Upcycling

Upcycling is the concept of taking something old or out of fashion, and turning it into something new. For example, you can take old sheets ot curtains  that are no longer used, and make a costume or piece of clothing with them. Just like Maria in ''The Sound Of Music''.

Personnaly, I am an adept. It's a lot of fun to look at a old dress or curtain and try to figure what I can do with it.! Most of the time, I end up making choldren's clothing this way, because of the limited amound of fabric, or most of the time just because children's clothes are cute. So here are a few ideas of upcycled children's clothes and costumes.

I don't really have tutorials for how to make them, they're just ideas, and most of the time, the result depends upon the garment you started with. Just go with the flow and create!

The simplest of them all: the pillowcase dress. Take an old Pillowcase, cut the top to desired lenght, cut some armholes, finish the edges and make some channels with the top frond and top back edges. Pass some robbons through these channels, add decoration, and voilà!

This one was made with an old dress that I never wore. It's a size three months, so it's a long dress, like the ones the had in the olden days. Wish I had a little more fabric on that old dress, I would have made a nice little bonnet to go with it!

I made this one from another of my old dresses, and some white bed sheets for the lining. I used a 1960's simplicity pattern and leftover ribbons. it's a 2yrs size. 

Another Pillowcase dress, this time not made from an actual pillow, but from a bit of an Indian sari that I got from Ebay. The sari was too long for me, and once cut, there was just the righ amount of fabric for a pillowcase dresss! The lining inside is made of leftover white poplin

Did I mention I sometimes make doll clothes? Well, i,ts actually How I learned to sew. Anyway, this little nightgown is upcycled.  It's made from a camisole . 

Party dress: this one is a 8 yr size upcycled party dress that I made from lots of different things. The outer fabric is a peach organza curtain from my last appartment, the underskirt is a light tablecloth and the lining is another bedsheet in a sort of light peach shade. Only the red sash wasn't upcycled, it's made of  vietnamese silk taffeta.

I have another upcycled child costume, but I like it so much it deserves it's own post. So more on that later!