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Sew a sustainable capsule wardrobe that is tailored to you and with it, help break the cycle of throw-away fashion.
Awarded 'Best Upcycling Book' and 'Best New Author' at the Creative Book Awards, 2024.
The fashion industry is the second biggest environmental polluter on the planet. Every year, over 350,000 tonnes of clothing is sent to landfill in the UK just under 14 million tonnes in the US much of it owing to fast fashion. Furthermore, it’s estimated that many of us wear only 20% of our wardrobe regularly, with the other 80% languishing in our wardrobes unworn, or worse contributing to those ever-growing landfill figures.
We urgently need to find alternative, more sustainable approaches that allow us to have the stylish wardrobes we crave without hurting our planet. The techniques you learn in The Re:Fashion Wardrobe is one of those alternatives.
Learn how to alter or create entirely new garments from pre-loved clothes or forgotten fabrics that are not only chic but don't cost the earth. Beginning with advice on equipment, fabrics and how to source your clothes for refashioning, Portia Lawrie will then take you stepbystep through a collection of 11 garments that she has reworked, showing you just how easy it is to refresh or drastically change any piece of clothing you come across.
Every garment in the collection can be used to create a modern capsule wardrobe that you can wear throughout the year, and Portia has included advice on how to adjust the garments in the book to make versions suitable for different times of the year.
Useful sewing techniques with clear illustrations are included at the back of the book for you to dip into whenever you need them from measuring and fitting through to garment deconstruction and construction.
This is not the “Becky home eccy” refashioning of old, or simply make-do-and-mend either. This is showing that with some time, basic sewing techniques and a dash of creative vision, a wardrobe you’ve made entirely from recycled garments and textiles can be as stylish, edgy and aspirational as anything the high street has to offer.
About me 6
Why re:fashion? 8
Why a capsule wardrobe? 12
Building a capsule wardrobe 14
Sourcing: the secrets of second-hand shopping 18
Haberdashery & hardware 28
Equipment & notions 30
The projects 34 - T-shirt Dress 36 - Sweatshirt Tee 42 - Boxy Tunic Shirt 46 - Cropped Striped Shirt 56 - Robe Jacket 60 - Pieced Linen Tee 66 - Button-front Skirt 78 - Side-striped Trousers 86 - Paperbag Shorts 92 - Refitted Jeans 100 - Duvet Duster Coat 110
Capsule combinations 118
Re:fashion techniques 122 - Making pattern templates 124 - Fitting 126 - Size doesn’t matter: sizing up or down 132 - Deconstruction 134 - Essential machine stitches 138 - Essential hand stitches 140 - Machine darning 141 - Seams 142 - Hemming 147 - Darts 150 - Bias tape 152 - Pockets 153 - Fly zips 156 - Buttonholes & buttons 159 - Neckline finishes 160 - Band finishes 164 - Fabric ties & belts 172
Glossary 174
Acknowledgements 175
Index 176
Portia Lawrie is a predominantly self-taught dressmaker and designer who has been passionate about recycling for most of her life. She has been writing about sewing since 2010, on her social media and her website: www.portialawrie.co.uk
Portia is the founder/creator of The Refashioners, an annual sewing event that launched in 2011. It aims to challenge the global sewing community to look at old clothes in a new light, and provides inspiration and tutorials (and often a huge competition prize) to encourage participation and get this message across.
Portia has been a contributor to Simply Sewing magazine since its launch in 2015, designing and writing reader tutorials for a mix of refashioning, pattern hacks and patternless projects. She was awarded Dressmaker magazine’s Dressmaker of the Year 2017. Her winning entry was a quilted denim coat made from old jeans.
In 2020, Portia and fellow designer Samantha Claridge launched The ChangeMaker Initiative, which offers a range of products tailored towards Makers. Its profits are donated to charities that promote positive social and environmental changes.
Portia lives in rural Essex, UK, with her partner and teenage son.
@portialawrie
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