Playing is a valuable childhood learning activity because it is believed to create a brain that has increased flexibility and improved potential for learning later in life.

When play is carried into adulthood, It develops creative thinking, individual expression and a sense of well-being. REfashion enables play-based fun through upcycling existing clothing in affordable and adventurous ways.

Lilly B has been on the blog before (ages ago now!) wearing Sew 193 and I’m thrilled to now feature Lilly wearing one of her own upcycles based on a pair of op-shop-found cotton denim jeans. 

Lilly’s upcycle was inspired by pioneering Hong-Kong based refashionista Geneva Vanderzeil from her a pair and a spare project DIY sequin embellished denim shorts – and there are lots of other inspiring projects on Geneva’s website too.

To make these sparkling shorts, cut off an old pair of jeans below the back pockets then cut shapes from pieces of sparkling fabric to cover the short fronts (below the pockets) and hand-stitch them in place. Refashion doesn’t need to be perfect – any imperfections become part of the story of reusing existing resources to reduce waste and be individual.