5 Ways to Upcycle Your Unwanted Clothes

There was a huge shift in the fashion industry in the 90s. The rise of fast fashion came with very low prices and a lot of choices. The way people started to see the garments changed drastically as they could be easily replaced and for a cheaper price. This was a game changer for the mentality of future generations since, until now. More than ever we need to think about the effects that our behaviours and choices have on our planet. It goes without saying that this accelerated consumption and discardings bring several dangerous risks to the future of the planet.

Do you know that a lot of brands burn their unsold new items, secretly, so the collections will stay super exclusive, ensuring the prices remain high? The worst of all is that these clothes go to landfills to be incinerated and destroyed, causing major pollution, even though we could easily reuse or recycle them.

According to Circular Online, the UK is the fourth largest producer of textile waste in Europe, producing 206.456 tonnes of textile waste in a year, according to a new study. It found that each Briton throws away about 3.1kg of textiles every year and that 1.7kg of fashion waste is landfilled yearly per person.

Upcycling can offer an alternative to this issue. Upcycling, or creative reuse, is the process of transforming something/giving a new life to an old, worn out or damaged piece of clothing, instead of throwing it away. Just take something that doesn’t fit, is stained, out of trend...and let’s refashion it. It may even become your new favourite item in your wardrobe.

With this blog post, we intend to give you some ideas, tips, and ways for you to upcycle your own clothes and give them a new life. The best part is, if you need a hand in the process you can count on us, our partner designers would love to help in turning your old pieces into new masterpieces.

5 ways to upcycle your unwanted clothes

1. Embroidery (stitched or beaded)

Do you know that we are big fans of this method? Embroidery is a way of making a simple piece into a statement piece. You can have embroidery on whatever you like: your jeans, bucket hat, buttons, hoodie, shirt or t-shirt. Adding embroidery to your clothes will give them a personal touch of originality, and it will make them your favourite piece to wear, once more.

The pair of jeans featured above was too small for a friend of Gabi our CEO. She wanted to give them a new lease of life and now they are her favorite pair of jeans - she wears them at least twice a week!

There are a lot of embroidery techniques and it even can be done with beads or sequins too. Check the amazing embroidery work of Umamade on her designer’s page or our shop. Contact us if you want her help to upcycle something.

Embroidery by Uma.

2.

Bleach it

Now that tye die designs are a big trend, know that you can easily do it with an old pair of jeans, or shirt for example. Or you can just take a black pair of trousers and draw with bleach. There are endless possibilities for this one, just use your imagination and have fun.

3. Add details (patches, buttons, sequins, lace trims, beads…)

You just need to find your favorite and be creative! In some pieces, little details are everything, and if you want to go bold, even better.  Our suggestions start with cool or embroidered buttons. You can also add beads or sequins, lace trims, and patches.

Buttons - You can replace the old buttons of your clothing pieces with new ones. Even better, you can replace them with embroidered ones, designed by you.

Beads - You can mix techniques and have a beaded/sequin embroidery, or just choose some cool beads/sequins and sew them into your piece.

Lace - If you want to make a t-shirt or sweater longer, you can add a lace trim on the bottom or sleeves. Or if you just love lace you can incorporate it in your piece.

Patches - There are a lot of infinite options in terms of patches and a lot of places where you can find handmade ones. It’s a cute way to upcycle old clothes such as your sweater or long sleeve, jeans…and make it more unique. They are also useful when you want to hide a stain or a tear. Another suggestion is, for example, you can add a side stripe in your favourite fabric. Velvet always works well on a pair of unwanted trousers.

There are endless ways of upcycling adding new details to the pieces. Check the gorgeous upcycling work of One on her designer’s page or our shop. Contact us if you want her help to upcycle something.

Upcycled black dress by One.

4. Painting

Painting is also a great way to cover up stains or just give another life to an unwanted piece of clothing. Acrylic paint or proper ink and imagination is all you need! This will give a brand new look to your old clothes.

5.

Redesign (refashioning)

Meaning transform your pieces of clothing into something different. Cropping, sew some old fabrics from unwanted pieces together...perhaps you have some too large or too tight t-shirts or jeans that can be perfect for creating something new! We can help you with that too.

Denim upcycled tote bag by One Mald.

Upcycling is one of the most sustainable things we can do to balance the fight against fast fashion with having new and unique clothes. It’s really easy - you can get started today.

EDIS connects you to fashion designers to upcycle or co-create unique pieces of clothing. It’s ethical because the designers receive 80% of the price paid. It’s sustainable because we try to use deadstock fabrics wherever possible, and it’s personalised - each piece is made exactly for you. Start upcycling or designing your pieces here today.