Upcycle Your Closet

by Jess Li

ARE YOU AT UMIAMI AND HAVE OLD CLOTHES? You already know where to donate of course, at our stand on Wednesdays. If you’re feeling crafty, why not try out upcycling? It's a versatile way to create new meaning out of old clothes that you may not want to part ways with yet. Upcycling works to reduce waste by creating a cycle within your own closet. The great thing about upcycling is that there are so many possibilities for projects to make. Pants → Shirt. Shirt → Tank. Shirt → Tote bag. It gets addicting. Here’s some ideas to get you started:

Minimal materials: T shirt → Game day tank

• Cut along dotted lines (1,2,3)

  • Front and back side of t shirt can be cut off at the same time

• Cut 3 will form two strips, these can be tied to the front (shown below) or to the back also

Final product:

More materials: Shirt → Tote bag

**stitch witchery becomes sticky with heat from an iron and acts as a glue between pieces of fabric, for example. It holds the fabrics together after drying.

Method A

• Cut square of graphic (1)

• Cut strips for handles (2,3)

• Keep both strips flat and sandwich **stitch witchery in between the loop of each strip

  • Each loop should now be flat

• The two flat loops will used as the handles

• Cut out a rectangle from the back of the shirt that is the same width as the square (1) but double the length

  • Leave some slack if you want a hem around the top of the bag

• Hamburger fold the rectangle (main bag) in half and place stitch witchery vertically on the left and right sides to close the sides of the tote bag (white X lines)

• The lines in red are opening of the bag

• Attach one handle to one side (red X’s) and repeat on the other side

  • Use stitch witchery to glue the ends on, adjust length as desired

• Stitch witchery the square (1) to desired side of the bag

Method B

• Cut square of graphic (1)

• Strengthen areas with stitch witchery using hand sewn stitches or with sewing machine

• For rectangle (main bag), make stitches up and down the sides where stitch witchery was used, then invert the bag inside out to hide the seams

Other ideas:

• Pants → tearaway pants (with zipper, buttons, or iron-on velcro)

• Long t-shirt → midi dress

Tips:

• “Borrow” (steal) a sibling’s sewing machine (it may or may not have been what I did).

• Trial and error! It’s as much about being environmentally conscious as it is having fun. There’s no harm in making mistakes.

• Search up tutorials if you’re out of ideas :)