Wondering How to Upcycle Your Clothes?

Welcome! Are you, like so many people right now, wondering how to upcycle your clothes? Working with textiles and clothing is so much fun. Taking what you have in your closet and making it into something you love to wear is simpler than you might think. I have all kinds of upcycling ideas for clothes here on my site, at my Instagram, and on my YouTube channel.

What kinds of upcycle projects will you find here? I have denim projects, ways to upcycle a shirt or blouse, t-shirt upcycle ideas, how to upcycle a sweater, and others, too. Some projects can be hand sewn, others will be easier with a basic sewing machine, and some are no sew upcycle ideas that even work for students and kids. Check out my Getting Started page to see what tools are available and how few you actually need to upcycle your own clothing.

A 1910-era petticoat that sat for decades unworn in a closet

The same 1910-era petticoat upcycled to be a tank dress. It can be worn alone in summer and layered in fall and winter with leggings and a favorite sweater.

What does upcycle mean?

What does upcycle mean? What is the difference between recycle vs upcycle? Recycling takes something that is no longer needed or valued and reduces it back into its basic form to be made into something else. Think about plastic bottles. Hundreds of them can be melted down and turned into a park bench. We can do something similar with our own clothing, only the idea of upcycling carries the notion that we are taking something that is worn out or no longer desirable and creating something better, something that will again be used, worn, and loved.

Upcycled clothing is made from items we already have in our own closets. We simply take resources that already exist and bring them together in a way that makes them better than they were when we started. Old jeans with the seat worn through can become the yoke for an upcycled skirt and the legs could become fabric pieces to make a jacket. Your sweaters that had a battle with moths can be taken apart and refashioned into a funky new sweater with a mix of patterns and textures that you can wear again with a matching hood, scarf, and mittens!

This sweater is a combination of two cotton/rayon blend sweaters: a small dark gray sweater with white and blue color work and a light gray sweater dress that was soft, but no longer in style. The combo is a fun casual hoodie, complete with a kangaroo pocket for your hands.

Why start with your closet when learning how to upcycle your clothes?

Why start with your own closet? Because it’s a resource already at your fingertips. On average, Americans buy about 70 new items of clothing each year per person. (1) Sixty percent of that clothing ends up in a landfill or incinerator within one year. (2) Wow! So if you look at your own closet first to source your upcycling projects, you can help drastically reduce that 42 items per person having less than a one year lifespan. 

Even socks can be worn for multiple years! And don’t worry, if you have things like socks, underwear, and other clothing items that are just too worn for wear anymore, I even have ideas for how to keep them out of the trash. Depending on the fiber content, there are so many good projects to make with your worn out clothing that helps the planet by keeping them out of the landfill and incinerator. 

You can sign up for my free closet review guide called My Closet Reset. It helps you evaluate what you love, what you wear, what you don’t wear and why. I also include a simple closet rotation hack that helps you see what your least worn clothing is so you can help put it to better use, and I include ideas for what that can look like in addition to upcycling. You can sign up for My Closet Reset by clicking this link.

How do I keep my clothes I already love and wear nice?

Something that isn’t always brought up when we talk about how to upcycle is clothing care and repair.  A lot of times when we think of an upcycling project, it’s a way to use up those 10 T-shirts in our closet from a camp, a service project, or the latest initiative at our work that is being promoted and we just don’t want to be a walking billboard. (More of my thoughts on T-shirts as bumper stickers in this article.)

But what about those items of clothing that we truly love as they are? The fiber feels fantastic on your skin. The color makes you glow. The cut really emphasizes the best parts of you. Those are the items in our closet that we want to keep as they are for as long as we can.

I’ve got you! You can check out my pages on mending and fabric care for easy and simple ways to keep your favorites looking and feeling great. Understanding the fiber content can help you clean your clothes as gently as possible with as little work as necessary. Mending tips and instructions can help you fix little repairs before they become big, requiring that your item have a major overhaul. Mending and fabric care can also help keep your newly upcycled favorites in top condition, as well!

Here I reinforced a worn elbow with a piece of scrap cotton on the inside. It can be quick and simple to mend tears in fabric and that helps you keep wearing your favorites.

While visible mending is a fun way to keep wearing your clothes, I was able to match the colors in this plaid shirt with embroidery floss when mending it and that kept the mend pretty low key.

Let’s get started!

I’m so excited that you have joined me here. This journey to be creative while also reducing my consumption has been very satisfying for me and I hope it will be for you, too.  Let’s get started! Sign up for My Closet Reset mini-course, the free closet review guide I have created for you. Once you have taken inventory of what you have and what you want to keep, check out my Getting Started page that shows you the tools and other resources you’ll need and where to find them, then you can look through my various project ideas and instructions throughout the site. I’m excited for you to join me. Let’s save the planet, starting with your own closet!

Resources:

1-“Americans have stopped trying to stuff more clothes into their closet,” Mark Bain, Quartz

2- “A New Textiles Economy: Redesigning fashion’s future,” Ellen MacArthur Foundation