Cutting your clothes apart, or why simple doesn’t have to be boring and complicated isn’t necessarily the best.
The simplest way to upcycle anything is really just to chop off a part of the garment you don’t like.
Long trousers into shorts. Just cut off the legs as short as you want them. That’s it, you upcycled some trousers.
Same with T-shirts, crop them, widen the neckline, shorten the arms.
As long as you want to take a part of it can be quite simple.
Readjusting or adding is more difficult. And completely changing is probably the most challenging.
How I felt about a long time towards upcycling clothes, was, that I absolutely didn’t want to be able to recognize the original garment in the upcycling piece.
In that matter, if I made a blouse out of a men shirt, I didn’t want them to be visible anymore, the details that remind you of the shirt.
That approach mainly came from me being feed up with all sorts of patchwork-upcycling. I didn’t want to create anything patchwork related. Because, and I still do think, that upcycling doesn’t have to look as such. Upcycling can be chic or elegant and doesn’t have to be limited to any Style or conviction.
I still enjoy this approach.
In the meantime, I did also learn to appreciate many other forms of upcycling. Ways where you can tell which original garment was used. Or ways that are just very simple.
Because sometimes all you need is a pair of shorts. Therefore chopping of the legs of some trousers is all it takes to create what you need.
“Simple” is a great source of inspiration to me and has always been.
How should I expect myself to keep on sewing complex dresses and outfits, while I am on the road, with no proper atelier to work in? I am asking myself this question since last week, at least.
Copping the garments apart…
…is my first bet.
But how could I secure the edges? What details could I add? What could I create from the little scraps that are left?
I wanted to chop of those leggings and turn them into a two piece. Until I realized that they actually fit me perfectly as they are. My other leggings had to go in the bin due to too many holes.
Shame because I was really looking forward to work with this material.
The body.
I copped the lower part of.
And wanted to try out crocheting along the edges.
Which worked rather well. Using a very thin crochet needle.
Just piercing the fabric.
That was thin enough for that purpose.
Luckily.
Complicated or simple, in the end the upcycling project is really about finding solutions and new ways to work it out. Weather it is figuring out how to cut that you’ll still have enough fabric left for the rest, how to hide away the key points of the old garment or figuring out how to keep sewing and upcycling while traveling.
I am still doing the same thing, but different... figuring out how to alter pieces of clothing while considering limitations.
Thank you all for stopping by it is much appreciated!! Have a lovely week!
All photos and word are my own taken and written by me in the past week.