Welcome to My Recycling Upcycling Refashioning Story
I've been sewing since middle school, just simple A-line dresses or skirts by pattern on an old sewing machine. Then when I was a little older, I began hand stitching my jeans with patches, and when I worked on a farm in the late 1970s, my jeans gradually became all patches as I repaired new rips or holes. I recently found those jeans (which thankfully I had saved all these years) and realized that my current practice of Sashiko stitching is reminiscent of my desire to preserve my pants when I didn't have the money to go out and buy new ones. Sashiko is a historical and traditional Japanese technique used to preserve torn or worn out clothes by stitching them (with or without extra patches) so they could still be worn and worked in. My lifelong love of recycling and sewing came together in 2022 when I started researching Sashiko and felt as one with it! It is meditative and satisfying and so lovingly preserves clothing headed for the landfill in a way that brings them a new life.
Along my sewing journey, I also have found great satisfaction in upcycling garments into a sort of goth style -- dying clothing black, designing them with studs, grommets, dark beading. I love the alternative, goth, dark look.
I do take custom orders. If you have a garment and want it mended/repaired or embellished with visible mending and/or Sashiko hand embroidery, please reach out to me and we can explore the options for what your vision is!
Every item I sell in my shop has been thrifted and saved from the landfill and refashioned in a way that feels appropriate for that particular piece. Making wearable art has been the most satisfying creative outlet I've found in a long time. Please reach out to me with any questions!
