Admiring some beautiful big pink decorations on a Christmas tree in our local Brisbane News newspaper inspired me to create a variation using lily pods and an unworn jacket repurposed into flowers.

The jacket was amongst a bundle of clothes given to me for refashion by my friend Robyn Sheptooha earlier in the year and it was likely to be moved on (not natural fibre) until I saw its potential to return to Robyn as bespoke Christmas decorations.

Taking lotus lily pods (which Darcy gathered from a north Queensland friend’s property) and cassia bark (similar to large cinnamon sticks), I glued them together to create flowers bases (see photos at bottom).  I then filleted the jacket by cutting off all the finished edges (collar, button front and hem) into one long piece. After fiddling for a bit, I realised I needed to cut this long piece into two – using the collar gathered together to create the flower ‘petals’ secured at the base of the pod with an elastic band and glue. I then used the buttoned portion to wrap over the elastic band, down the stem and back up, secured by the button holes and buttons in new situ. I secured all with a burst from the glue pot (poked underneath) and two pink-headed pins.

For the second flower, I used the sleeves (placed either side of pod and secured with elastic band and glue) and finished the ‘stem’ using another strip of the jacket with raw edges folded and glued inwards. The final body portion of the jacket/armholes was used to wrap around a bundle of cassia sticks, to which a bell was tied.

These are #nowaste Christmas decorations created by repurposing an unworn garment into something which my friend Robyn can enjoy in another guise, hopefully for a few years.