zero waste sewing
Sew wear are they now? 2016 edition – what happened to clothes I made in 2016
I made 17 things in 2016, 5 of which I still have. I won’t review all 17 just a representative selection.
There seem to be quite a number that didn’t go too well in 2016 so I will start with one of them
By way of explanation from 11.10.19 I started keeping records of how many times I wear clothes and refer to this in the post. I wear clothes in 10 wear blocks then put them away.
I took a waterfall chenille cardigan with frills on the cuff and hem as well, and turned it into a jumper with a fake button band. There were multiple problems with this refashion – the fake button band was too thick and looked too odd, the neckline was too low, it was too bulky to fit under a coat, and I just felt uncomfortable wearing it.
Positives – nice colour, cheap buy which was barely worn
Negatives – Impractical and uncomfortable to wear
Estimated number of wears – less than 5
I discarded this refashion at least 3 years ago, barely worn.
This was my entry for therefashioners 2016 the challenge was to make something out of used denim, the dress was modelled in 2016 by my daughter. I did these challenges for 3 consecutive years, each one pushed me out of my comfort zone but ended up with a result I was pleased with.
Positives – fits me perfectly and used denim is my favourite fabric.
Negatives – Can’t think of any
Estimated number of wears – 40 including 20 since 11.10.19
I still have this dress and but its probably only got 10 more wears in it.
22 inch waist scuba skirt to 2 hour top refashion
I made this top from a very small sized scuba skirt which had large pleats so contained enough fabric to make the front and back of a top. I used a free pattern https://sewdifferent.co.uk/2-hour-top-free-sewing-pattern-lc008/ so was ahead of my time as free patterns are very current in the sewing community!
I was just dipping my toes into the pattern world and although unable to complete the top in 2 hrs did find it a simple make. It was the first time I used scuba and it was a dream to sew. Some of the creases from its life as a skirt were very persistent, and it is a little sweaty to wear as the scuba was mid weight. My work lanyard made some little pulls in the front of the top as the lanyard had a sharpish corner to it.
Positives – simple design in plain fabric, wearable with many trousers and skirts
Negatives – a bit sweaty, some of the creases took a long time to disappear.
Estimated number of wears – 35, including 20 since 11.10.19
I still have this top and have worn it this week. It’s probably got another 10 or 20 wears left in it.
Auntie’s antimacassar to skirt refashion
Out of many rather odd refashions I have done, this may be the oddest. I took a t-shirt, 2 pairs of cord trousers, a vintage antimacassar (damaged), a bit of old pillowcase, and made a skirt out of them.
It was actually comfortable and quite successful in that it got a reasonable amount of wear. The yoga waistband had to be made smaller as it tended to fall down and the antimacassar did not really tolerate washing.
Positives – I made an antimacassar into a skirt
Negatives – It was a bit odd
Estimated number of wears – 20
I discarded this skirt at least 3 years ago as the antimacassar was falling apart.
I made this top from a large scarf with a striking design, which I had found on the way to work.
I copied a tutorial found on pinterest (you can see details if you follow the link in the title) and though I had never heard the term at the time, it used an almost zero waste technique to make a top out of any scarf. This technique did involve sewing a bias cut, fray like hell, flimsy fabric so sweat and tears were involved in its making.
The top received many compliments when I was wearing it ( I was always a bit nervous wearing it to work in case someone claimed it as theirs)
The fabric was fragile and faded when (hand) washed, so after at most 20 wears it was looking scrappy under the armpits.
Positives – striking zero waste top
Negatives – scarves are not meant for this type of wear
Estimated number of wears – 15
I discarded this top at least 3 years ago as it was looking tatty.
This was a simple refashion where I took a nice but too small skirt and made it fit by increasing the waist size, this is a bit of a go to method for me as I have a 2 sizes difference between my waist and hip measurements.
I’m including this skirt because mostly because I still have it but to be honest am now a little bored with it.
Positives – good quality skirt
Negatives – I added quite a lot to the waist and if effects the drape and is still a bit tight.
Estimated number of wears – 25, including 10 since 11.10.19
I still have this skirt but its fate is 10 more wears this summer then out.
This concludes my review of 2016 makes, there are more of them back there in blog post history but I don’t want to labour the point.
Revisiting these older makes has brought me joy, 2017 to follow soon.
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