Tag Archives: Australia

Sew 22 – Repurposed trousers to skirt

trousers become skirtThis was a pair of reject promo trousers that I converted to a skirt by adding an A-line extension from an orange dress which I decorated with circular frills cut from the trouser legs.

Everyone I know has excess garments in their wardrobes. The world is awash with clothing that is no longer fit for purpose, so it makes sense that instead of dumping it in landfill we convert it into something else.

It is disconcerting to read that Australians have the largest homes in the world – after the United States and Canada – and I’m sure this equates to having the biggest wardrobes too!

According to Lindsay Wilson from Shrink that Footprint, the average new home in Australia is 214 m2, the US 201 and Canada 181 m2.  The countries with the smallest homes are Hong Kong 45, Russia 57, the United Kingdom 76 and Italy with 81 m2.

I live in a big old Queenslander in Brisbane and I’m mindful that our family has accumulated a lot of stuff over the years. In our defence, most of it is pre-loved treasure, gathered from relatives, flea markets, op shops or friends cast-offs – and a lot of found stuff from nature including rocks, driftwood and shells.

On my 365-day upcycling journey this year, I’m working my way through the wardrobes of natural fibre garments I’ve gathered from ops shops and other sources in recent years.

Today’s upcycle was black cotton trousers from the $2 rack at an op shop, which was branded with advertising but appeared new. I cut them off below the zip and added new front and back panels cut from an orange dress to extend the skirt to above-knee. I cut open the leg off-cuts and used a circle pattern (sorry forgot to photograph this) to cut lengths of frill which I then sewed around the skirt. I made flowers from the leftover bits and sewed salvaged buttons at each centre. The top was one I made years ago with the sleeves rolled up.

Sew 22 construction web

Sew 6 – Cool cotton lives on

summer cotton dressAnother hot day in paradise, another simple way to give a cotton dress a second life – by lifting the waistline and thereby shortening the skirt.

On the other side of the world, you wouldn’t be wearing an Indian cotton number on the streets of New York right now – and if you did there’s a chance photographer Bill Cunningham might capture the moment.

I was lucky last night to catch the documentary Bill Cunningham New York repeated on ABC1 and was struck by his authenticity and single-minded dedication to his craft with the New York Times.

Bill’s life has been an obsession with clothes yet he upcycles his plastic poncho by using black gaffer tape to repair tears and works in utilitarian blue shirts.

He describes fashion as the armour to survive everyday life, and dressing the body as an artform. Yet he says 90 per cent of the clothes Americans wear are made outside America – and I’m sure the same applies in Australia as well.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. I’m on a mission to demonstrate that with a small investment of time and effort, you can re-make your clothes in your own home through creative upcycling.

Buying ready-to-wear clothing off-the-rack is quick and easy – when the styles suit your body shape, wallet and situation. But do we need new new? I’m all for recreating existing garments so the length and style is more individual and you will never run into anyone dressed the same way.

There are thousands, perhaps millions, of beautiful natural fibre garments stashed unused in our wardrobes, ops shops or discarded in landfill that can be rescued and refashioned. You just need to take a little time to look at them in a different way – as a natural resource worth reusing.

Today’s offering was a long cheesecloth cotton number with a shirred elastic waist, made in India and found in an op shop for $2. I chopped it off at the waist, lifted it up and attached straps made from the remnants of the top. It is much cooler now and so comfy without the gathered waist.

Making Sew it Again 6