Earth Day Blog Hop – Adapt & Repair Clothes

I’m excited to be taking part in an Earth Day Blog Hop organized by Lulu & Celeste.

One of my motivations for blogging is to inspire and encourage people to upcycle, to sew with garments & fabrics which have been passed on by their previous owners. As a family I try and buy our clothes from charity shops (thrift shops for American readers), I adapt and repair clothes.

This week has been no exception. For my son I repaired his jeans for a second time – to be honest he’s a little disappointed, he liked the hole!

The first sashiko repair on his jeans is in a beautiful red yarn.

For my daughter I converted a pair of cotton trousers, bought for £1.50, into a skirt.

pin to make later

I followed the same principles as for this denim skirt.

We had fun with her posing for photo’s:)

For myself I resized a dress from a size 20 to a size 14.  To be honest I hadn’t quite realised the dress was so big when I bought it. It’s my entry for #bigcfrocksonfriday  – a local cancer charity Big C which is promoting upcycling clothes, especially on the run up to prom season. Naturally I wish to support them, find out more here.

Firstly I removed the sleeves, the dress was too wide on my shoulders (and I wasn’t confident about refitting the sleeves!). Secondly I tacked an inch in on the side seams and tried on.

I stitched the new seams taking in further at the waist. I then turned in the jersey fabric to finish the arm holes.

Lastly I rehemmed (the first hem had become undone). It was surprising how quickly the adaptations were made – my new dress for £7:)

Next time you are in a charity shop think differently – can you upcycle, repair and prolong the life of clothes? It’s one way in which  you can make a small step to minimise your personal impact on our earths limited resources. The first Earth Day in 1970 motivated 20 million Americans from all walks of life and is recognized as launching the modern environmental movement. Since those early days the movement has encouraged people to a Billion Acts of Green, who not pop over to the Earth Day website and be inspired to do your part “lets get really big stuff done for our planet”

Check out all the stops on the Earth Day Blog hop :

April 18:

Vicky Myers Creations – Coral and Co.

April 19:

Seam of My Pants

April 20:

EYMM – Create 3.5

April 21:

PenSeb&Rox – Candice Ayala

April 22:

Lulu & Celeste (Round Up post)