Mending, Upcycling, and Refashioning

In between my sews, even more sewing happens! I am a strong believer in mending what you have to make it last longer. Refashioning old items, or thrifted things is another favorite thing of mine to do. I also love to upcycle, where you take something and repurpose it into something new.

I’ve been collecting pictures of my mending, refashioning and upcycling. It’s not only me though, Michelle and Mia have gotten in on the act. Michelle even did the write up for one of her refashions!

So enjoy this post, and the section written by my guest blog writer!

I found this vintage, homemade dress at my local second hand store. I could tell that it once had sleeves but they were missing. There were now just raw edges. I could also tell that there were once buttons down the front of it, which were gone as well.

I liked the style of the dress, and I didn’t want someones hard work to go to waste. The dress was only $1 so I figured it would be a quick fix for me, and I’d have a new dress!

I folded under the raw edges of the sleeves. There wasn’t much fabric to work with, but as long as I had a clean edge on the outside it would be fine. I carefully sewed the armhole edges.

I had to decide which buttons I would put on the outside. I chose these vintage green buttons from Grandma’s stash. I figured they would be a fun pop of color.

Sewing them into place.

AND just like that, I have a new dress! It was minimal work, and only cost $1!

Here’s Michelle to tell you about her upcycle!

Once upon a time, there was a clothing store in my small community where we all bought our P.E. clothes in junior high and high school. They closed years ago, and the building sat, presumably empty, for years. Until, one fateful day, I was checking Facebook and someone had posted on the local community page that the store would be open that weekend! The owners of the store had since passed away, and their children wanted to sell the building, so they were opening the doors and trying to sell as much of what remained as they could! So of course I went, hoping they would still have some of the old P.E. shirts that I could buy and wear to the gym.

Alas, they did not! But, they had a bunch of old polyester shirts from the 1970’s that were brand new with the original tags still on them. I happily grabbed a bunch and brought them home to wash and add to my wardrobe.

One ladies blouse I was particularly excited about. It was a pretty rust color, and the back of the collar came to a slight point, a fun detail I’ve never seen before.

I washed it and discovered that what I had thought was dust on the shoulders, was actually pretty severe sun fading.

I was disappointed, but decided to try dying it. I knew Rit made dye specifically for synthetic fabrics, so I went online to see what colors were available. I decided on Chocolate Brown, thinking that it would work the best over the rust color.

Following the instructions, I boiled water and added the dye, then the shirt. I kept the shirt at a low boil for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Taking it out, I discovered that the once white buttons were now golden brown, and the rust and white seams on the shirt had not taken the dye at all.

After washing in gentle soap and hanging to dry, I now had a shirt that was ready for the world, after decades of being forgotten!

It turned out great!

Something destined for a land fill was given new life.

Michelle did such a good job on her upcycle, and blog write up!

If you’re around my age then you should recognize the following flip flops. I have wanted a pair of these vintage beauties but couldn’t find them anywhere. I searched high and low to find some reproduction ones but they just don’t make them. I was frustrated and sad.

I mentioned to my cousin Russell that I was looking for a pair. He said, “I have some”. I was shocked and excited! He explained that he found a pair, with no wear on the bottom, in an old camp trailer that he wanted to fix up. I have to note at this point that it wasn’t the camp trailer that he did fix up from my previous blog post, “Russell and Marisa’s Camper Redo”. He had picked up another camper in need of love but it was too big of a project and he got rid of it. BUT not before he took the pair of vintage flip flops, and tossed them onto his wood pile.

I had no idea if they would be my size, but he generously said I could have them! The only thing was, they had come apart at the seam.

I picked out some thread and got to work sewing the beloved flip flops back together.

It worked! I got them fixed and they were ready to wear! Keep an eye out on future blog post for these guys!

A friend and blog reader text me and asked if I could sew up her son’s new dinosaur. She had just bought it and noticed that it wasn’t sewn well and some of the seams had holes. I got to work feeling along the seams until I found the hole, then hand stitched it up.

In the process I found another hole that she hadn’t even noticed. I got that one sewn closed as well.

The dinosaur was saved and a little boy was happy!

A co worker had a pair of capri pants that had stains along the bottom cuffs. she couldn’t get the stains out, but didn’t want the pants to go to waste, so she asked me if I could cut off the stained cuffs and rehem them.

Easy enough!

Hemmed up and ready for more use!

Michelle found this vintage dress at a second hand store. She loved the look of it, but it had some problems.

The seams were coming apart, and the sheer fabric was fraying.

Some of the seams were coming loose.

The sleeves were too frayed to save so I decided to cut them off. I pinned the new armholes, and sewed them up. I reenforced the loose stitches.

The dressed turned out perfect!

It also looks great with a denim jacket! Not bad for another $1 find!

I was given this dress. The person who bought it either didn’t like it, or it didn’t fit right, I’m not sure. They gave it to me and told me I could use it somehow. So Michelle and I started thinking. Here is the dress before.

Michelle didn’t really like the sleeves, they were an awkward length for her.

Michelle and her dye were at it again! The original dress color wasn’t her at all!

When dying, read the directions carefully. You have to do things like add laundry soap, and salt.

Into the dye pot. Michelle has an old pot that she uses specifically for dying clothes. You shouldn’t try it with a pot you cook your food in.

Looking like a dye mess.

She then added this to the dress to help the color stay.

The secondary theme of this post must be, “cut off the sleeves” because I seem to do that a lot! But after a quick cut and hem, and changing out the buttons, Michelle had a new dress!

It suits her and looks stylish and cute with boots!

Not to be outdone, Mia had an idea. She got an old Christmas tree skirt from a co-worker, and decided to upcycle it into a skirt for her staff Christmas party.

She cut around the waist to fit her.

She then bought a zipper, thread, and some bias tape. She figured she would use the bias tape to finish the edge of the waist. She also had never put in a zipper so I was interested in seeing how she did!

She did it! It turned out so cute and festive! She was successful in sewing in a zipper! She decided to hem the waistband under instead of using the bias tape because she was pressed for time.

Guess that’s what happens when you decide to upcycle a tree skirt two days before your party! It turned out amazing and I was so proud of her!

All of the things mentioned above, mending, upcycling, and refashioning are not only great on your wallet, but they’re great for the environment too. You could end up with a one of a kind outfit, give it a try!

As for me, onto the next!