Some time ago, at a kilo sale, I found this pink and purple satin print dress, the gorgeous pattern and pleated skirt just sung to me. I had to take it home! Sadly the top half of the dress was much too wide on me. I convinced myself that, as it was quite light, it would be cheap enough to buy just for the skirt, and I could cut the top off and wear the skirt. I took the dress home and put it in my sewing pile, never to be seen again… Kidding! But there are some items yet to make it from the “one-day-I-will-sew-this” pile 👀 😅
I only shop second-hand as it’s a choice I made after learning so much about fast fashion waste and its environental impact. Can you believe that with one in three women feel that their clothes are outdated after less than three wears!1 😱 Materials are just not that expendable. Even just wearing something for an extra nine months can reduce its carbon footprint by 20-30%!5 If you get bored of what you have, try upcycling or dying it a fresh colour, taking it to be repaired or tailored to you. With a little sprucing up, it will feel like new!
Fast-forward to 2020, April, furlough. I finally had time to get round to the “one-day-I-will sew-this” pile. First on my list was this skirt to make, as the alterations would be rather simple: cut the top off, fold material down, make a band for elastic at the top, pop the elastic through, wear pretty skirt. However, the upcycle didn’t turn out to be the quick snip ‘n’ stitch I’d expected!
Now, the skirt was actually smooth sailing! I was left with the top as waste, but it was too pretty to cut up. There was just one problem — the top was more like a parachute than a cute crop. The issue was the width of the body. Useually, to tailor a larger top you need to take off the sleeves, trim both sides of the bodice, and reattach the sleeve to the then-slimmer top. These sleeves were rouched on top so, removing and resewing puff sleeves? Not a chance for my level of sewing!! 😂
I sat there, folding the top and pinching in the shoulders to see how much I’d need to take off. Then, with one of the folds I saw it — how I could just fold the bodice in, sort of like a pleat in the top. Suddenly, there was no need to remove the dreaded puff sleeves! I fashioned symmetrial diagonal folds from each shoulder down to the centre. I mean, who would’ve thought that folding the top in a fancy diagonal pattern would magically make it work? At this point, I consider myself a genious. Obviously. 💁♀️ *hair flicks
This meant I now have a super cute top and no waste from the upcycle! Win win!!
Though challenging, I can’t help but feel a spark of excitement for future sewing projects. Especially if it means one less piece of clothing in landfill! 🧵🪡💖
1 Findings from Barndardo’s research: ‘Once worn, thrice shy – British women’s wardrobe habits exposed!’ (2015)
2 WRAP UK: Extending the life of clothes
Holly Jones Creative 
Let me know what you think? Ever tried something similar?