Oxfam Fashion and Back of the Wardrobe collaborated today to recreate the styles that were being sent out on the runways. All their styles were made from pieces in the charity shop! It is inspiring and shows that it can be done - we don't have to spend huge amounts of money or accept un-ethical shops to wear clothes of a certain style or trend. Here is a link to a picture of one of the styles they re-created but check out the full story on twitter.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BUIehf0CAAIuQ1i.jpg:large
I love clothes but I hate so much of what clothes represent in our society - exploitation of others, disposable society and pressure to conform. That is just one of the reasons I love charity shop shopping so much. But I'm also creative and I love to change things to fit who I am. So back to it I went today.
A lovely chat over tea and cake with a friend, a speedy peddle home on my trusty bike just beating the rain and I headed up to my attic - let the fun begin!
This was my starting piece - something I got well over a year ago and intended to re-create it for a friend. It has sat buried in my sewing pile for ages - finally it was time to get stitching and give it some life again!
A cute vintage fabric with a nice skirt and button down top. Unfortunately for the person this dress is intended for the large size is too big and I generally wanted it to be given a bit of an edge.
I cut the sleeves and edged them to create a slight shoulder - adding a cute button on each one to finish it off.
I then added the fabric I had removed from the sleeve to the collar to give it a neater look. I took the sides in and added a fabric belt to be tied round the waist.
Here is the transformation!
A fitted dress which maintains its vintage style while showing off a bit of body shape and complimenting the figure! I'm happy with it and really enjoyed my afternoon crafting clothes again! Once I give this dress away I will try to get pictures of it being worn by a real person! :)
Let me know what you think and send me your upcycle projects!
