I love to upcycle old clothes, not just because it is cheap but you just can’t get some fabrics. Jeans for example should have that worn look. In industry it is painstakingly created with lots of machinery. Denim from fabric shops more often than not, look to new! You never quite gets the same result. Don’t get me wrong it can look awesome too, after its been scrubbed, bleached and tormented! But upcycling a pair of jeans is a great way to make a cheap and soon to be favourite item in kiddos wardrobe.

Issariya Sotthibandhu Smith loves trying new stuff and she used the Oscar shorts pattern to create a cool pair of shorts.

Denim Shorts

upcycle your  10 tips

Usually the pattern has a gathered front but she decided flat was the way to go. I do have to say, I agree, gathered denim in the front wouldn’t have looked as nice.

jeans upcycle

This is the pair of jeans she used. You can often also recycle the pocket openings etc but these were just too worn. So here is what she did.

She cut open the centre front and back, so the pieces could be placed on flat.

Then, easy as pie, she placed the pattern pieces on and cut them out.

As you can see, she created a contrast, which she also used in the lovely Paris jacket she made. I think we all are inspired by what we see on the ‘Great British Sewing Bee’ every season, if you haven’t watched this program yet, google it you will absolutely love it! Needless to say I think Issariya would be a perfect candidate for the show.

She kept the back pockets, which can be a pain to get on and they look fabulous all oversized and worn.

For the front she created new pockets and the contrast peeps out of the front nicely making this upcycle of an old pair of jeans, ready for the bin, a favorite for this little lady

Cool Shirt

Next up is the lovely Bianca Scherer. She sewed a boys shirt using an old disgarded shirt from her husband. The pdf sewing pattern used was of course our favorite, the ‘Cool Shirt

upcycle an old shirt | pdf sewing pattern | Frocks & Frolics cool shirt

You can already see that she use the check pattern very cleverly and added a contrast placket for the front.

man's shirt upcycle | boys shirt | Oscar Shirt pdf sewing pattern

She completely unpicked the entire shirt and after cutting out actually had some left over. Old shirts are absolutely brilliant as fabrics like this are hard to come by. This shirt was made for a very special first communion service!

shirt upcycle | boys shirt | pdf sewing pattern for boys

Bianca showed us a sneak peak into her progress here. It of course takes time but it also saves so much money and the fabrics are usually also good quality!

And there you have it, a perfect shirt for a luckly little laddy!

boys shirt pdf sewing pattern

boys shirt | refashion | upcycle | Frocks & Frolics

Lily Blouse

Of course I can’t leave out the awesome blouse Ela created for her little girl some years back! She used an old shirt of her husbands, he wears very nice shirts, and created the Lily blouse.

Ela created these lovely roses and even adorned them with tiny pearls. A bit of lace at the trim and a wonderful favorite was made. You can get roses on a roll too, and its so easy to just pop on some beads to make them super special. There is so much more we can do to upcycle, safe a little cash and also help our environment. I will add to this post soon until we really have 10! For now I hope you are suitably inspired to upcycle your old clothes.