Upcycling Challenge October 2019 – Winners!

WOW! What can I say? There were SOOOOO many wonderful entries into our FUN Upcycling challenge! The great part about Upcycling is that it’s not only cheap BUT you get to use something that would otherwise be discarded, so its great for our planet as well as our pockets!

Well honestly I really wanted to choose EVERYONE’s bags as a winner BUT alas….I had to force myself to stick with only one winner and two runners up…..so….without further procrastination on my part….here they are:

I chose Janet’s Fiona’s Freeway because of the cleaver use of a pair of jeans to make such an outstanding bag!

Janet use the embroidery from the jeans to feaure on the flap and trim.Her clever use of the belt loops is very cool:

The use of more embroidery and a patch pocket at the back ensures the bag looks AWESOME from any angle!

A gorgeous interior completes the picture;

WHO would have ever thought it started out as this:

Janet wins a CWD US$30 shop credit.

Next up are our two runners up:

Carla made an AWESOME Upgrader from what she describes as a “weird dress” and an old shower curtain:

Transformed into this:

WOW that’s some transformation and definitley nothing weird about it now!

Ruth’s Minifacto started out as an old leather bomber jacket:

….which with a little imagination and TLC became this gorgeous Minifacto:

Ruth said it was her first attempt at sewing with leather! AMAZING work! Each of our runners up wins a CWD $10 shop credit!

Let’s take a look at some of the other entries. First up Annelie made two Ellen’s Esplanade’s from old jeans:

Sharon made this AWESOME Savannah:

I just LOVE those insterior pockets!

Dawn made a Coco from an old hoodie sweatshirt with tooled vinyl and cotton remnants…… From this:

To this:

To receive the free Coco pattern, please be sure to signup for our newsletter HERE!

And Kris made an Upgrader. The green leather used to be a couch and the plaid is an old flannel shirt! Amazing:

Joy of Sew Joyful Creations made a modified Kiss Clutch. From this:

WOW! Isn’t that amazing?? Who would every guess!!

Lilly made her daughter an Evelyn, hacking so it has just one cross body strap:

Hjordis shared the following story with us:

“Ok, so challenge accepted , and completed. This project was such an emotional journey that I’m just going to say the imperfections reflect the maker, but also reflect the resourcefulness of the maker and her roots. 

This Lil’ Ole Serendipity Hip began its life as tailor made dress pants in 100% wool in May of 1979. I endeavoured to channel it’s tailoring principles, but reality required that this ‘tailor’ just keep on keeping on!”

“My folks are included to show dad wearing said pants on said return to their homeland in 1979.”

“My folks left Denmark in 1957 with 5 kids, and returned for the first time , after three more children, myself and two younger, in September of 1979, 22 years after their big move.

I learned a little something about working with such a fine wool in this project…like how to clear a scorch.

I kept the union made special order tag from the pants inside the pocket to maintain the ‘providence’ as it were, of the garment.

Both of my parents were exceedingly resourceful in making do, and my mother in particular never let a fabric leave the house without it having lived it’s every life, from new to used to recycled to rags.”

Thank you for sharing your story with us Hjordis. Its really so very precious to be able to make something new and special from something old and special. I bet your mom and dad would be very impressed indeed!

Robyn made an Ellen’s Esplanade from a vinatge sheet and an old pair of jeans:

Sally made a very COOL Evelyn from a green leather coat and fabric saved from a landfil destination:

This is what’s left of Sally’s coat:

Patty made an amazing Coco….This is what Patty had to say about it:

Very COOL!….Don’t you agree?

Well….I think the challenge was so much FUN we will really need to do it again sometime! Thanks for everyone who joined in….and I know some in our Facebook Group are still busy making theirs so please DO share even though you never got to finish in time for the draw. We all will still want to see them! 🙂

Until next time….Happy stitching!