I have seen a lot of blog posts, and picture posts recently of some wonderful upcycles. I think this post has to be a favourite so far, First Upcycle of 2017



So I wanted to challenge myself and try my hand at upcycling too. I often have a look around charity shops here in the UK to see if I can find any bargains, but sadly, most of the stuff around here is of very poor quality. BUT on a recent outing I found a couple of items reduced down that I snapped up after having a vision of the fabric going to different uses!

I bought this women's UK size 22 skirt seeing it being re-made into a child's gilet, or vest. It cost me £2.46.



It had a very loose weave blend fabric outer, and poly lining. It was cut on the cross, presumably to make a more flattering adult skirt.



So I cut the elastic waistband out, cut up a side seam, and then laid the fabric diagonally to lay my pattern pieces out with the grainline the correct way round.



It was a bit of a fiddle to sew with, the fabric wanted to stretch and shift all the time. I got round some of that by overlocking all the edges to add a touch of stability, but it was still a fiddle. I used the skirt lining, again, turned diagonally to make the lining for the vest.

Eventually, I ended up with a complete Pathfinder Vest by Twig + Tale. There are many different options for this pattern. For this upcycle I used flutter sleeves, collar, yoked and pleated back with added drop back to boot!







I used 4 buttons from my odd button box, so there are two of each colour. I think they look fine being a bit odd!



Layla surprised me by actually liking it, and wanting to wear it. I say that's a win win situation!



Oh, and did you know that she is a secret ninja in training?!



I have since gone on to make another two pathfinder vest's, one for my son with a hood, and another for my daughter in the same style. I'll write up a blog post about those in the future, but I'm sure you'll see pictures of them on my instagram feed!

*Disclaimer: Some of the links in the post are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission (the price stays the same for you) which will help me in the future to buy more patterns to share them with you!*