In my Clothes Upcycling, I’ve merged a few pieces over the years. For this, I’ve coined the term Frankensewing. To my knowledge it’s not being used by anyone else yet. I’m hoping it becomes a thing. Remember you read it here first 🙂
Frankensewing is where you take parts from two or more pieces of clothing and combine them. Why would I do this? Usually, it’s because I have parts of clothing that I REALLY like. However, the parts (by themselves) are either too big, too small or not useful anymore, so I mix them together!
Here’s an example below of Frankensewing. I combined the top part of some jeans with the bottom part of a skirt.
Clothes Upcycling Doesn’t Require a Sewing Machine but it Would be Very Helpful!
If you don’t have a sewing machine or know how to use one – this is a good reason to take up sewing! It’s fun to invent new things. YouTube has all sorts of tutorials for beginners. And you could probably find a good used sewing machine really cheap.
In the beginning, what intimidated me the most, was threading the machine. Once I got that down, I was good to go. My very first project was a king size duvet cover. (I live by the mantra “Go big or go home!”)
The pieces in this post were done a couple years ago. Waaaay before I decided to start a blog. Therefore, I don’t have detailed photos. This post is mainly meant to provide you with a few ideas to help you think outside your box.
If you want to see How To’s for some fun clothing transformations, I highly recommend The DIY Designer, Orly Shani. She has no-sew and more advanced projects. You can follow her on YouTube and Instagram. She not only has super cute ideas; she also provides all the details. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gopSPrKfooc
Clothes Upcycling Idea #1: Beaded Sleeves from the Legs of Jeans
This idea started with these amazing pink jeans that I purchased in Las Vegas many years ago. Thankfully, I had lost a good amount of weight. But now these jeans were way too big.
To me, they were too pretty to get rid of. So the ideas started to flutter in. I had a couple of fails (we won’t go into those).
I settled on the idea of turning these pant legs into sleeves. The first place to look for a companion piece was my own closet. I had this crazy colorful jacket. The fact that it’s unlined made it even easier.
Because of all the beading, I wasn’t going to be able to adjust the diameter of the top of the pant legs. So I immediately tested whether I would be able to angle the pant legs in such a way that they would line up with the existing armholes.
I also had to test whether the bottom part of the legs (all the beading) would end up being a good sleeve length. Miraculously I had a match! This was a sign for me that it was meant to be 😊
Using my seam ripper, I quickly removed the existing sleeves right at the point where they were attached to the jacket. Then I laid the sleeves over the pant legs. I cut the top of the pant legs to match the top of the sleeves including the ½” seam allowance.
I turned the pieces inside out and sewed on the sleeves! Here’s a look at the finished piece.
Clothes Upcycling Idea #2: Merging Rivet Pocket Jeans with a Long Skirt
While the above Frankensewing project was due to me losing weight. This merger was due to me gaining weight.
I had these awesome jeans with fun rivets on the pockets. But I could no longer pull them up to where they were supposed to be.
The idea fluttered in: I wish I could do something with all those rivets. Bam! More ideas started flowing. These jeans would still fit if I could move them higher on my waist. Then I remembered I had this beautiful long skirt with denim at the top. (Yes I purchased it this way.)
I preferred the color of the denim with rivets. And THOSE RIVETS – yes, please! So, I painstakingly used my trusty seam ripper and removed the bottom of the skirt from the denim part.
I studied YouTube videos for converting jeans to skirts. It’s important to get this part smooth and correct. Because you don’t want your new clothing items to look sloppy.
Then I cut my rivet jeans to the same shape as the denim I removed. If you zoom in on the photo at the top of this post, you can see where I had to fix the center seam on the back side of the jeans. This had to be done BEFORE I attached the skirt to the bottom.
Also notice in the before photo of the jeans, there’s this embroidered flower on the left of the photo. I removed those stitches with my seam ripper before attaching the skirt to the bottom.
Voila! The finished item (shown below) is even better than it was when I originally purchased the skirt.
Clothes Upcycling Idea #3: Merging a Cropped Lace Jacket with Another Lace Item
There are two separate pieces in the photo below. Sort of hard to tell since they are the exact same color. But matching colors always make for a good Frankensewing project.
And while I love me some lace, ruffles, and flowy things. I found that I didn’t wear the cropped piece because it was too short. So I chose the piece underneath to be sacrificed to the upcycling gods. If this were a video, this is where I would snap my fingers and make these two become one 🙂
Before cutting the piece below, I looked for a natural place to cut the bottom. I also made sure the circumference was roughly the same on both pieces.
To my surprise, there was just enough of this lace hem to go all the way around the bottom of the cropped jacket.
Then I used some interesting beige gimp (that I already had) to cover the cut line. Now this little lace jacket (shown below) is a better length for me.
Clothes Upcycling Idea #4: Jeans Merge with Miniskirt
For me, animal print is a neutral. I’ve loved it since the 90s when I hung a beautiful striped black/grey/white cheetah print wallpaper in our kitchen.
I still wear bits of animal print. However, on this day, I decided an animal print mini skirt was too much for me anymore. But I still loved the print.
The idea fluttered in: What if I just use it as a contrasting hem? I already had this pair of white jeans that I was going to convert to a mini skirt. NOTE: Converting old low-rise jeans (that are a bit tight) into a high-waist mini skirt is a great way to give jeans a second life.
The match was meant to be since the background of this particular animal print was already white. I cut the animal print mini skirt but left the hemline intact. Here’s the result below! Notice the back hem is a bit longer. That’s because the back of a denim skirt is naturally longer to fit over your rear end 🙂
Tools Used for Clothes Upcycling
Brother strong and tough sewing machine
Take Away
Not all your Frankensewing projects will be a win. And that’s OK. Because at least you’re learning what doesn’t work. Keep trying bigger and bolder ideas to express your best self.
Here’s to making it work for you and Making it Fabulous!
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