Somewhere, over the rainbow..

The world-wide-wonder-web has been scoured for some recycled rainbow treats...

Ribbon Colorful Cocktail Dress, $55, My Grandma's Closet

Vintage 1970s retro rainbow print day dress, $74, mintagesyle




Open toed heels size 7. Rainbow peep toe shoes, $32, chickantique


Leisure Man Native Jacket, $48, Fundamental Store

Watercolor Silk Scarf, $24, desirapesta

And a little recycled rainbow lifted from my own wardrobe...

Rainbow apple elastic belt, 50c from the op shop

Ethically Red, Ethically Black

Style Eyes Ethical Fashion Blog celebrates 4 years of blogging this November, by challenging other bloggers to an ethical outfit competition.

Entrants into the competition need to create an outfit which contains at least one ethical piece (upcycled, second hand, vintage or charity shopped, etc)

Here, is my entry, which is put together from an array of different ethical fashion genre's

Ethically Red, Ethically Black

Top to bottom

Headband: Broken, fixed and refashioned with zipper flowers, made using zippers from the op shop, and a glue gun.


Necklace: purchased from AfriBeads, ethically produced in Uganda, made from recycled magazines.

Dress: made myself using a vintage 60's pattern, buttons, and fabric all purchased from the op shop.


Boots: swapped at The Clothing Exchange and fixed up with boot polish


Cat: Rescued from the Animal Protection Society ;-)

Refashion Giveaway

As a thank you to all Recycled Fashion followers, I am offering three of my own refashions to giveaway.

1. Blue and pink jersey top

Playing around with a bag of hand-me-down clothes, I've pulled out two jersey tops, and mixed the two together, taking the front from the blue top, to add as an applique and sleeves to the pink.

Before & After

Worth noting, the easiest way to add an applique to the front of an existing top, is to cut away the side seams to slip the front through your sewing machine. Then sew or serge side seams back together again once applique has been zig-zag stitched into place.



Making use of blue jersey top's bottom edge which is already finished, it has been cut and used as cap sleeves stitched onto pink top's armholes..



I'm giving this top away. Fit size 8-10. Who wants it?

2. Butterfly toddler shirt sleeve PJ pants

I've finally made use of some leftover shirt sleeves from my butterfly shirt refashion..


Best fit toddler size approximate 18months. Do you have a daughter/niece/friend's child/grandchild/cousin that would like them?

3. New design zipper brooch

Celebrating the fact that I now have an online store selling some of my wares on Recycled Market, I came up with a new zipper brooch design yesterday, using second-hand zips, lace from the op shop, and backed with an antique inspired pin. I'm giving this one away too....


Would you like all or any of the above? If so, leave a comment below with choice of prize.

For bonus entries (leave a separate comment for each activity)...

1. Follow Recycled Fashion on twitter and retweet the giveaway
2. Follow Recycled Fashion on facebook and leave a comment
3. Have a browse through Recycled Fashion's store and like Recycled Market on facebook.

Don't have a twitter or facebook account? That's fine, just a simple comment will do, please remember to mention your choice of prize, and a way of contacting you if you do not have a blog.

Entries close in two weeks, 9 December 2011. National and international entries welcome.

*Giveaway has now finished, thank you. Stephanie gets the t-shirt, and Mongs gets the brooch, no-one wanted the shirt sleeve trousers, so they are off to the op shop*

Recycled Fashion Finds #24

Is it really Friday again? So quick! Lets see what you've been up to with some of last week's Recycled Fashion Finds picks

Denise wears the most amazing 70's Mongolian Lamb Shearling Vest



Mongs shows us how to wear a t-shirt necklace,
with a useful link on her blog of how to make your own

Would you like to participate in Recycled Fashion Finds this week? That would be nice! Submit your link below. Click here for the rules, and don't forget to grab yourself a Recycled Fashion Finds blog badge for your blog post or side bar. Thanks readers!

<center><a href="http://www.recycled-fashion.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Recycled Fashion" src="http://i1143.photobucket.com/albums/n637/wushka/RF_fashion_finds.png" /></a></center>

Inspiration; Sari Silk

Inspirational thoughts, to source second-hand sari silk for a re-creation...

Sari Love by recycledfashion featuring

Upcycled Sari Shag Rug

Sari silk earrings

Sari silk bracelet

Vintage sari garland

Recycled Sari top for toddler

Desi / floral sari

Sari skirt

Turquoise sari dress

Pie in the Sky

Whilst browsing handmade vintage fabric clothing store Pie in the Sky, one can't help but fall in love with this gorgeous blue patchwork teatowel skirt. We have to find out more..

Upcycled Vintage Linen Tea Towel Patchwork Skirt $79

Made from vintage and souvenier linen tea towels patchwoked
together to create a unique and one off piece of waerable art. (Size 12)

Sarah, the designer behind A Pie in the Sky shares some of her history, thoughts, and future ideas for her label, with Recycled Fashion readers ...

Can you tell us about your clothing line Pie in the Sky?

Pie in the Sky has evolved over about 10 years. Initially it was knitwear made from thrifted and upcycled/recycled yarns. I still do knit from time to time but have since taught myself to spin and dye. So I now combine the natural with the recycled. When pregnant with my children(I am mother to twins) I taught myself to sew. That was about three years ago now...time flies! Starting with childrens clothing made from recycled/vintage fabrics and upcycled vintage linens. Naturally moving on to womens clothing, I started making my patchwork tea towel range from vintage linen/cotton tea towels. I also love to use recycled vintage fabrics, embroidery and tablecloths. I also make a range of eco friendly bird mobiles for the home, using all recycled materials. So I guess Pie in the Sky is an outlet for my everchanging and growing creative pursuits. I hope others enjoy my creations as much as I enjoy making them.

When did you start sewing?
I started sewing about 3 years ago.

When did you decide to start selling your work?
I have always sold my work. Taking part in exhibitions and doing markets to promote my label/handmade products. Only recently opening my online Etsy and Madeit stores as it allows me to work from home and care for my children.

Why is it important for you to use recycled fabric?
The use of recycled fabrics has never been a conscious decision...it's something that I have always done since my teenage years. I have always enjoyed op shopping. You never know what you'll find. "One mans trash is another mans treasure" and that certainly applies to me. I love the quality, the colours ,the prints and the history that comes along with the fabrics and linens that I use in my work. I also find it amazing that people discard things so easily. Things that are beautiful.

Do you have a job secondary to Pie in the Sky?
I am firstly a full time mother to my gorgeous twins, Alice and Henry.

Upcycled Handmade Patchwork Linen Tea Towel OOAK A-line Shirt, $81

Sarah, we don't know how you find the time to create an entire clothing range, whilst caring for your twins, but we're happy that you do! Thank you so much for sharing your story, and wishing you all the best for Pie in the Sky.

The 80/20 Principle

Statistics say, one wears 20% of their wardrobe 80% of the time. If one owns a clothing collection consisting of approximately 80% second-hand or handmade attire, what percentage of the time would one wear the rest of their 20% newly-purchased clothing?

I have confused myself, so I am sure I confuse you too!

Today, I have ventured into my 20% , and wear a Paul Frank dress, purchased new (oh, the horror) many years ago, I daresay one of my last newly-purchased clothing pieces.


Due to my lack of recycled-ness today, I make up for it by wearing a pair of bauble flats purchased from Salvos, my zipper hair-clip, and my beads, made from recycled paper in Uganda, purchased from AfriBeads.

AfriBeads

What would you say, is the percentage of second-hand clothing in your wardrobe?

Recycled Fashion Finds #23

Recycled Fashion Finds is here, thanks for playing along with last week's linky party.

A special mention for Desiree's 60's purple jumpsuit purchase from a tiny vintage market, doesn't she look fabulous with her matching headband too!?

Would you like to participate in Recycled Fashion Finds this week? That would be nice! Submit your link below. Click here for the rules, and don't forget to grab yourself a Recycled Fashion Finds blog badge for your blog post or side bar. Thanks readers!

<center><a href="http://www.recycled-fashion.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Recycled Fashion" src="http://i1143.photobucket.com/albums/n637/wushka/RF_fashion_finds.png" /></a></center>