Materials and Tools Used:

• Fabric
• Paper/drawing app (to plan design and panels)
• Ruler & flexible measuring tape
• Friction pen/chalk/erasable fabric marker
• Seam ripper (to fully deconstruct the skirt)
• Scissors
• Pattern guide (optional)
• Sewing needle and thread (black and ivory colored)
• Embroidery needle and floss (white and yellow colored)
• Patience (for threading needles and for times after accidentally pricking myself for the nth time)

 

Initial Stages of Upcycling Project:

Note: I used a half-inch seam allowance for all cloth panels, so the first fitting (which used only one layer per side of fabric) would look significantly larger than the final fitting of the one shoulder top.

 

Videos of progress:

When hemming, I used a basic running stitch and a invisible/ladder stitch for closing up the last opening of the two fabric pieces.

When doing a fitting for the one shoulder top, I found that there needed to be some more coverage on the side of the top that is without a strap. In order to fit the angular-looking gap, I cut some scrap fabric into a triangle shape (with a half inch seam allowance) that would fit into the gap. To finish things off, I used an invisible stitch and some blanket stitches to attach the two layered triangle to the top.

 

Adding Personalization to the One Shoulder Top:

I felt driven to embroider something onto my top for many reasons. One reason was that I thought it needed something a little extra once I completed the entire clothing piece. And the second reason was that I got inspired by the following images:

Some takeaways I had when embroidering this daisy: Because this fabric was so stretchy, it made it more difficult to embroider. Usually, embroidery fabric needs to be pulled taut when secured in the hoop, but this top couldn’t be stretched too much due to the thickness of its layers and due to the fact that I did not want the fabric to warp/ over stretch.

 

Overall, the process of upcycling a skirt was very rewarding because I was able to:

1. Revamp a skirt that would have gone to landfill (since it is no longer wearable)
2. Practice my tactical skills in making my own clothing pattern (and learning from mistakes along the way)
3. Learn how to do a new stitch (invisible stitch), and properly make French knots (in embroidery)
4. Get people interested in upcycling and sustainable fashion