Top Refashioned into a Dress

This refashion took me a little longer than expected. In between managing the house, getting my son to school on time and doing some work, the project had to be spread over a couple of days, but in the end I made it!

I had some lovely off-cut fabric from China Town. The aunty (in Asian culture we call anyone who is older than us an aunty or an uncle) shopowner told me that somehow the fabric wasn't printed properly, but I didn't care, it looked gorgeous and snapped it up at a sale price of $5 per yard from the original $20.

When I got home, it got buried in my craft drawer. I had committed the sin of not thinking ahead when I made the purchase - I didn't know what I would be using it for. So it sat there for a while and then "ding!" I decided it would look lovely with my black refashioned top.  This was one of my first refashions.

P!D Initiative - The Upcycle Project

 

If you happen to be near Aljunied Ave 2, pop by and say "hi"! I'll be there :-)

 

 

Getting Started on Refashioning

So you want to refashion your clothes but don't know where to start.


Photo credits: benedeki and sykicktb

Why not take a look at your wardrobe? Are there items in there that have not been worn for a long time? One way to find out is to put the clothes that have been just cleaned and folded (or ironed) to one section of your wardrobe. After a short while you'll find that there will be quite a few items that remain untouched. These are your "I will never wear them again" clothes! You can donate to them your thrift store, or you could use them in your refashioning projects. The thrift store I visit is the MINDS Shop.

Can't bear to cut up your clothes? Why not start by looking at the local thrift store? Look for great patterns and fabrics you can work with. I stay away from materials that are difficult to work with, things like silk, taffeta and anything that is thin. I also look for clothing that is bigger than my size so that I can refashion it down.

You could hold a clothes swopping party with your friends. Set some rules (like not to bring grotty items!), go through your wardrobe and meet up to swop. Share ideas on what to make out of them too.

Head down to your local fabric store and check with the owner about any off-cuts for sale, fabric that wasn't printed correctly, faded or even torn. They can all be used in our projects, plus they are cheaper!  The print of the fabric in the above photo didn't come out right but it still looks beautiful to me, and I've started to make something with it (look out for what's coming!).

Next week I'll be posting on what are the things you need to refashion your clothes! Stay tuned.

Cardboard Lamp Making

We had a great time yesterday evening making cardboard lamps at the Maker Nite, Sustainable Living Lab (SL2).  We learnt how cardboard is constructed, how to cut it and how to create a lamp. There were no rules except for the fact we were given about 3 hours to come up with our own lamp; we had to use our creativity!!

My team created the Zen lamp - it was supposed to be a globe but then we realised that cutting perfect circles would be near impossible for us novices. So, we ended up cutting squares!

Milk Carton Coin Pouch

This Saturday, I will be working with Singapore Environment Council and holding a workshop on upcycling milk cartons (well, in my case, soya milk cartons) for their volunteers.  Have been prepping for the event as there will be over 40 of them. This will be my first time teaching such a big group so I have been preparing slides and sorting out my materials.

I was cutting my cartons with my son and he pointed out how cute the bottom part of the carton was and how it could hold some coins - ding!  There are tutorials and different versions of the milk carton coin pouch.  This is my take on it! Why don't you share your version of it with me on my Facebook page (www.facebook.com/greenissuesbyagy)?  Would love to hear from you!

So why do I upcycle my clothes?

I get a lot of questions about upcycling (aka refashioning) and why I do it.   I've created this so it's easy to read, and I hope it inspires you to get into refashioning :-)