history skirtOn a young woman’s cloth shopping bag I recently noticed this saying: I am not a shopaholic, I am helping the economy.  Well, at least it was a recyclable bag even if the message is questionable.

We have been conditioned to believe that buying more stuff is good for us and society when clearly that’s not the case. We live in a world with finite resources and it known that over-consumption on all levels is impacting our health in obvious as well as subtle ways. But some people make money out of encouraging over consumption.

As one gets older, and hopefully wiser, it is interesting to reflect on our purpose in life and what we might do (beyond purchasing) to help make the world a better place. Continue reading →