Wardrobe ‘Switcheroo’ Feeds Creative Re-Cycle Sewing Stash

Next on my ‘To Do’ List is to change the clothes from Fall/Winter to Spring/Summer.  Moving south, I’m sure I’ll be thinning out some of the heavier fall/winter clothing, but every piece will be filtered through the creative process question:

“Could this garment be used as ‘fabric’ in a Re-Cycle Sewing Project?  

Might I have a use for any of its components like ribbing,  etc..?”  

Since this process even has me sorting through my ever-growing computer files as well, I came across these photos of a jacket I made for my sister-in-law from sweaters and ties from my late brother and mom.  So, being in the same ‘vein’ as the next task, I’ll share photos and a bit of my ‘thinking’ as I created this jacket in the hopes that as you might also be doing the big ‘Wardrobe  Switcheroo’ that you ask yourself the same types of creative sewing questions.

Above, see the collection of ties and really 4 different sweaters (mens and women’s actually) that I ‘pulled together’ for possible inclusion in this jacket.  I envisioned the jacket as a lightweight type throw-on ‘coat’ for fall and spring.

The sweaters lent themselves to a fairly symmetrical design.  The ribbing that goes up each front and around the neck was actually from the long aqua sweater of my mom’s that is used for the upper yokes at the fronts.  Sleeves and side fronts are from a velour ‘sweater’ of my brother’s.  Note the purple ‘ribbing’ that separates the velour from the geometric center front panels at each lower front section.

The back view really shows how purple is the accent on this jacket.  It pulls those purple threads from in the aqua sweater and really helps ‘tie’ it all together.  I recall that the purple angular pieces at the back side hemlines were from some purple corduroy pants of my mom’s.

Across the bottom of the yokes in the front (and back), and in the sleeve piecing, I did what I call a ‘Strap Seam’.  To do this, just stitch the pieces together WRONG SIDES TOGETHER and add another strip of something (in this case, tie fabric) that will then flop over and encase those seams.  Reduce bulk in this seam by grading the seam allowance, leaving the seam allowance belonging to the binding the longest and each successive seam allowance some less wide.  This is a marvelous way of creating a garment that is ‘finished’ on the inside!

Sew….I’m looking forward to ‘moving’ some garments from wardrobes to Sewing Stash for future re-cycle creative sewing.  I hope this post inspires you to do likewise!