Monday, August 25, 2014

Repurposing

Repurpose - verb. To alter to make more suited for a different purpose. (wiktionary)

I'm not sure when this term came into use in the English language but it's what I've been doing this weekend.

About 10 years ago I bought a skirt which I loved and wore and wore and wore.  It was long and floaty and eventually started to fall to pieces - the seam around the zip had ripped and the hem was starting to fray too.  But I couldn't bring myself to throw it out so it lay in the fabric pile until Sunday when, after watching an old episode of 'This Old Thing', I had the idea of turing it into a top.


Armed with a stitch ripper I took the yoke off the  top, removed the zip and green band and started to work out how it might change into a top.

This involved lots of cutting and pinning and trying on - what I'd forgotten was that the skirt was cut on the bias and this made it an absolute pig to work with. At one point I added the original green band around the neck (after phoning a friend for emergency supplies of green thread!) but the bias made it all twist so I unpicked it.


After a lot of fiddling it has become this:


I'm pleased with it and I know that I'll enjoy wearing it.


9 comments:

Marigold Jam said...

Brilliant and you can wear it summer or winter over the top of a warm jumper and leggings or jeans so doubly useful I'd say. 10 out of 10 for green- ness!

Janneke said...

I can fully understand you wore the skirt until the end, because I love the fabric. And the top looks beautiful, I am sure you'll wearing it until it fall into pieces.Great job!

Anna said...

How pretty Su. Great when you can extend the life of an item of clothing that you are fond of. The word 'repurpose' makes me smile as does 'pre-loved'.

Gina said...

Wow! It looks fabulous, no wonder you are happy with the result.

Anonymous said...

All your hard work has paid off, it looks lovely.

freerangegirl said...

Gorgeous fabric Su - I love the idea of repurposing clothes that you love - you've inspired me!

Frances said...

Oh you are clever, Su. Wise to have kept the skirt and brave to have tackled the bias, too.

The resulting top is lovely...yes, I am sure you will be wearing it for quite a long time.

Bravo. xo

Iz said...

Wow, that's clever! I love it!

Annie Cholewa said...

It's lovely Su. I can see why you were so loath to part with the skirt and now you have a top you'll wear and wear. There's a message to us all in there!