Before you get rid of something because you don’t like what it is, ask yourself a much better question:
What else could it be?
That one little shift in thinking is basically how I’ve been refashioning my wardrobe for well over a decade.
I didn’t start sewing until I was 38. I’m completely self-taught, I don’t use patterns for any of my refashions and I’m definitely not chasing perfection. I simply look at what I already have and figure out how I can make it work for me. Because if I can do this, you can too!
In this collection of refashioning dos and don’ts, I’m digging into my archives to share 9 transformations that prove clothes and textiles absolutely do not have to remain what they were originally made to be:
Don’t Assume Pants Have to Stay Pants
Do flip your thinking and turn them into a top instead!
A pair of fabulously floral wide-legged pants became an equally fabulous flutter-sleeved top. The best part? Because I was working with an existing garment, I could take advantage of the fabric, shape and details that were already there instead of starting from scratch.
Don’t Dismiss Old Doilies as Outdated Decor
Do stitch them together into something you’ll actually wear!
This colourful doily top is a true oldie but goodie. I originally created it 13 years ago, and yes, I still have it and wear it today. If that isn’t proof that a good refashion can have serious staying power, I don’t know what is.
Don’t Let the Word “Dress” Decide What It Has to Be
Do completely reinvent it!
A vintage dress doesn’t have to remain a dress forever. With a bit of creative chopping and reconstruction, mine became a completely different piece of outerwear. The original garment is simply your raw material.
Don’t Assume Home Textiles Belong Only in the Home
Do look at the fabric and imagine what else it could become!
Pillow shams, tablecloths, bedsheets and blankets are all just fabric in different disguises. Once you stop looking at the label and start looking at the material, a whole new world of refashioning possibilities opens up.
Don’t Save Gorgeous Tablecloths for the Dining Table
Do wear them instead!
One of my favourite sources of interesting fabric has always been vintage and preloved household linens. This lace tablecloth already had gorgeous texture and detail, so why leave all of that fabulousness sitting on a table when I could turn it into a boho duster?
Don’t See a Bedsheet as Just One Big Piece of Fabric
Do see an entire outfit waiting to happen!
One bedsheet provided enough fabric to create both a top and a matching skirt, without using a commercial sewing pattern. That’s exactly why I love working with linens. You can get a huge amount of usable fabric from something you may already have sitting forgotten in a cupboard.
Don’t Toss a Bathrobe You’d Never Wear Around the House
Do transform it into something you’ll happily wear out!
Sometimes an item already has most of what you need. Instead of starting from zero, look at which parts already work and figure out how you can change the rest. That unwanted bathrobe might be much closer to becoming fabulous outerwear than you think.
Don’t Pack Away a Baby Blanket Forever
Do give those memories a whole new wearable life!
Sentimental textiles are particularly fun to refashion because you’re not destroying the memories attached to them. You’re simply giving them another chapter and apparently sometimes that chapter is Gen X dress.
The Biggest Refashioning Do of All
Do stop worrying about whether you’re doing it the “right” way.
Refashioning isn’t about following a rigid set of rules. It’s about solving problems, experimenting and seeing potential where other people might see something outdated, unwanted or useless.
I started doing this at 38 with no professional sewing skills, and more than a decade later I’m still experimenting, learning and occasionally wondering what on earth I’m doing.
That’s part of the fun.
Use what you have to make what you want, and remember:
Perfection is the enemy of good enough.
