Upcycled Tea Towel Creations

A common way to upcycle a vintage tea towel is to sew into a display cushion cover, such as the selection seen on Morgan Wills. I've made a couple of things myself using secondhand tea towels, such as this tea towel toy bag, and a tea towel plastic bag holder.  Sometimes though, tea towels can be reworked into fashion pieces, which have been highlighted before on Recycled Fashion with Pie in the Sky's creations.

Zara on her blog Zaranne Handmade wore a beautiful tea towel dress recently, made by Annie of Pearl & Elspeth. Her dress is a mix of native flora and blue fairy wren covered linen tea towels, and features doily pockets and sleeves. Feminine and so summery:

:: Zaranne Handmade's Pearl & Elspeth Tea Towel Dress ::

I have been in contact with Zara's dress maker, Annie of Pearl & Elspeth, to see if she would like to share her tea towel creations with Recycled Fashion readers, and to ask questions related to her designs.

 :: Great Barrier Reef Tea Towel Bolero ::

Annie, where do you obtain your tea towels from?
I pretty much get my tea towels from op shops and garage sales, though they're getting harder and harder to find these days.  Luckily I have lots of family and friends all over the place who scout for me.

 :: Vintage Floral Tea Towel Skirt ::

Do you obtain your design inspiration from anywhere in particular?
My inspiration really comes from the women I sew for. I'm lucky that most of my work is custom now, so I really get to build a relationship with the person I'm sewing for, find out what kinds of things they like, or they'll send me pictures (like Zara did) which help to create the piece. It's my favourite way to sew, because that way each customer gets a made-to-measure skirt that is made uniquely for them.

:: Rainbow Lorikeet and 70's Green's Skirt ::

Where can we see more of your work?
People can see more of my skirts, dresses and tops at my blog - pearlandelspeth.blogspot.com - which also has a lot of things about cooking and growing food as well. (sewing and craft can be searched under the relevant blog label tags).

:: Floral Tea Towel Skirt ::

How would one order a tea towel fashion piece from you?
People can email to make an order. I also do gift certificates too, which lots of people like. It's not every day someone gives you a custom-made handmade skirt as a gift!

:: Farm Scene Tea Towel Skirt :

I must say that rather fond of Annie's tea towel bolero's. I've made a similar style of bolero myself once before using upholstery fabric, but would never think to use tea towels!

:: Upcycled Australiana Tea Towel Bolero ::

Thank you Annie for sharing your wonderful resourceful sewing creations with Recycled Fashion readers.