MAKE DO AND MEND - old clothes - altering, upcycling, re-sizing, customising etc

Evil_Olive

I've been searching the MSE forums for a while, for a dedicated thread dealing with the sewing side of upcycling - altering, re-sizing, customising, making over and re-using/recycling old clothes (a bit like the Shabby Chic thread but geared to sewing, and clothes in particular) as it would be fun to swap ideas and see how other people have altered things beyond all recognition, customised them, made them fit or brought them up to date (I am doing a LOT of this at the moment - see below - and would really enjoy such a thread) Hopefully it could also take in accessories like belts, shoes, jewellery etc.

I'm thinking along the lines of people posting before and after pics of their projects with a bit of blurb about what they did to it to achieve the end result, techniques used and price paid for item if it was a particularly good bargain.
Tips & tricks for minimum effort size/style alterations,
Stories of really nasty things you've managed to turn into wearable things,
How you've managed to incorporate bits of your scrap or haberdashery stash you thought you'd never use.
Past disasters/successes and what NOT to do.
Pics of clothes/items you don't know what to do with so that other posters can suggest ideas.
That kind of thing.

I didn't want to be presumptious and start a new thread as I was sure there must already be one (lots of Old Stylers do dressmaking and upcycling of old and charity shop clothes, surely?) but I couldn't find one despite going back way into the archives. Asked on the re-use/recycle thread and got the impression that people would like one so I'm having a go. Please feel free to point me in the right direction if it already exists - thanks.

I will get together a couple of pics of my latest project and try to kick things off with a before and after of a truly nasty item which I'm attempting to make much nicer ..... unless someone else gets there first .....?

Bit of background....
When I was a teenager (in the 80s ) I was a charity shop addict. Back then it was considered deeply shameful and a little suspect to frequent charity shops by most people. I was thought highly eccentric (at best) by my family (my sister's usual reaction to my purchases was "Ugh, nasty. You weirdo tramp" :rotfl: )

Charity shops were dark smelly places run by mad old ladies where you had to dig through large floor-bound piles of festering garments to find stuff. When you did find something the old ladies would make up a price off the top of their heads. On the plus side, the price was usually about 5p, often as low as 1p and never more than 30p
I used to go in with a pound (note ) or fifty pence and emerge with one, sometimes two, black dustbin bags stuffed full.

At those prices, I often wasn't bothered about whether the items fit or flattered me, intending to take to the sewing machine and alter or customise them. I also rarely let mum/sisters throw clothes away, sneaking them back out of the bin when they weren't looking. I think I had a problem :shocked:
My excuse is that my taste in dress was (and still is to a certain extent) a little eccentric/alternative and I simply can't buy the things I want to wear any other way.

I did alter, and wear, many of them but, needless to say, a large amount ended up in the loft, unaltered and unworn.
A couple of years ago my mum gave me (aged 43) an ultimatum - remove your junk from my loft or pay for the skip it's going into

I now have 47 - yes FORTY SEVEN :eek: full to bursting black bin bags full of old clothes in my own loft - many of the later ones with the charity shop price tags still attached. I've not seen most of them for 20 years and it's like a lucky dip! Some of the items would have been classed as 'vintage' even when I got them (1920s - 1950s) except the idea of 'vintage' only applied to cars back then, clothes were just 'Second Hand'. Others have since 'become vintage' while sitting in my mum's loft (1960s/70s/80s) Others are just plain nasty but made of good fabric or have some other redeeming feature.

I have a bit more time on my hands these days and have been slowly going through them and customising/altering them as per original intentions.
Would love to swap ideas as there's a LOT to go

jfdi

Ooh I love you Evil Olive!

I have this morning done the Summer / Winter wardrobe swap (not half as grand as it sounds!) & have unearthed 2 t-shirt dresses that need, cough, enlarging a wee bit! I like the pattern, but think they'd look far better as 2 tops! Unfortunately I don't have an overlocker.......

I've also got a suitcase full of fabric, & a fair few black bin liners in the loft.

I will subscribe.

MandM90

As a minimalist, I don't think I'll be holding onto too much, but I've recently dug my sewing machine out to make gifts for others so will read with interest!!

thriftwizard

Fab idea! But I'll have to own up to more than a passing interest here; since my days as a penniless odd-shaped wierdo clothes-hacking student back in the 1970s, I have, via several other forays into the mainstream economy in one capacity or another, now become a "vintage" market trader. Clothes pay my rent, though they're not my speciality.

From time to time I buy "job lots" of old clothes for specific purposes; sometimes to make things with (plaid & denim shirts for a quilt or quilted bags, for example) sometimes because I'm doing a big show or festival & I know I'm short of something that always sells well in that specific location, or is flavour of the moment. And there'll always be garments that aren't saleable as they are, or that hang around for ages on the rails because they were made for someone specific who was a very different shape to anyone now, or are just not fit for sale, but still made from fabulous fabric. I can't make bags out of them all, so I'd be grateful for more ideas & hope to be able to contribute some of my own.

No pic, but one very quick & easy tip: brighten up a plain velvet, denim or tartan jacket with a selection of odd & interesting buttons. Never pass up an old button box or tin, if you see one going cheap - despite all the boring old trouser & mac buttons (always in demand in the Third World, by the way) there'll be treasure inside to decorate your finds with!

And here's a description of a garment in need of some ideas: it's a lovely handmade rich brown 70s velvet evening gown, in almost a medieval style, with a silver diamante trim around the bodice & sleeves, fastening with a zip at the back. It's long, but fairly tiny, cut tight over the bust & down to the waist and on the upper sleeves, which then flare out. I look at it & see a dramatic long, flared coat, but I haven't a clue how to go about it - it'd need quite a lot of fabric let in to fit anyone now! Anyone got any ideas what else I could do with it, please?

Evil_Olive

Hi jfdi,
Have you got a sewing machine with more than just standard running stitch on it? If so, you might not need an overlocker - there's normally at least one stitch that's suitable as a substitute.

Mine has two or three and it's not a new or fancy machine by any means. I found the best one does two or three running stitches followed by one zigzag stitch (which gives the stretch) - I think it's the one that's meant for blind hemming. There's often a dedicated stretch stitch too which is a running stitch that goes back on itself slightly with each stitch.

If not, just using running stitch but stretching the fabric slightly as you run it through the machine can be enough to give the seam the 'give' that it needs not to break in use.

Have you got any scraps of similar fabric you can experiment on?

parsniphead

Evil Olive, you're a star.

I've been making my own clothes for years and upcycling them too. I have been looking at my wardrobe recently and it needs a massive overhaul because since putting on weight I just could't be bothered and have become Mrs Jeans and a top. I'm sick of looking like this so a bit of inspiration is needed.

Looking foward to seeing all the makes and hopefully (if I can sort the technology) upload my own.

Ali (another 80's teenager with dubious clothing)

Caterina

I am so interested in reading more of this, although my sewing skills are limited to the odd shift dress and repairing torn jeans and ripped pockets.

I am torn myself, between the magical chaos of Evil Olive's 47 bags of vintage clothes and MandM90's minimalism. I aspire to both, crazy as it sounds!

Subscribing to this thread now!

Hard_Up_Hester

One of the first items I re-purposed was a pair of purple jersey trousers 10p from a jumble sale, I was in desperate need of clothes for my 10 month old son, it was 1978, my mum had knitted him 2 jumpers & so was hoping to find some trousers for him but couldn't so I made 2 pairs of dungarees from the trousers.
I'll be following this thread with interest.
Hester

Evil_Olive

Hi thriftwizard,
That dress sounds gorgeous!
Sounds from your description as though it's a late 60s/early 70s item?
Your description sparked a few ideas, though without a pic I might have got hold of completely the wrong end of the stick.....

I often found that on things older than mid 70s, the shoulders were not wide enough for modern figures even if they were slim enough to fit into the bust/waist/hips. Sometimes the (ahem) nipple-to-nipple distance is too short as well.

If this is the case, maybe you could inset a straight strip of co-ordinating fabric (I'm thinking one of those lush paisley printed velvets in brown/coppery shades ) at centre back from top to bottom (adding 4 or five eyelets at around waist level and lacing them up would make the inset look more as though it was meant to be there) and do the same at the front to keep it as a dress or add matching borders at centre front with more lacing or buttons & loops to make a coat? This would widen the neckline/shoulders as well as the whole garment.

I often find on things of that age that sleeves are too tight at the top as well. If the shoulders are ok but the sleeves are tight you could inset straight strips all down each side seam instead, continuing into the sleeve seam. You could do the eyelets at the waist each side still to bring the whole thing together and this way would cause fewer issues with the original trimming being broken up and negate the need to remove and re-insert the zip if you're keeping it as a dress (I hate putting in zips ).

I'll often use the 'eyes' from large size 'hooks and eyes' instead of eyelets for things like this as you can sew them on the surface and don't have to make holes in the fabric.

Catcherupper14

This sounds like a great thread so count me in.


I do quite a bit of sewing and other crafting stuff for community events - often with children so we can make collages with fabric scraps etc. I think this helps satisfy my need for working with shiny sparkly glittery stuff.


For myself, I have a stash of fabrics and haberdashery, including old clothing of mine and things other people have given me. It also includes optimistic charity shop purchases, old bedlinen from decades ago and so on.


I will dig something out and make something (although it won't be quick as I'm finishing off some old Christmas projects at the moment).


If anyone has any old button-front woollen type cardigans, these can be turned into bags (lined to stop stretching) or into very effective cushion covers (wrap the sleeves as a tie at the front or back). I spotted some at a craft sale and was very taken with them.

busiscoming2

What a brilliant thread. Thank you Evil Olive. I too looked for a thread like this a while ago as I would like to customise some things I have. I have the notion to do it but find it difficult to actually carry out the alterations. I have adapted a few things over the years the most recent and successful was an 80's floral skirt I turned into a vest top. I look forward to a wealth of ideas and inspiration!