Happy Friday! The refashioning world has been on fire for some time and it is so awesome to see other people taking clothing and making it into something new! I am so happy to see other people watching their apparel intake and re-using things they already own, or buying second hand instead of new!
I have a few links from around the web to share:
1. A mall in Sweden is 100% committed to recycled and upcycled goods. A small mall featuring 14 specialty shops sell their goods, and teach others to upcycle! I would love for a mall like this in New Jersey, and would most definitely have a store! Read about it HERE.
2. Looking to get paid for your old t-shirts? Send them to this company! Marine Layer will pay you $5 for your old tee (up to $25) and re-spin it into a new tee! Order a kit or shop their collection HERE. I am super curious about this myself and have to go through Drew’s closet to get rid of some of his tees!
3. I’ve been a fan of ThredUp for years, and they recently released a clothing line geared towards sustainability! Their collection Remade was created with the garments second life in mind. It is a collection of basics that ThredUp guarantees to take back and pay out 40% of original cost when you are finished with the item. I absolutely love the idea, but do wish it was taken a step further and that the items were created with sustainable fabrics. There isn’t much info on the creation of the line, but the clothes are fairly inexpensive so production lines are still a little blurred. But I’m happy to say it is a step in the right direction! Shop Remade HERE.
Whew!
So much good recycling happening in the world! Now it’s time to share my own!
I love a huge refashioning challenge. I can’t do them too often because the ideas just don’t come all the time, but when I get hit in the head with a crazy idea, I have to try it out. I really wanted to sew something floral. It’s been awhile since my wardrobe has seen a new floral piece and I miss my colorful apparel. I had this blazer hanging in my refashioning closet for months – probably purchased last summer – and was trying to figure out what to turn it into.
Then pinterest did it’s magical work and I saw a motorcycle jacket online and thought “how cool would it be to turn a blazer into a moto jacket. I wonder if that’s possible”…. and down the rabbit hole I went to see if it has been done before and gather inspiration photos!
Over-sized blazers have been in and out of fashion for years. This particular one had a lot of length, and that was the first thing to go. Since it was longer, I was able to cut the pockets right off and not have to worry about them.
I thought the hardest part of this refashion was going to be the zipper. But it actually turned out to be pretty easy. I was able to open the lapel seam directly on one side to insert the zipper. The second side was also easy to put in. My blazer had an interior facing that I was able to trace, then used that line to put in the zipper.
The next step was adding in the zippered welt pockets. I have a moto jacket with zippered pockets, so I took similar measurements for my jacket. After inserting the pockets I created a lining for the sides. The back of the blazer already had a lining so I just had to add the sides.
The hardest part of this refashion was the sleeves. And I’m still not 100% thrilled with them, but until I decide what to do, they work well!
I originally wanted to take the same fabric I took for the lining to make the sleeves but after shaping, the fabric was too rough for a comfortable sleeve. I’m not sure if I want to get a new sleeve fabric, or leave the sleeves as is. I am also curious about adding sleeve zippers, but instead of throwing this to the side waiting until I decided, I wanted to have a finished product. So I re-sized the sleeves and put them back in!
I took some video of the process, but I’m not really sure how it came out. There were a few steps I did, then un-did, so it’s going to take awhile to make a video – if I look enough to explain the process! Now that I know how to do it, I really want to find another blazer to do this with. Fingers crossed I can find the perfect one to replicate!
Inspiration:
There were several cool blazer refashions after The Refashioners suit competition last year including this one from Heather over at Closet Case Patterns :
A Pair and A Spare came up with this refashion to turn a blazer into an off the shoulder top:
Or turn a blazer into a cape like this DIY:
(Or watch another cape DIY on youtube here)
Have a recent refashion? I would love to see it! Leave a link below or email me at trish@trishstitched.com! Have a great weekend!
trish stitched 