Upcycled

Upcycling & Repurposing Old Into New and Better Stylings

I love upcycling.  It is part of my work to repurpose old garments into new and better wearable art pieces. Making things from scratch with fine sustainable materials is beautiful. But there is something exciting about making “new” gorgeous clothing from old garments found in our closets or vintage finds. Adding new life to pieces that we hold dear, yet don’t wear anymore, is a great way to keep them away from landfills and give them a new life.

Watch this video of East London based upcycling designers Kerry Seager and Annika Sanders from Kirsten Dirksen and faircompanies.com, and get their book Junky Styling: Wardrobe Surgery to learn how you can upcycle your old treasures.

One-of-a-kind upcycled leather vest hand embroidered in raffia straw for Jonathan Gwiazda – a supporter of my work with Amazon artisans, modeled by my husband metal artist Dylan Farnham. This beautiful example of upcycling was completed in 30 hours of hand embroidery and delivered at Burning Man Fertility 2.0 2012. After hours of labor, this year’s Burning Man theme was very fitting. I gave birth to this vest on the dusty playa ; )

For those not familiar with Burning Man, it is a festival of radical self-expression and self-reliance filled with art, music and beautiful people in the middle of the desert. A melange of personal taste and unique expression. Everyone is a work of art… from the costumes, to the art and the music.