Upcycle: A Modern Maker's Guide to Sewing and Mending a Preloved Wardrobe

by Annie Phillips

Are you tired of wearing clothes that fall apart after one wash? Or struggling to find second hand clothing that fits? Then Annie Philips has the solution as not only is mending and altering a better option for our environment, but you’ll also be saving a pretty penny in the long run.

Upcycle will teach you how to create a more eco-friendly wardrobe, through expert advice and practical sewing projects, on ways to repair and repurpose old clothes instead of purchasing new ones, reducing your reliance on fast fashion with this handy guide.

Offering a modern approach to sustainable sewing for the home dressmaker and fashion lovers, this book tackles the three core repair Upcycling, Mending, and Creating. Then put your skills to the test through the 18 projects that will help you to craft a wardrobe you will love to wear.

So come on, grab some fabric and a needle as Upcycle will help you to discover how sew with confidence and embrace the slow fashion movement.

Genres: Sewing, Sustainability

160 pages, Hardcover

First published November 7, 2024

Reviews

[Irene Adler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another Great British Sewing Bee alumni, another decent sewing book. And it's about sustainable sewing, love to see it.

I did love the contextual and instructional content more than the projects shown - but, taste: highly individual. The projects can't be reproduced anyway as they are from recycled sources.

Introduction - Context and personal history
How to use this book - Printing the pdf patterns, the history of sewing

Mastering the basics - hand sewing, machine sewing
- Sewing techniques
- Things you need

The power of repairing and upcycling - the problem, what is 'sustainable'?
- Step One: Love your clothes for longer - care, washing, stain removal, storage so your clothes last the maximum time and look good doing so
- Step Two: Refine your wardrobe - sensible advice, no trite capsule wardrobe
- Step Three: Learn how to shop more sustainably - good advice
- To buy or not to buy - Excellent decision tree
- Signs of good quality in pre-loved items - I don't agree with natural good, synthetic bad. This needs to be a more nuance conversation when talking about purchasing second hand items. Modern technical fabrics have their place eg a modern breathable rain coat over a wool coat. I know which one I would prefer if caught in the rain. And if all the second hand synthetic items go straight to landfill /away due to lack of demand this is not particularly sustainable. And if you're intending to take something apart the quality of the construction, frayed hems and seams etc hardly matters where it does not indicate the fabric quality.

Upcycling - Like the ideas, didn't like the projects as shown. But if I look past the examples, the techniques are useful.
- Adding a trim
- Adding a waist
- Sweater to vest
- Balaclava
- Patchwork Dad shirts
- Tablecloth to dress
- Jeans to skirt
- Three t-shirt upcycles: Patchwork graphic tee, balloon sleeve top, halterneck crop top

Creating - Again, not my sort of projects.
- Scrunchie / hair bow
- Party bag / tote bag
- Collar
- Waistcoat
- Patchwork quilt
- Quilted jacket (and pants)

Mending - decent instruction content of useful repairs
- Buttons
- Darning a hole in knitwear
- Fixing a hole in jeans - it's never the instructions you need (frayed inseam / thigh)
- Repairing top-stitching
- Fixing a zip - good step by step assessment of the fastest / easiest fix to replacement
- Repairing stressed / split seams
- Repairing a hem - hand hemming, love it.
- Dyeing fabric - mostly describes natural dyes, which I never find that exciting
- Hiding a stain with embroidery - stain removal, then plan B. A few useful stitches shown to give you the idea.

[Ligaya · Rating 2 out of 5]

Modern? No way. So many pieces in here are straight out of the 70s and 80s, and that's not a good thing. (Collar p.109, Jeans to Skirt p. 70.) The most interesting piece, and the only thing I'd try, is the Patchwork Graphic Tee (p. 76). The drawing of the Halterneck Crop Top (p. 83) is simply an impossibility. And some other items I just found unbelievably unflattering (Quilted Jacket p. 124). Plus, I really don't care for photographs that don't show real results (the "mended" pocket on p. 141 and repairing a seam on p. 146). I'm sure some will find something to take with them but I found nothing new.

[Jenny Hicks · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful book with some great info to introduce the idea of sustainable fashion and the importance of recycling and upcycling, followed by some fun projects which look well explained and have clear instructions.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the ideas and the concept of this book and if I was new to this I would have loved the basic tips more but I was hoping for bit more new inspiration.

[Alexandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read but yet to action, looking forward to trying out some of Annie's makes as well as tips for reusing and restoring clothes back to life.