Getting Started with Upcycling: Project Inspiration
What is it?
Upcycling is the process of making something new from materials that already exist. I make art, apparel, accessories and more using various methods of upcycling! Its a fun and easy way that anyone can give new life to their pre-loved items. Think of the clothes in the back of your closet, the glass bottles you’ve been collecting for no apparent reason, or the piece of furniture that could use a facelift. These are all great candidates for upcycling, and look no further for your project inspiration!
Upcycling with Embroidery
Embroidery is one of the easiest ways you can give your old clothes, hats, bags and more a fresh new look with your own custom design! I also use embroidery to cover stains, holes and imperfections in my garments so I can keep using them.
This is a great way to transform items that have unwanted branding on them as well! I thrift baseball caps and beanies to embroider with my own designs, and so many of these hats have machine embroidered logos or other forms of branding on them. For more detailed instructions, see my article Upcycle ANY Hat with Embroidery
Glass Painting
If you’re anything like me, you have a stash of glass jars that you can’t bring yourself to get rid of. I use these jars in my studio to store acrylic paint, to collect various scraps(yarn, paper, thread), and to organize my paintbrushes and other utensils.
But if I have a particularly worthy bottle or jar, one of my favorite crafts to do is paint myself a custom glass bottle. This is also a great project for sourcing materials from the thrift store as you can often find entire sets of wine glasses, cups, or mugs to paint on! I use FolkArt brand acrylic enamel paint. This paint can be heat-cured in the oven once it is dry so your design will be durable and dishwasher-safe.
Patchwork Clothing
One of the revelations of sewing is being able to make your own unique clothing that is made for your body. It’s transformed the way I look at my closet and the relationship I have to my clothes and body image.
One of my favorite(and best-selling) sewing projects is making patchwork apparel. All of these items were made from secondhand textiles and fabric scraps.
Collaging with Scrap Paper
I always end up with scrap pieces of paper from my painting practice. Whether it is from a painting exercise, a color palette test, trimmings from cutting bookmarks, or magazine cuttings, I have been saving all these little scrap bits of paper for years. When I have a lot of them built up, I will use them to make colorful collages and abstract mosaics.
