An Exercise in Upcycling

I’ve been purging items from my closet that I don’t wear any longer. Not to make room for new clothes, but to get rid of clutter. As Van the minivan said while driving through Radiator Springs in Cars, “We have too much surplus.”

During my most recent closet clean-out I came across this sundress. Aside from the fabric being stunning, I don’t know what I was thinking when I bought it. The cut is all wrong for me. But because I love the fabric I didn’t want to just toss the dress in the donate pile. I decided to turn it into a maxi skirt instead.

Since it is lined I first basted the 2 layers together just under the bust line. Then I cut off the top portion. I suppose I could have done something dainty with that but I’m not that daring. Next, I simply sewed a casing or tunnel for the elastic, threaded the elastic through, and closed up the casing. Viola—Maxi Skirt! (Photo of the finished product is at bottom.)

But wait, I wanted more! The skirt only took 30 minutes to make. What else can I upcycle?

I also had purged a dark purple t-shirt that I no longer wear. It was comfy but it was just a solid t-shirt and I’m not a solid t-shirt kind of girl. I want a little design or style to it. A recent pin I made on Pinterest popped into my mind where someone had taken a bleach pen to t-shirts. I sat down with a notebook and pen and tried to conjure some sort of sketch I could use. Regrettably, I have never been a good sketcher. I can’t even doodle. My notebooks in school were always pristine and unpenned. So I went back to Pinterest and followed the pin to sketchvon.blogspot.com. I loved her peacock design and decided to mimic it.

First I turned the t-shirt inside out and stuffed a large cutting board inside. I drew the design on the t-shirt with chalk. I took me about 5 tries to get it to look like a peacock and not a sick pigeon. I traced my chalk lines with the bleach, let it sit for about 10 minutes, thoroughly rinsed the bleach out, and washed the shirt. 

I am pretty pleased with the end result and can’t wait to try it again. I probably was a little too heavy handed with the bleach pen—I used up a whole pen (oops). The t-shirt also was a cotton/rayon/spandex blend so I think the bleach bled a bit more than if it was 100% cotton.

So here is the end result of both projects. (Photo courtesy of my 4 year old.) The skirt and shirt might not go together great but I’ll call it “boho” and rock it anyway.

123