Category Archives: repurpose

Sew 226 – Even Roxy wears upcycled

Roxy wears upcycled coatIt is so easy to go out and buy stuff – much more engaged, meaningful and resourceful to upcycle something you already have for another purpose. Yes it takes time, thought and effort but it yields unique, creative, conversation-starters in return.

My sister Jo has a dog called Roxy which has personality and presence, and recently had to several vet visits, x-rays etc. For the last few weeks of winter, Jo decided to upcycle one of her well-worn wool jackets into a dog coat for Roxy.

Jo had a look around at other dog coat designs before cutting into the red wool coat, leaving the collar in place and creating a suitable shape after removing the lining and sleeves (I’ve saved for another project). It is secured by velco strips and black ties.  Continue reading

Sew 225 – Change dress to skirt

Carol wears upcycledSpring is nearly upon us in the Southern Hemisphere, with advertisements for cheap consumer fashion for the new season appearing alongside the cheap fast food ads. That’s life for the majority in our consumer society, and its unlikely to change any time soon.

Sew it Again is counter-culture, reshaping and reusing clothing that already exists instead of buying new – clothing selected for natural fibre materials rather than new styles or current trends.

Sew 225 began life as a teenage strapless dress made from cotton knit, with zips used for fringing – trendy a season or two back with lots of interesting detail in the fringing.  Continue reading

Sew 224 – Opshopchop coat of colour

Upcycled wool jumpers become coat of colours“Uh oh, this is not going quite as planned” … is a frequent thought when you take scissors to garments. Expect the unexpected, let it lead you to creative original solutions and don’t give up until you have a wearable result.

Upcycling is a creative discipline that requires a combination of time, skills, confidence and desire to produce something unique from rejects.

Natural fibres now make up only one-third of modern clothing according to the FAO – the rest are made from synthetics which are mostly pure petroleum.  Continue reading

Sew 222 – Upcycled pouch with purpose

Liz Harfull puts upcycled phone pouch to good useWe carry our life in our phones these days so need to hold them close to our chest – and what better way to do that than with an upcycled purpose-made phone pouch.

At the Ekka recently with my friend and colleague, author of award-winning The Australian Blue Ribbon CookbookLiz Harfull, we were wandering and chatting for a while before Liz realised she had mislaid her new beaut Samsung phone.

Fortunately we could easily back-track and locate it, on this occasion. Because of the Samsung’s features (including a great camera – I also have one and take all my photos with it), the phone is slightly larger than pocket-sized but still hard to find in a big carry-all bag.  Continue reading

Sew 220 – Spotted wool jumper-skirt

Jane wears Sew it Again 220This upcycle came with a lucky charm because I won a raffle prize – a fantastic Amanda Salisbury photo, below – while attending the inspiring and informative Queensland Rural Regional and Remote Women‘s High Tea.

I met several new contacts and caught up with lots of old friends as we heard the amazing story of the Puglisi family’s winery at Stanthorpe.

Meanwhile the 365 upcycling continues with another jumper-skirt, this time refashioned from a men’s spotted wool jumper. I cut the sleeves off and opened them out before joining the cuffs together to become a butterfly-shaped shawl – with the inside facing out so the woven pattern is accentuated. I crocheted around the edge to secure and neaten. This is draped around the shoulders of an op shop wool jacket, from which shoulder pads were removed.  Continue reading

Sew 219 – Jumper-skirt for Ekka

Jane Milburn wears upcycled cotton jumper-skirtThe Rural Press Club breakfast is the opening event at the Ekka, Queensland’s annual show, and a great time to catch up with rural friends and associates from around the state.

Guest speaker this year was Jason Strong, CEO of Australian Agricultural Company – talking about beef of course – but I was seated with central Queensland cotton grower Charlie Wilson.  As a former chair of Cotton Australia, Charlie has good insight into cotton production, how it sits in the textile world in relation to inputs (water and chemicals) required to grow the crop and the challenge from synthetic fibres. He runs a family enterprise producing about 4000 bales of cotton as well as organic beef and dryland cropping of wheat and chickpeas. Although he plans to grow organic wheat in future, he says it is not possible to grow fully organic cotton in Australia because of the insect pest problems. Continue reading

Sew 217 – Shift thinking on textile waste

Jake makes tshirt ribbonThe funny thing about this Sew it Again project in which I set out to reduce my clothing stockpile is that I seem to be accumulating more! There is so much surplus clothing in the world, that people either give it away, donate to charities or dump it to reduce the burden it has become.

Because I see waste clothing as a resource, I’m spending this year coming up with ways individuals can reuse it and sharing them on this blog, at workshops and talks. Around the world, there are other thrifty, resource-savvy people reusing waste clothing too – just google upcycling or refashion. We are part of a DIY refashion revolution exploring more sustainable, mindful and resourceful ways of living.

When I reflect on progress to date, I’m excited that local government authorities are inviting me to demonstrate what can be done with old clothing – via the t-shirts reworked workshop last Sunday at Redcliffe City Council’s What’s Cooking in the Gardens event, and a similar activity planned for Brisbane City Council’s Green Heart Fair at Carindale on October 12.  Continue reading

Sew 216 – Reusing waste creatively

reject tshirt upcycled to skirtClothing is third on the list of wasteful consumption after food and credit interest, according to The Australia Institute.

A TAI 2005 research paper says that while we ostensibly buy goods and services to meet needs, social and economic systems now depend on growing levels of consumer spending unconnected with any needs.

It says: “Consumer spending is everywhere praised as being ‘good for the economy’; indeed, in the long term, it is only consumer spending that keeps the economy growing, and economic growth is almost universally believed to be the most important contributor to national and personal well-being (Hamilton 2003). As a consequence, economic growth has become a dominant objective in itself, irrespective of the extent to which it contributes to improving social well-being.”  Continue reading

Sew 215 – Linking with like-mindeds

Jo wear upcycledAs I work my way through this Sew it Again year, I enjoy meeting people and starting a conversation about clothing – where it comes from, where it goes to, and what happens to it along the way.

There is significant community awareness of the disposable culture flowing from the cheap and seemingly endless supply. People are becoming more conscious of the negative environmental and social impacts of the clothing binge, in the same way they know about negative health impacts from over-consumption of cheap processed food, But doing something about it is another matter.

Items that are unique and locally handmade with heart are rare. They standout among the sameness of the mass-produced and are valued by conscious consumers. They’re doubly special if you take the time to learn the skills and make them yourself.  Continue reading

Sew 214 – T-shirts reworked

t-shirts reworkedHacktivism strikes me as a great term to describe the art of hacking into reject and cast-off clothing that is no longer loved, at the same time as making a statement about waste and exploitation that arises from contemporary fashion consumption habits. (That was until I googled it and found it’s more readily aligned with computer hacking.)

Anyway, this method of upcycling reflects the #scavengerstyle fashion political statement made by upcycler Karen Ellis whose 24/7 practice is wearing garments salvaged from the point of landfill in Victoria, Australia for the past five years.

Karen brought my attention to Otto von Busch and his >self_passage< research project that ‘explores how fashion can be used for empowerment, self-development and personal growth instead of being a phenomenon of top-down decrees and collective anxiety’.  Continue reading