GoS: Upcycling

Today I thought I'd talk a bit about upcycling as it's a term we use to describe some of the things we do. What exactly is upcyling? Well it's pretty much just taking an item that would otherwise be considered useless because it may be out of fashion or just not suited to your taste or needs anymore and giving it a new life.

My personal love affair with upcycling began many years ago before the word even existed (the term upcycling was first used in 1999!). As a young teen my mother brought me a bag of clothing a friend was getting rid of. Being on very limited pocket money the opportunity for some new clothes was like a gift from heaven. Unfortunately most of the clothing was either too big or too mature for my years.... and that's when I realised... "what if I???....". And so began my foray into upcycling.

The very first thing I did was to turn a maxi circle skirt into a pair of hammer pants. They turned out a treat and soon I had three pairs of hammer pants! YAY! I was the talk of the school! The next item was turning a button down, long sleeve over the knee dress into a vest, all the rage at the time.

Many upcycled items you see for sale are intricate and have been completely restructured but it does not have to be that complicated. Upcycling is something you can do at home! It could be as simple as having an old dress with a sleeve style that is no longer in fashion. Instead of throwing it out get some scissors and a needle and thread and copy a sleeve style you have in your wardrobe that you love! Even items that are too big or too small can be upcycled. It's really about wasting less and let's face it we could all use the extra dollars these days.

One of my favorite websites for upcycled ideas and D.I.Y is apairandaspare. Here is one great example of what you can do at home.

http://apair-andaspare.blogspot.com.au/2011/06/lbd-1-diy-cut-out-back-minidress.html