As I’ve been collecting more damaged clothes from the community for upcycling, I’ve been wanting to experiment with harvesting a garment, turning it into a new textile, and then making a design from that.

This unwanted polyester dress crossed my path recently and was in good condition but there was just so many details going on. It had a ruffle over one shoulder, the other shoulder had a necktie, and it had a handkerchief hem with two ruffles attached to that. My problem with garments that are a bit over designed like this is, is that while they are super cute now, they will go out of style way before the fabric wears out. In general my design philosophy is that if we are going to use polyester then we need to treat it as a material that lasts a really long time. That means we should be creating classic designs that will last decades.

So, I cut apart the skirt into 1.5 inch strips and serged those pieces together to build my new textile. When I started this design I didn’t know what my end product was going to be, but I just took the leap. After I created my new textile I draped it on my dress form and the new design emerged. I am so happy with how this end product turned out that I will absolutely be utilizing this technique as a way to harvest damaged garments that only have so much usable material. Sometimes there’s damage in certain areas that a simple revamp will not always work and a concept like this opens up so many more doors for me while upcycling.

AND I’m working on another design with the top of this, so stay tuned for more!

My mission is to get as many garments that ALREADY exist BACK into rotation, so I work on garments that are 1 year or older. If you have something email info@rethinktailoring.com with questions or to set up an appointment at my Powderhorn studio.
Storefront coming soon Minneapolis with Eco-tailoring services and alteration/mending/upcycling classes. Here’s to the future of fashion!