Melted plastic bags styled with lego bowties

Make your t-shirt a changing canvas for your Trashion Plastic Artwork! 10 minute fun with cutting plastic bags and melting them to t-shirts. This technique is not permanent. The plastic will stay on a few uses and should be removed before washing the garment (it will come off in the washing machine). Check out my tutorial on Fusing plastic bags to t-shirts and knitwear. This will look great with my lego-bowties! I´m planning to make a few of these bowties for sale in my Etsy shop.

Woollen socks are a must in Scandinavia and they are the most comfortable thing to wear at home. But I´m terrible in knitting! I just don´t get it how it´s done... That´s why I was really happy to find these reconstructed sweater slippers by Zerkahloostrah. You can find her work at Flickr or zerkahloostrah.etsy.com. These would make a wonderfull christmass gift idea for my friends this year!

Refashioning sweatshirts by Takeoffyourclothes

take.off.your.clothes makes clothes, accessories and soft jewelry from reusing old sweatshirts. I love his design style. Items also available from takeoffyourclothes.etsy.com.

Nice and Shiny fashion home projects

Nice and Shiny is a street fashion blogger from Winnipeg Canada that also bloggs about her DIY projects. Her latest project is the measuring tape belt in true Jeremy Scott vibe. I´m totally taken by all her DIY fashion projects. Love the cartoon heeled wedges, Pocahontas fringe top and Pleat tee.

Rolling socks with Sabrina Melis

Sabrina Melis of Alghero Sardegna Italy sews jewels from old socks and other materials. Her soft jewelry is 100% recycled and gorgeous! Like candy. Her rolling-technique is very god to use when doing crafts from woolsweater scrap pieces or other thick fabrics for clothing details, home decor (like pillowcases, floormats) and soft toys.


Via HauteNature blog.

Attention Trashion bag ladies!

(bag made by Post Scriptum)

Are you an upcycler? As in, are you into making stuff from things that others cast away? Now is your chance to show the world your trashy treasures. The Compai ladies — Justina and Faythe Blakeney (authors of 99 Ways To Cut, Sew, Trim And Tie Your T-Shirt Into Something Special) — are working on a new book about bags made from recycled materials.

Submit a hi-res image of an original bag (or bags) that you have made from old tires, nuts and bolts, candy wrappers, seatbelts, old clothes, plastic bags, vinyl records, etc. to justina@venuszine.com. Bags can be any shape, size or style so long as they are made from recycled materials. Along with the images, send us your name, occupation, age, URL (if you have one), location and a short paragraph explaining what the bag is made of and your design philosophy.

You could be chosen to be a featured designer in Compai’s upcoming publication (to be published by Potter Craft, a division of Random House), plus win two free copies of the upcoming title. The winner also will be featured on Venuszine.com.

Deadline: August 20, 2008, at 5 p.m.
Submit to: justina@venuszine.com with "Bag Book" in the subject line.


(Lace glove bag made by Flymissy)


(sweater bag by Brenda's bag)

Wardrobe metamorphosis by Azumi & David (part 2)

Azumi & David morph different pieces of the wardrobe to create new humorous fashions called "Things to wear". I spent yesterday two hours browsing through all of their collections. There were so many cool and inspirational reconstructions that I have to show them to you in three parts: 1. tops, 2. scarfs belts, 3. bags. Check out also A&D blog.

A&D sees scarfs as much more than a simple piece of cloth. It can also be styled with collars, hoods or cuffs or made from unconventional materials like sportjcket sleeves. I never realized that sleeves can be transformed to so many different garments. A good design also enables the item to be more than one way. I especially love their woollen botton scarfs because they can be worn light or attached together to add more warmth. Also the hoodie scarf is a functional garment with an urban look. These designs will also go on my trashion-to-do list. Perfect for fall.

You can see the A&D collection details better if you open the images by clicking them.

Wardrobe metamorphosis by Azumi & David (part 1)

Azumi & David morph different pieces of the wardrobe to create new humorous fashions called "Things to wear". I spent yesterday two hours browsing through all of their collections. There were so many cool and inspirational reconstructions that I have to show them to you in three parts: 1. tops, 2. scarfs belts, 3. bags. Check out also A&D blog.

Azumi & David has mixed shirts, tees and sweats to create totally new items in the wardrobe. I call them "shirtop" and "shirtees". It also got me thingking on the amount of possibilities when taking a part and putting back together three different garments. T-shirts are made from 4 pieces, hooded sweats from 6 pieces and a shirt from 8 pieces... How many different combos does that amount to??? I´m not clever enought to give you an exact answer but at the moment I´m dying to find out! Splitting some pieces just gives you even more choices.

A&D uses clean and classic patterns in their collection, but my morphed thirtees would be constructed from grungy band-tees and men´s office shirts and flannel shirts. I call it "blue collar grunge". I´m so looking forward to getting my sewingmachine back from repair so I can start working on these!! Guaranteed Etsy stuff. You can see the A&D collection details better if you open the images by clicking them.

DIY craft books ordered!

I´m always on the lookout for new intresting craft, DIY and clothing reconstruction books. I found these books yesterday and ordered them all today. Early Xmass present from myself to myself. I´m especially happy to see Alison Willoughby finally publishing a book about her works. I hope it has also guides how those amazing skirt designs are made! See my post about her skirts from last November.

49 Sensational Skirts: Creative Embellishment Ideas for One-Of-A-Kind Designs with Pattern(s)
by Alison Willoughby (release date April 2008)


Canvas Remix: Techniques for Creating Mixed-Media Accessories
by Alisa Burke (release date July 25th 2008)


Jean Therapy: Denim Deconstruction for the Conscientious Crafter
by Scatha G. Allison (release date April 1st 2008)


Denim Revolution: Dozens of Ways to Turn Denim Cast-offs into Fashion Must-haves
by Nancy Minsky (release date end of August 2008)


Born-Again Vintage: 25 Ways to Deconstruct, Reinvent, and Recycle Your Wardrobe
by Bridgett Artise and Jen Karetnick


Fashioning Technology: A DIY Intro to Smart Crafting
by Syuzi Pakhchyan (released June 24th 2008)


DIY: Design It Yourself (Design Handbooks)
by Ellen Lupton

Discarded to Devine 2008 runway show pics

Discarded to Devine 2008 recycled fashion show was held in SF in April (previous post HERE). The organization has now released some runway and entry images of this fantastic event on their site. Click to "Design & Designers" and 2008 images. Definately worth checking out! Also keep in mind that Discarded to Devine 2009 is coming, so check back to the site for more info. Maybe some of your designs will make it to the 2009 show!

Thight fashion - Päivän sukkahousuvinkki

Pantyhose or thights are a big no-no for the eco-concious fashionista since they are made nylon (= polymere plastic). They brake easily and therefore are often thrown away after just few uses. I prefer to use only fish-net thights because I have noticed them to be more durable and therefore I buy maybe 5 pairs a year. Maria Lau makes jewelry and other werables from thights and other recycled material by braiding and binding them together with beads and luxurious pearls. She has worked with fashion houses like Michiko Koshino and DKNY to name a few.






In case you did not know, re-using pantyhose in new ways is a bit of a joke in Finland. A local food market chain K-Kauppa used to publish "today´s pantyhose tips" (Finnish "sukkahousuvinkki") in their magazine Pirkka. Hilarious stuff like "Slip a champagne bottle in a pair of pantyhose when popping the cork. This way the cork will not fly to anyones head and hurt them". People claimed to use thights for almost anything and I do not doubt that some meant what they wrote in. The magazine actually paid for good tips... Anyway, if you do make something from recycled thights and want to wear them in Finland, make them so well that people don´t realize them being thights and don´t advertise the original material... Some people just wouldn´t get the trashion aspect. I´m sure this is not the case in the rest of the world. We are a funny nation sometimes.

How to make a thights necklace, a tutorial by Smaggle Style. Made from thicker winter thights.


Thight dress in Discarded to Devine fashion show in San Francisco.




I remebered seeing this dress in the inside cover of Destenys Child´s album. Look at the middle dress. I think it looks exactly the kind of design I would go for when using recycled thights. Although nylon can be a very "hot" material to wear, since it´s plastic, the dress has to be lined with jersey. Even the pearls are not a problem! I have a box full of wooden beads at home. The beads were salvaged from a dumster, a thrown away driver´s wood bead seat cover. They have been waiting for a project like this. I think the worn down wood beads and skincolored granny thights would get a major facelift on this kind of a project. Now I wonder what metal zippers (canvas part cut out) would look like mixed and bound up with thights....? My friends will propably think I´ve gone insane if I ask them to give me their cast off thights...? Have to think of a diplomatic approach.

Maria Lau´s link found via Style Bubble fashion blog.

Inspiration: Human anatomy

I have an obsession with anatomy inspired art and craft. Skulls and bones (the real ones), jewelry made from anatomy text book images, clothes with anatomy prints.. Lets just say that cute pastel things with flower prints don´t do it for me. Some of my friends did not enjoy my post on Katharina Ludvig organ bottles and even thought the anatomy necklaces I recently bought from Paraphernalia were too much. Too "real" they said. Funny people. Human anatomy has inspired people from the times of ancient greeks so I suppose it should count as a classic trend. :)

Toolgrrl aka Rachel Wright is an artist I found from Etsy that reconstructs secondhand slips with appliques to create dramatic in-your-face anatomy inspired fashions. The buys all supplies from thrift stores and sews by hand. Check out her website www.rachelwright.net for images galleries. Some people might find them odd when I find them fascinating and beautiful. We can´t all like the same things.. That just wouldn´t be right. I love these dresses since it reminds me that we of the fragile and very personal eco-system of your own bodies. It´s a "respecting life and death" thing I suppose. For more anatomy inspired fashions, I recommend Undercover SS2005 collection and collection details.




Undercover SS2005 collection. Can you see the teeth, eye-balls and guts?



Eyeball necklace by alteredeleanors


Anatomy pillow by CrowsCloth


Anatomica collection necklaces by Paraphernalia



Spine neckties by Toybreaker


Heart earrings and skull necklace by Holly Modine

Suits you Girl! A reconstruction by LauPre

Crafster hosted a challenge last December to buy something under 20$ and reconstruct it to something new. The winner of the "Super Ugly to Super Awesome" challenge is Sad Suit to Ruffle-y cute by LauPre! Once a sad, sad over-sized frumpy business suit, LauPre transformed it into a super cute and funky outfit! Fab job girl!!




Mens secondhand suits make perfect material for clothing reconstruction projects since they are easily available, usually cheap but very good material to easy to sew (most are wool and wool-mix) and work with. I have also made a dress from a suit (+ corset) and found it to be one of my favorite projects. LauPre also has a blog (and Etsy shop). Check out her tutorial on making buttoned spats/legwarmers.

Altered Couture magazine

Altered Couture is a 160-page publication dedicated to altered and embellished clothing and accessories. It is filled with gorgeous photographs of altered jackets, t-shirts, sweaters, jeans, skirts, and more, accompanied by easy-to-understand techniques and endless inspiration. You’ll find new ways to transform your own garments and accessories into fabulous works of wearable art. This magazine shows you creative ideas on how you can add a twist to your attire with just a few resources: dyes, paints, bleach, rubber stamps, threads, buttons, beads, and more!

The 5th (Summer 2008) issue is out now. You can order your copy online.

Discarded To Devine Fashion Show 2008

The Discarded To Devine 2008 fashion show and auction was held in San Francisco last Sathurday, April 26nd. Show designs can be viewed at Discarded To Devine Flickr photostream. Here are my favorites.

Reconstructed knitwear:


Dress from recycled nylon stockings: (Photo by Calmenda)

More pictures: AHEIDEN PHOTOS and CONCHANG PHOTOS

I think this dress is just genious and bautiful. I had to look at the large image up-close until I figured out what this was made from. Maybe add a few sparkling crystals/silver sequins and this would kill on the prom dance floor.

Martin Margiela Artisanal SS08 collection

Maison Martin Margiela has released their new SS08 Artisanal colection on their website. Once again I find myself gasping. And belive it or not, I have been playing with the idea of creating "pixelated" prints/images to clothing and home decor by combining different colored buttons for the past two years... I should have done it then. I´m just happy to see Margiela´s studio and I seem to share thoughts. As always I love that they tell how the garment has been made + the work hours put into it.

Scream-button-dress: Vintage buttons are embroidered on a silk chiffon to create a bit-mapped effect motif. Two rectangular pieces of silk muslin are assembled to form a dress. The front is embroidered with various buttons of mother-of-pearl, metal, plastic to draw a mouth. Dress : 25 hours

Pixelated prints from buttons:

The plastron of a vintage shirt is embroidered with various buttons in mother-of-pearl, metal and plastic, composing the drawing of an eye. T-shirt : 20 hours

Mirrorpiece jacket:

Small mirror squares are assembled as a top. These small tiles like those found on a facetted disco ball are glued on an open-back top lined in black leather. Top : 45 hours

Pleated top:

An extra large T-shirt is partially slashed in bands to create a circular motif. The new armhole is made with a series of hand-made knots. T-shirt : 19 hours

Elastic Band Jacket:

A plaiting of elastic bands creates a jacket. Various widths and qualities of elastics are plaited directly on the dummy to make a jacket. The different types of elastics brings a particular colour to each garment. T-shirt : 29 hours

Sohung Designs by Shohung Tong

Chinese Shohung Tong is a NY based designer makes reconstructed dresses from neckties and mens shirts. Love his work. Found him through Sewing with neckties. Thanks Barb!

Necktie dress by Post Decadent Trashionista

Post Decadent Trashionista made a beautifull dress and stole by using my tie-feather tutorial. Well done girl! I´d definately wear this to a party :)

The bunny ear hoodie by Meredith S.

Meredith S. has made a tutorial on how to pimp your hoodie with some bunny ears. Tutorial at Cut Out and Keep community, BUNNY EAR HOODIE.

Justina B T-shirt recon tutorial

Justina Blakeney (one of the brilliant Compai girls) has made a great tutorial on reconstructing t-shirts in Cut Out and Keep craft community. If you want to see how this shirt has been done, click to T-SHIRT RECON. Or visit Compai for more.