Those of a certain age will recall when shirts with stretch waistbands were fashionable. Black and white animal print seems perennial, so a small amount of time flipping shirt for second life as skirt seems a worthwhile investment.
This upcycle is another of the garments my artist friend Lena is revitalising from her late mother’s wardrobe, after she passed away last year. This is a sentimental, sustainable and resourceful strategy on Lena’s part. It is so easy and cheap to purchase new clothing these days, therefore upcycling is not about money. It is much more meaningful, purposeful and sustainable to modify what you already have to suit yourself than simply go shopping for new. Lena is deliberately choosing to reuse the special features, fabric and function of existing garments for a second life rather than shunting them off for a likely future as landfill.
Lena has a history for innovative and leading action in reusing resources, having been a foundation member of Reverse Garbage in Brisbane nearly 20 years ago (read more of the Reverse Garbage story here). Lena’s other leadership role is as inaugural president of the Brisbane Visual Arts Community, a home for Queensland creative groups.
Sew 195 is what I’m now calling the flip skirt – a shirt flipped upside down to become a skirt. All that was required for this one is to cut along the sleeves and shoulders (removing the back part of the collar), trim it to remove seams or pointy bits before neatening the hem. Lena then added two buttons to secure the collar at the front. Sew a channel in the existing elastic waistband and insert elastic (measure to suit your own waistline). To insert elastic, you can either unpick the sideseam just enough to thread through the elastic or just snip an opening on the inside near the sideseam. Note that stretch doesn’t fray, but you can stitch together again if you are a neat freak. Instant skirt. We found a black buckle in my stash which enabled the black shirt Lena was wearing to link with this flip skirt as if they were made to be together.
