Let me introduce myself; my name is Alyce, and I’m a savvy recycler! I can’t wait to show everyone here how easy it is to be creative with thrift store diamonds in the rough! I wear a size 30 and I love creating new things from the old. For example, I’ll take a too-small, boring pair of size 26 jeans and upsize them to a totally flirty size 30, or a 2XL dress from the dollar bin at Goodwill and upsize it to a 4XL that looks exactly like something from Modcloth or Simply Be.
Goodwill – Bismarck, ND
Being a very curvy 54 year old who has been in the above-XL clothing size for about 40 years, I understand the frustration, irritation, and angst most of us have experienced trying to buy clothes. Even sewing your own clothes can present challenges for larger women. Once I upsize this pattern, is the dress still going to look good on my body? How do I refine my fitting adjustments to my pattern before I cut into this $40 piece of fabric?
Sound familiar? Lots of head bobbing out there?
So what are the options for those of us who fun and flirty clothes that represent our individuality without breaking the bank? Are our options still limited? Maybe not. If you can take a size 20 pattern at the bust and graft it to a size 26 pattern at the hips to create a dress that fits, why can’t you do that with clothes off the rack?
That simple question was my jumping off point for my lifelong addiction to thrift stores: Salvation Army, Goodwill, Charity rummage sales and any other second hand store you can name. I haunt them all. It’s my personal playground of colors and textures. Give me a picture of a dress from Macy’s, Neiman Marcus, Anthropologie, or even Lands End, and I can usually find all the components to make a size 30 version from thrift store finds. If you can sew a straight-ish seam, you can definitely convert a reject into a one-of-a-kind. Upsizing and upcycling at the same time. What could be better???
Seeds of Hope Thrift Store
Why Upcycle?
Still need convincing to try upcycling? Here are a few reasons why upcycling is a great option for us curvy women:
- Easily calculate the yardage you need: 90% percent of the clothing you buy secondhand has already been washed, so there’s no guesswork when you are measuring a garment, such as a pair of jeans. For example, I need 14.75” from inseam at the knee to the outside seam at the knee, and I’ve found a pair that measures 10.5”. I don’t have to figure for shrinkage since it’s been prewashed. I also don’t need to figure in the seam allowance because I’m going to reuse the original seam line when I add a strip of fabric to make them fit me. So, I can buy these jeans knowing that I just need an additional 4.25” of a second fabric to get to the size I need.
- Only pay for what you need: Like every other seamstress I know, I have a stash of yardage that is measured in the hundreds of yards. It’s tucked in every nook and cranny of my home. However, when I upcycle, I use three garments and make them into one, and then I don’t have left overs that I paid for and that get stored with the rest of the stash.
- See and feel the fabric in-person before buying: And my final reason is I can see how the fabric moves, feels and in general if it is a good material for me. Plain and simple we all have colors and fabrics we have to steer away from. But why not experiment with a three dollar dress from the clearance isle in a fabric you’ve never worn before? What do you have to loose other than your time? If you find you can’t wear it then rip the seams and make something for a family member or a neighbor.
Brighten’s Thrift Shop
Curvy Strategies for Upcycling
Still have questions about upcycling from thrift quests? Well here are a few tips that might help:
- Find Inspiration from RTW: Use pictures of garments from retailers such as Anthropologie and Modcloth to guide your thrifting and help select pieces with the most potential to be re-purposed.
- Combine multiple garments: Thrift stores don’t usually have anything my size–or anything above size 20 most days–but here’s the thing: you can combine two or more thrifted items into a single garment, much in the way that you might frankenpattern a sewing pattern.
- Target certain garment types: I am always on the look out for good quality men’s blazers. They are the most versatile garment for upsizing and upcycling. If they are lined, it’s even better. I can use the arms to expand a jacket, the front as a highlight fabric on a two-piece pants set, and the back to make a matching purse for all three pieces. The other garment types that I am always looking for are clearance prom dresses/wedding dresses. The sky’s the limit with them! I converted a single XL prom dress a few years ago to a size 26 maxi dress AND a size 30 knee length tunic.
- Plan your visit: Find out if your local thrift stores have regularly delivery schedules. If they do have regular deliveries, try to plan your visits for the morning after to get the best selection. Additionally, if you can go when kids are in school or during naptime, you’ll have a calmer shopping environment for evaluating potential purchases.
I’m sure you can tell I love doing this. Sharing my “hobby” has been one of the most exciting periods of the past 15 years. The exchange of ideas is never ending and so rewarding. I hope you’ll join me in a future post when we’ll make a pair of designer jeans out of thrift store dollar bin finds.
While I haven’t repurposed RTW clothes from Goodwill, I have bought some nice fabric there. I once got a piece that was about 3 yards, some very nice embroidered denim, and I made a short-sleeved jacket out of it. I paid $8 for the fabric, and used some buttons on it that I got at a long-ago yard sale. I then saw the same fabric at my local Jo Ann’s for $14/yard. I also just made myself a blouse and matching tote out of some cotton/polyester I got at the same Goodwill out of fabric I paid $8 for 3.5 yards. I make a lot of totes, and I get most of my fabric at Goodwill.
I’d love to do some of this. I’ve had to “fix” things that I made that ultimately didn’t fit, like a blouse I made years ago out of two related fabric patterns that ended up too tight, so I added in a panel of solid black, which matched with both patterns, on the sides. After this it fit perfectly and became one of my favorites, until I (ahem) grew out of it. I’m sure we’ve all had that happen at one time or another.
I don’t know if Canadian thrift stores are especially expensive, but I can usually buy fabric and sew something cheaper than I can thrift two things to sew together! Even jersey dresses (a good source of thrifted fabric) are often $10-20, so I’d rather go pay for yardage! Anyone else find this?
I love, love, love thrifting. 🙂 I’ve made a lot of things for my little gal from thrift store finds and upcycles. This one came from two shirts – turtlenecks to be exact, that were 50 cents each. The pattern was one I was testing for a desginer. I wound up making two of these – the second with another set of thrifted shirts. Most of the fabric I’ve used for myself and for her has come from thrift stores… 🙂 It’s like treasure hunting! I love it.
(Oh… and I’ve been known to take old shirts of my own/maternity clothes and snip them up to make something else that someone can use. I have pictures on my blog of 6 pairs of leggings I made her with shirts that were waaaaaaayyyy too small for me that I wore a lot while first dating my husband.) – and sorry about the blurry picture here. I thought I’d snagged one of the better ones of this little peplum – it’s over a tutu. But it gives you the idea of the other upcycled project I did.
I’m looking forward to your future posts . I have a few too small items which I would love to wear again. We don’t have thrift stores in our part of the world, but I would have liked to go shopping at one, because some bloggers show some amazing finds.
Lina, I am addicted to shopgoodwill.com. Its thrift store shopping in your PJ’s.
Hahha me too!
Without pictures, it’s very hard to see how you make this work.
I’m really excited about this. So many upcycling/refashioning blogs focus on taking a big item and cutting it down for a smaller person (who needs ANOTHER toddler dress from men’s shirt post?!!!). Which is useless for plus-size sewers. Can’t wait to see Alyce’s ideas in practice.
Ros, I admire everything these talented re-fashionistas create but to me it’s simply tailoring something that was too big to begin with. We plus-size sewers have way more to take into consideration to upsize our clothes. As you said there are tons of people sizing down but there are only a handful that have refined the art of upsizing.
I thought I was the only person in the world who saw the potential in thrift store clothing, fabric,& for that matter everything these stories have to offer. you can’t imagine how many times I have been made fun of, or called a hoarder. unfortunately my support system are not very artistic. I so look forward to ur pics but understand that you are one busy lady. Hurray for you as we are saving mother earth. You made my day, I now have renewed hope. christy a.
Christy, I look at thrift stores as my own personal playground. And yes even my family has a habit of joking about the multiple sewing machines, bobbin winders etc. But that’s ok by me. I imagine the smiles on their faces when presented with another creation come the holidays. Saving the planet and putting smiles on faces – what more could we ask for?
I’ve just started upcyclying, too, and it’s so much fun! Two other benefits to upcycling that I can think of: it’s a great way for beginner sewers to get started and projects can be a lot quicker than starting from scratch. Both of these because you can take advantage of the parts that are already sewn for you and often just make small tweaks. For any who are looking for photos and ideas just google. There are lots of bloggers who are into upcycling clothes.
Thanks for this wonderful post!
Angiehandmade, thanx so much for your comments and highlighting the beginner sewing aspect of upcycling and upsizing. Believe it or not everything I do is done with a straight-ish stitch. IMHO There’s no challenge in hitting a button on the sewing machine and letting it do all the work. I’m not the best at this and I will never win a contest for any of my creations but it is too much fun to stop doing it. And you’re so right about the tweaking. A simple addition can mean the difference between “that’s fine” and “OMG I have to have that!”.
I would like to learn how you are doing this. I also love thrift store shopping, you are absolutely right about finding treasures there, even with new tags on them from the retail stores. Both my daughter and and I fluctuate in weight so much, that being able to recycle what we have would be like celebrating Christmas every day of the year. I do hope you will give us instructions on how and where to start. I have 10 pair of jeans in my closet that need enlarging so that I can wear them now, instead of waiting until my weight drops to get into a size 16 again. By that time, they may be dry rotted. Like the other ladies I can hardly wait until we hear from you again.
Jo, my daughter and I are in the same boat. It’s embarrassing some days to look in the closet at the “bloated” and “not bloated” sections. Deciding which you are on a daily basis can be a bit much. But by recycling, upcycling and upsizing I have no problem reaching in and grabbing the right shirt or jeans for the day knowing I created it and am proud to wear it. Upsizing jeans is the easiest project I can think of to get the basics down when resizing. So get a few pair ready. We’ll tackle them together in the next post. I have lots of ideas so they won’t look like they have been upsized but in fact came from the store that way.
Can’t wait to see pictures and your next post!
Autumn, they are on the way I promise. Went out and bought a new camera last weekend. Now I just have to figure out how to use it LOL
I’m so inspired by your post! I have some cute dresses in my closet that I think could be given new life if only I knew what to do with them. My sewing skills are still very basic, are there some easy or simple ways I can upcycle old clothes?
Dg, straight stitching is the only thing I use in my upsizing. I try to make sure I keep all instructions on a beginner level. This kind of crafting usually has two levels- beginner and everyone else. Beginners need step by step instruction as well as tips on how to get over the little hurdles. Everyone else just needs a picture and they’re off to the races. So figure out which dress you want to practice on and I’ll help you move from beginner to the “everyone else” category.
I’m looking forward to your future posts, your ideas are very intriguing. I have nice fabrics, but I’m wracked with hesitation- I don’t want to screw up that expensive yardage! It sounds like you have the perfect solution that ends with new clothes AND confidence <3
Laurinda, cutting into expensive material has always been one of my personal challenges. It is so much easier when you test your idea on a goodwill 5.00 find. Used clothing is very forgiving and allows you to try different approaches multiple times without sacrificing an inch of the good stuff.
As for confidence- it took a long time for me to turn that corner and I still have those days when I look at myself in the mirror and ask myself why? Why do I want to share this hobby? Why do I think I can make a difference in someone’s life? Why did I just cut up a wedding dress into four pieces? The answer is and has been for the past 15 years, because through the medium of fabric I can empower a woman, big or small, to do things they never thought possible. The simple act of creating a new garment from old can be the catalyst needed to attempt other things. And it is the attempt that builds confidence. You may try and fail but the fact remains you tried. For some that’s all it takes to crack the shell and allow themselves to try new things without regret or reservation.
Even if you don’t make more clothes from thrifty finds, you can make Pendleton wool pillows for the couch (from a shirt or jacket), upcycle bag hardware into another bag, etc. There is a huge playground inside thrift stores that generally costs you less than ten bucks to utilize castoffs into something else. Way cheaper than buying fresh yardage.
Kathyh, you and I definitely think alike. I’ve just found Freecycle on the internet. For the price of postage I get a box full of hand me downs. These days it’s costing less and less to turn a silk dress into a set of pillows for a housewarming gift.
Very interested in this! Please post more info soon!
LaRue, will do!
I would love to see some examples of your work – I have tried with little success to do what you talk about – no problem getting it to go around me but style is more than that!
Jacqui I look forward to helping you complete a project that you really want to wear when it’s done. I too tried with little success in the late 90’s and early 2000. Wasted a lot of material. Well, not wasted really, I have five gallon buckets with scraps of pieces that didn’t turn out the way I wanted them to. One day I plan to take the buckets and throw all the scraps into a big bag. Mash them all up then just pull one piece out at a time and sew it onto an old sheet I have set aside. Should be interesting project.
looking forward to it Aeryn many thanks for the prompt reply.
Can’t wait to see what you have made!
Patti Thanx for the encouragement. I look forward to meeting everyone’s expectations.
Do you have blog that we can follow? Would love to see what you do.
Mickey, I don’t have a blog yet. The Savvy Recycler took off like a shot this summer. it’s just me doing everything but the deliveries so the blog idea has been on the back burner. I promise to put a page together of projects I am working on now so you can get an idea of where I’m going. Give me a few weeks and I’ll make it available to the folks here at the CSC.
This all sounds so doable…photos would help us visualize what is possible!
Mrsmole. Doable indeed! If you can imagine it I can usually help you pull it off. Looking forward to the attempt. As I mentioned before I Love this and get just as much satisfaction getting others into the swing of things.
I would love to see photos of what you’ve made with your thrift store finds. It’s hard to imagine what you’ve sewn without seeing photos.
Tanyamaile I have promised to bring along a lot of pictures for the few projects I’ve offered to do tutorials for. The good, the bad and the ugly to share -I’ll share them all. I have found it much more effective to show the results of doing something right rather than the quick and easy way.
Until very recently I did not keep pictures of the pieces I’ve created since they were sold as OOAK garments. Having a picture of something I’d already made seemed counter productive. Now that I have worked up the courage to mingle with normal people I’m realizing that was a bit short sighted on my part.
I would have thought that having pics of your sold work would help promote your business! potential clients could see your ideas, past found material and combinations, get a sense of construction, etc.
L’Anne as with my writing I never intended it to be more than a hobby. I never went at this with anything more than a desire to see what my hands could create from my fertile imagination. I don’t pitch what I do as a business because I work full time and can’t devote more than a handful of hours each week to creating pieces. On the rare occasions when I take on new clients I like to work from what they want – not from what I’ve created in the past. But you are 100% correct in that I need pictures from now on.
Very interesting. Usually when I hire someone for anything I’d want to see examples of their work. Regardless as a visual learner a couple of pictures would have really helped me understand your ideas for this article.
I would love to see some pictures too. Its a fabulous idea.. I am always in thrift stores but rarely by clothes.
Sheila Pics are in the works and I have to agree this kind of creating is abfab to the maxx. If clothing isn’t your cup of tea then maybe you might want to do something like my significant other does. He dismantles purses of every size, shape and fabric/leather. He then recovers books with the fabric and leather. He also takes old personal journals and tidies them up with new covers. We were just discussing the possibility of combining two trashion ideas into one. Take the leather from the purse, put it on a hard back book who’s binding isn’t the best and make it into something new and sparkly. Contact cement, a little card board, broken jewelry and a dash of imagination gets you some really awesome Christmas presents for your recycling friends.
I am surprised to see only large photos of your thrift stores, we all don’t live where you do.
Much better to see examples.
I can purchase fabric at my thrift store. No tedious ripping apart.
Nancy, I do apologize for the lack of photos of projects. There will be plenty of examples over the next few months. As for fabric at the thrift store I LOVE IT WHEN THAT HAPPENS! I have boxes and boxes of patterns that I want to try out and see if I can put my unique style into them but don’t want to waste money (and more importantly time) on something I won’t wear when it’s done. If I spend three dollars on 5 yards of material and get several pieces out of it that I will definitely wear it’s like winning the lottery.
As for tedious ripping, lets just say I find the ripping part very relaxing. I am learning how the garment was put together and can make lines with my chalk block as I’m going along. Like cutting down a men’s jacket into a woman’s vest. I use four colors of chalk for those so I get the order right of what gets sewn together first, second and last. The tutorials I have offered to do are on a beginner level so seam ripping is at a minimum. Hope to see you at one of them 🙂
The thrift stores in my area are terrible. I love the idea of refashioning/repurposing but the finds around here just plain suck. And most of the thrift stores here are affiliated with causes I don’t want to contribute to.
L’Anne, I used to live on the Outer Banks in North Carolina which is a resort area eight out of twelve months. There were no thrift stores of any kind within 40 miles. My workaround at the time was trading cast offs with friends. We’d meet once a month and bring the bags of clothes we’d culled from closets, drawers, storage etc and throw them up on a table. By the time we separated we were all filled with ideas on what to do with our treasures. Now days there are online thrift stores that have a wide variety of clothing to offer and most are reasonably priced even after you pay for postage.
How about some pictures of what you’ve rescued. I’d love to see what you do. You’re my kind of woman. Very inspiring.
Linda
Beakie48 Thanx. My only hope in doing this guest blog was to make an impression on one person so they would pick up the torch and run with it. I would be tickled pink if you are inspired to take the plunge. I didn’t have any good quality pics to share when I offered to write this blog. The fine folks at the CSC made me promise to include lots of pics with each of the coming projects.
Ok, so I’m sold on this idea and I’m hoping you will follow up with some examples and ideas.
Louise, I am so pleased the idea has taken root. I can throw ideas out all day long, eight days a week. I have lists and lists of ideas. I have tons of picks of clothing in the before stage just waiting for their chance to be part of an after stage. Ever run dry of ideas just give me a jingle. I have tons to spare.