5 tips for successful RTW refashions

My mother said goodbye to a Marimekko T-shirt af. It had some stains but I really liked the floral design. I rubbed some fabric stain remover on the stains and let it soak in cold water for one night before washing. Result? The stains were gone.
I like doing refashions. One can make clothes, soft toys or useful objects like this Elle Puls Anja bag from my previous blogpost out of discarded clothes. Re-using discarded clothes is environment friendly, sustainable and a pleasure to do. You want to know more about my refashion preparations? These are my 5 tips for successful RTW refashions.

My 5 tips for successful RTW refashions

Tip number 1

• If you want to make something for yourself the discarded garment must at least be one or two sizes more than your size
• Before you start you must have an idea what you want to make
• See if there are stains or holes
• Use a stamripper to remove buttons, zippers, labels and keep them apart because you can use them for refashions and for other makes as well
• Rub staines with a mild fabric stain remover, soak them in cold water for one night
• Wash the garment on the advised temperature

Tip number 2

• Unpick the garment carefully with a seam ripper
• Look at all the unpicked pieces if all stains are gone
• Measure the individual pieces and start looking for a matching sewing pattern

Tip number 3

• Fold all the double and wash them again using a laundry bag 
• If any stains were left use a stronger fabric stain remove and let all pieces for one night before washing

Tip number 4

• Iron all the pieces to remove folds and wrinkles
• Don’t overstretch jersey fabrics while ironing

Tip number 5

• Lay the pattern pieces on all the individual fabric pieces
• And cut the new pattern pieces

Next step

Now comes the fun part. You can sew your new garment together. That’s what I’me going to do. You can see the result of my refashion in my next blogpost. Do like doing refashions and do find re-cycling a good cause?