Denim Shirt – A piece of clothing that swept the fashion market this decade and so many of us own one. If not we probably have a sibling, friend or parent who does.
Denim is a word that we’ve used synonymously with jeans for years.
Over time, we started seeing multiple mainstream variations of it. We saw shirts, oversized denim jackets or trucker jackets (marketed as one massive trend currently), denim maxi dresses, cold shoulder dresses, midi skirts, denim overalls, slippers, bags.. the list goes on.
In case you’re looking at buying anything denim, I would urge you to read the article Denim Knowledge for the Conscious Consumer. Learn a little bit more about this epic material to look at it with a keen eye and have a more conscious outlook towards it.
Why did I Upcycle this Denim Shirt?
Firstly, fashion basics: Fashion is cyclical. It will never hurt to hold on to a piece of clothing for years because yes it’ll be back one way or another- colour or silhouette.
Secondly, if you discard worn out pieces, chances are that anything denim won’t make it to the discard pile anytime soon. Good quality denim is very durable.
I bought 4 denim shirts this decade. I have not always been aware of the environmental impact of denim. But after some awareness struck last year, I picked out one of the shirts from my wardrobe and upcycled it into a jacket. Saved me from yearning to buy one!
How did I repurpose a denim Shirt into a Jacket?
I chose the one denim shirt that was the thickest, 100% cotton material.
The bottom was a “U” shape like a typical women’s shirt.
So I first cut the bottom “U” straight. You’d have noticed that denim jackets have a straight bottom.
I then stitched an inch of the bottom with double lines of brown thread to give it a jacket look. And welcomed the weather of layering!
If you want to go a step further, you can replace the shirt buttons with jacket buttons. With the leftover fabric you cut at the bottom you can make loops for the shoulder or side edges of the jacket.
I was trying to go for a relatively lean look and avoided that last step. It allows me to wear it as a shorter shirt and use it comfortably for layering still.
Turn Old Tights into Stretchy Cycling Shorts
Many of us own tights. There was a whole wave of printed tights too that flooded the market earlier this decade. If you cut the old ones out, you can have new cycling shorts. They come really handy in terms of trend, exercise and even innerwear.
Click here to see how I upcycled a Men’s light denim shirt into Women’s