The benefits of upcycling are you can wear clothes that suit your body shape, are comfortable, in colours/fabrics of choice … and reduce your environmental footprint as you dress with conscience.

Apart from underwear, it is many years since I bought a ‘new’ garment. I’m upcycling and refashioning every day this year as a way of auditing the many wardrobes of pre-loved clothing I’ve rescued from opshops, family and friends. I do this because there is pleasure, reward and satisfaction in rescuing natural-fibre garments that are under-valued and worthy of refashion – and to demonstrate an alternative to fast-fashion churn and buying new.

Sew 198 was an assortment of op-shop garments that I’ve massaged to suit myself. The long navy knitted wool-blend skirt had two white stripes at the bottom. I never liked them and set about covering them up. This involved cutting strips of fabric from a viscose top (from the stash), gathering and sewing them over the white. They add texture, interest and soft colour while camouflaging the stark white. The maroon jumper is a soft hand-knit wool I found it in an op-shop several years ago. The only changes I made were to remove the pink threads from the sleeves (they were a bit tight) and loop them through the zip as a tassel instead. I renovated the wool by using a crochet hook to bring a few pulled threads back to the inside and trimmed pills using small scissors. A small amount of time, effort and creative problem-solving brings together these random garments for a comfy look that works for my shape.