How To Upcycle Clothes For Beginners

Upcycling clothes is easier than you think. Let’s dive in and sway you from ditching your clothes so fast.

If you want to take the move towards sustainable fashion, you might be thinking about upcycling your clothes. Upcycling is a great way to save money, be more sustainable and avoid throwing out stuff that you no longer wear, which is great if you’ve fallen victim to some microtrends over the last few years.

Upcycling clothes if you’re a beginner might sound scary, but the majority of the time you don’t need any advanced sewing skills and it can be as easy as taking a pair of scissors to jeans and turning them into frayed hem shorts.

If you’re interested in upcycling and want some tips on how to get started and some easy upcycling ideas we’re going to break down everything you need to know.

In this article:

• What is upcycling?
• What can you upcycle?
• What to look for in clothes that can be upcycled
• Tips to start upcycling clothes
• Upcycling ideas
• Other upcycling projects to try

What is upcycling?

Upcycling is where you turn old products into new ones by modifying them in some way. You could embellish it, take out or add extra features or cut the item into a new shape to transform it into something completely new.

While we’re normally encouraged to recycle, upcycling encourages us to keep onto things but repurpose them instead of buying brand-new items. But if you do want to learn more about recycling and recycling symbols, we’ve got a guide on that too.

In the end, upcycling adds value to the piece and saves you from constantly buying new clothes and throwing out old ones. Upcycling as a whole is a fantastic way to turn something you once loved into a new item, especially if it’s on its last legs and it’s a great way to be more sustainable with clothes.

Upcycling for beginners might seem tricky but there are loads of easy and simple ways you can upcycle, even if you don’t own a sewing machine or have little sewing experience.

In fact, you’ve probably been upcycling for most of your life and not even realising it— if you did arts and crafts with cereal boxes and bottle tops in primary school, that’s upcycling too!

Oh and don’t worry if you’re not sure upcycling is for you— we’ve put together a list of how to shop more sustainably too if sewing really isn’t your thing.

What can you upcycle?

There are tons of items you can upcycle including:

• Clothes
• Furniture
• Glass
• Metals
• Fabric and textiles
• Cardboard
• Plastic
• Any packaging you’d throw away

When it comes to upcycling, the sky is your limit. People have made the most bizarre yet useful things out of upcycling old tat.

Upcycling doesn’t just have to be for clothes either. Although we’re going to cover how you can upcycle your clothes and change them into something new, you can upcycle pretty much anything from furniture to household items.

In fact, you’ll probably find that you’ve taken on a few upcycling projects in the past without even realising it. Lots of people save empty glass jars from coffee or pasta sauce and instead use them to store something else around the house— and this is a classic example of upcycling which is easy and doesn’t cost any money.

What to look for in clothes to be upcycled

If you want to get started on upcycling clothes, a good place to start is by doing a huge clear-out. If you typically donate old clothes to charity or sell your clothes online, think before you upload or add to the charity pile whether you could actually repurpose your clothes into something else. Let’s say you have some old jeans but really want to buy some capris or shorts— you could definitely upcycle them.

If something still fits you but you’re not sure about the item itself, or if you like the fabric but it doesn’t fit maybe hold off before sticking it on Vinted as you could easily breathe some new life into it.

Some things to look out for when upcycling clothes include:

• Material- thin materials are easier to cut and sew but sturdier fabrics like denim tend to be more durable and long-lasting so are also great upcycling projects.
• Design elements- if an item you don’t wear has a zip or buttons you could remove and reuse these.
• Fit- if you have clothes that are too small you might be able to turn them into accessories, whereas clothes that are too big are easier to alter to fit you.
• Condition- if your clothes have stains or rips you probably can’t sell them or donate them to charity, but they could be a great upcycling project to experiment with.

Check your wardrobe or ask your friends and family if they have any old pieces they no longer wear. You want to look for items you can see yourself wearing (obviously) and realistically tell how much you can upcycle them.

Tips to start upcycling clothes

Alright, so if you want to upcycle but you’re not super experienced at sewing or you’re a complete upcycling beginner here are some tips to get you started:

• Experiment with dye- if you’re not a whizz on a sewing machine don’t worry as upcycling clothes doesn’t have to be that complicated. Dyeing or tie-dyeing fabric is a great way to switch something up, especially if the item still fits you but you’re not keen on the original colour.
• Invest in some good quality scissors- your standard kitchen scissors won’t necessarily work on every fabric so get yourself some good fabric scissors before you start hacking away on your old denim jeans
• Watch tutorials for sewing tips- knowing how to do a few basic stitches is a good life skill, but if you’ve never had to do it before it’s understandable that it might be a bit tricky at first. YouTube and even TikTok are amazing for learning new skills, so maybe try and pick up some basic sewing techniques first before you start experimenting with bigger upcycling projects.

Upcycling ideas

Here are some upcycling ideas you can try if you’re a total beginner.

• Transform old jeans into shorts
• Creating headbands or scrunchies from old t-shirts
• Making belts out of old clothing you don’t wear
• Cutting up jeans into a denim skirt
• Turning a dress or baggy t-shirt into a crop top
• Using old keyrings or accessories to make jewellery
• Tie-dyeing old white t-shirts or hoodies
• Cutting the sleeves off long-sleeve tops to make t-shirts
• Using old dresses to make tote bags

If you love the idea of these upcycling projects but still feel a bit lost at the execution TikTok is full of people posting their fun creations on the upcycling clothes hashtag— so it’s worth having a look to help you feel inspired and to give you some inspo. Trust us, once you’ve started with the smaller projects you’ll soon feel more confident with sewing and reconstructing bigger items.

Other upcycling projects to try

Although upcycling clothes is probably one of the easiest ways for students to try upcycling, once you’ve got the hang of that there’s no reason why you can’t try some other upcycling projects too.

Some other crafty ideas you could try include:

• Making desk lights out of old glass jars and fairy lights
• Repainting or repurposing plain drawers with paint
• Saving old cans to use as plant pots
• Saving old cardboard or plastic packaging to make a creative outfit next time you have a social that involves dressing up

Hopefully, this has been a great intro to upcycling clothes and moving towards being a little more sustainable in your day-to-day life. If you want to learn more about sustainability, we’ve put together a list of the most sustainable unis in the UK— so you can see if yours makes the cut.

For more fashion advice learn how to dress well on a budget.