I believe everyone should know how to sew; it’s a life skill that would have previously been passed down with every generation and would have been very common knowledge to know how to make your own clothes! Imagine how amazing it would be if we could all just make our own clothes again! There would be so much creativity flying everywhere it would be infectious! I don’t know when the tide shifted but nowadays its very rare that people know how to sew or how to even create clothing.
I personally think it definitely has something to do with the industrialisation of the world, but I also believe it keeps us dependent on clothing brands and trends that are in turn keeping us trapped in the cycle! I am not a pro sewer, but I have been trying to improve my skills because I have definitely noticed how helpful being able to sew has become with my recent projects! If you’re just starting out or have no idea how to even start sewing; then let me be your guide! The best thing we can do for ourselves is to ensure that our clothes really empower us and allow express ourselves and that can only come when you feel confident and SEXY! And the best way to achieve that is to make sure our clothes fit us as perfectly as they can! If you have the means to take your clothes to professional tailors etc then I envy you and you go on ahead with that! But if you can’t afford that right now then that’s where I come in!
- Change your perspective when looking at your clothes
The first tip for making your clothes work for you is to look at clothes in a more useful way. If you take a look at your closet right now; you’ll probably just think of how all of the clothes that you don’t wear anymore and how much space they’re taking up! I believe the best way to look at these clothes is to see their potential! What I mean by that is if you have a skirt in your closet that you have never or hardly worn because something about it is just not quite right; maybe its too long and doesn’t flatter you or maybe its just a little too big/small.
To me, these issues are opportunities for creativity! I am 5,2” so I am very familiar with nothing fitting me at first; I’ve always had to roll up my jeans and nothing really ever used to fit me straight away, but once I started sewing more regularly, I realised there’s no limit to the number of things I can do! I have learned how to hem dresses, skirts, trousers, even tops to be shorter and fit me better; and why stop there? Even yesterday I bought some gorgeous butterfly patches and sewed them to the back pockets of my jeans, and I am delighted that they feel more personal to me!
So the best thing to do is make a mental or physical list of all of your unloved pieces and think about if there’s any potential in them; do you like the pattern? Is the colour really great with your skin tone? Is it a little boring and could use a punch of creativity to spice it up?
- Be aware of all the possibilities!
The second tip for making clothes work for you is knowing what can be done with them! I know its easy for me to say, “Oh you can do so much!” but if you’re not already aware of any ways to rework your clothes then I’m not being very helpful; so here’s a list of things that i have found personally helpful!
- Cropping any garment to any length to suit you better; all you’ll need is either a sewing machine or some hemming web and an iron! (*i bought mine off amazon)
- If you like everything about the garment except its colour you can always dye it using a fabric dye that you can find from amazon or any craft store.
- Along the same vein as the previous one would be to tie-dye! If you have something in a block colour you could have a blast tie-dying it!
- Another great one is just using bleach! I would advise you to do this safely! This is great if you don’t want to add colour, but you still want to add some pizzazz; applying bleach as if it was paint; it will create some really interesting results!
- Embellishment. This refers to decorating your garment with anything you want! You could sew some beads onto your trousers, or you could iron or sew on some patches etc!
- Embroidery. This is similar to embellishing, but this is great for anyone as you can draw out your design on your garment and work away! Your piece will be so unique! I started out with a 3 piece Embroidery set from amazon.
- Piecing different parts of garments together is another great way to rework 1 or more items of clothing!
- Another variation of this would be patch working! This is great for clothes that have holes, or stains or are basically unwearable in public so you can cut them up and create something new and amazing!
- Another great and simple way to rework clothing is to change the straps. If you have a dress or a top that has straps that are too small or big or just wrong for you; you can use another garment’s straps or create your own straps from any scrap of fabric (or another item of clothing) and sew it onto the top/dress and you don’t even need a sewing machine for this!
- Always keep yourself in mind!
The third tip for reworking/upcycling clothes is to remember to make it work for you personally. There’s nothing worse than having amazing pieces in your closet but something else prevents you from wearing them; for example, you don’t feel confident that day, you haven’t waxed your armpits (me lol) etc. Whatever it is; there are always ways to make it your own and make it comfortable for you, so you become the confident person you’re meant to be! For example, for me; I have the most gorgeous vintage Cami tops, but I honestly can’t be bothered to constantly shave/wax my armpits (who’s with me lol); so I found the perfect solution for me.
My solution was to find a top that I could use as a layering tool; basically I used the same premise of a “Chemise” from way back in time. The idea of a chemise was a light and airy usually woven material dress (top in my case) that is worn between the skin and the actual garment of clothing to be worn and it would also add another layer to the whole outfit. I found a gorgeous, puffed sleeve top that I then lowered the neckline and the back so that I could wear it underneath anything, and it would cover my armpits without taking away from the gorgeous tops I choose to wear!
I want you to decide what will work for you specifically, you’ll know what you like to wear and what you don’t so I think it’s important to know that if there’s anything stopping you from wearing something you might be uncomfortable in; there are always ways to make it work for you!
- Don’t underestimate the power of the accessory!
I think its sometimes easy to forget that the accessories are also a part of the whole outfit! I used to be guilty of that and I would never wear any accessories or even know how to style them! If you’re in the same boat as I was, its super important to remember that there is no wrong way to style something. The most important thing for an outfit to look amazing is your confidence in yourself! With that in mind, I would recommend trying to style an accessory you aren’t the most confident in and see if you can change your mentality to the idea of experimentation.
This mindset has helped me a lot; I find that if I view it more as an experiment; it doesn’t feel as uncomfortable as I don’t let my own personal insecurities impact my thinking of the accessory or piece of clothing as I wish to see it as experimentation. I always like to find accessories that will add a texture or will work as a link between the outfit I wear (e.g. wearing a gold circle belt if I’m wearing gold jewellery and the rest of my outfit has all different colours). If you take anything away from this blog post, I hope you take away that you are an inherently creative person and if you think something up or decide to put something together; it can’t be wrong because you chose it and no one has the deciding vote on anyone’s creativity but yourself.
- Don’t be afraid to dive right in!
If you try to wait for the perfect time, you will NEVER start! That’s a lesson I learned the hard way; I bought a vintage Tommy Hilfiger skirt with the most gorgeous pink fruit print from a charity/Thrift shop in my town but the style of the skirt was so unflattering to me so I decided it would be my upcycling project! I decided I wanted to make the skirt into a little co-ord mini skirt and top set.
After I bought it; I was so afraid of not knowing what I was doing and I wasn’t confident I could make what I had in my mind a reality so I waited a good few months before I finally took the plunge! It was actually my husband going on a trip that spurred me into action and I spent an entire 3 days devoted to this project and it came out better than what I had imagined!
I first of all cut the skirt to the length I preferred wearing; in this case I made a mini skirt, then I hemmed and sewed it to that length. After the skirt was done, I started the planning for the “top”; this is where I channelled all of my creative energy and I decided to make it a backless top with little bow details at the back.
Honestly, I was so surprised with how good it turned out and my confidence was so boosted by this project! I think this is something everyone should try; maybe not such a big project to start with but maybe start with changing a long skirt to a mini skirt or create a top from a long dress you won’t wear anymore and keep the excessive fabric for another project in the future or you could even create gorgeous ruffles from the fabric and make the most STUNNING top! As they say, “The world is your oyster”.
