Upcycle Your Wardrobe: 21 Sewing Projects for Unique, New Fashions Review and Giveaway
As many of my regular readers know I love to up-cycle items whenever possible. The last project I up-cycled was a maxi dress I purchased at Target. I did not like the top but loved the pattern and the way the dress hung to the floor. This dress sat in my closet each season, and when summer would roll around I would try to rig the dress into a skirt and wear it that way. This never really worked the way I hoped and it never looked quite right when I was wearing it. This went on for a couple of summers until I finally purchased a new sewing machine.
Having a new sewing machine finally allowed me to open my mind to the possibility of cutting the dress at the top and giving me that bottom part I desired. One night, when I was unable to sleep inspiration hit me and I knew how to cut the dress, while preserving the skirt. I eagerly pulled out my sewing machine and got the scissors out, and immediately got to cutting and resewing. After about 45 minutes what resulted was a skirt with a matching scrunchie where there was a full dress an hour before.
I was lucky that the dress and skirt were not ruined by my naïve efforts as this easily could have been the case. I was recently given the chance to review “Upcycle Your Wardrobe: 21 Sewing Projects for Unique, New Fashions” by Mia Fuhrer and as I thumbed through it I saw many other directions I could have taken on that simple up-cycled dress.
The idea behind “Upcycle Your Wardrobe: 21 Sewing Projects for Unique, New Fashions” is taking those older, slightly over/under worn clothes and making them into something that you would want to wear again. The book includes instructions and color pictures to assist in your up-cycling project and includes many ways to add a up-cycled punch to your otherwise outdated closet. The book also includes a brief refresher on the materials and tools used as well as a dictionary with often used vocabulary in the book. Also included are color diagrams of the sewing techniques and patterns you may run into throughout the book.
I wish I would have had this book when I undertook the maxi dress/skirt conversion as I could have built off a couple of the ideas in this book. If you are a fan of up-cycling or are new to the idea, I would recommend this book – it has simple projects that can add complexity to any outfit!
To learn more about Upcycle Your Wardrobe by Mia Fuhrer: 21 Sewing Projects for Unique, New Fashions.
To purchase your own copy you can find it on Amazon
Let me start by saying that the products featured in this post were provided to me free of charge courtesy of Schiffer Publishing LTD. This post may have affiliate links but this in no way will influence the review to follow and all opinions are my own.
GIVEAWAY: We will be awarding one person one copy of Upcycle Your Wardrobe: 21 Sewing Projects for Unique, New Fashions by Mia Fuhrer. US entrants only. I will be randomly choosing 1 person on September 18 (9/18/2015) to receive this creative and idea filled book! To enter complete the entries below! Winner will be notified by me by email and prize will be fulfilled by Schiffer Publishing LTD! Remember you have 48 hours to claim prize, or I will choose another winner. GOOD LUCK!!!
I love to sew. I sew almost everyday. I’d love to win this book.
I commented and it won’t let me type in my name. This is the 2nd time that Gleam has done this. I hate Gleam forms. They always mess up. I’ve had no problems with Rafflecopter.
I did get your orginal comment, but I will look into Rafflecopter! Thanks for the feedback!
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I love taking old ugly dresses from thrift stores are remaking them to something more current and fun. It is easy, cheap and fun!
Love making baggy ill fitted dresses into something cute!
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My favorite item I have upcycled is my black skirt.
My mother had a red velvet suit. I updated it by 20 years and took it in to fit me.
I really like what I did with an old pair of jeans
I recently turned an old pair of pants with a big stain on the leg into a pretty cute pair of shorts!
I made a quilt out of old t-shirts.
I’m a new sewer, but my favorite attempt at an upcycle thus far has been some old, too long, fully cotton black denim jeans into a form fitting pencil skirt.
A skirt into a dress
I took two silk skirts in contrasting colors and combined them to make one fabulous, longer and more flowing skirt for evening wear.
I hit the clearance racks as often as possible, but usually the sizes left are either really small or really large. Since the items are inexpensive I love to rip the seams out and modify the items to fit and make them unique.
A pair of jeans I turned into a skirt.
I used old cotton shirts to make quilts with.
I’ve gone threw dramatic weight loss in the last year, some of the cloths I have kept and would love to rework into my everyday NEW wardrobe.
My favorite item I have upcycled is my black skirt.
A dress that my daughter and I turned into a skirt and shrug.
I love to take old shirts and towels that have designs on them and turn them into pillows!
I’ve done lots of recycling/upcycling. One of my favorites was several years ago when I turned a voluminous bridesmaid dress into a cute skirt.
My old favorite t-shirts
Wonderful post but I was wondering if you could write a litte more on this topic?
I’d be very thankful if you could elaborate a little bit further.
Appreciate it!