Blue t-shirt dress

My friend Adam had two long sleeved t-shirts he had stopped wearing due to the size (too small) and a little wear and tear.

I wanted a new dress for the races at the weekend.

Only one thing to do, upcycle them!

Salvaging Sewing Machines

This sewing machine was salvaged from a Household Waste and Recycle Centre (HWRC) last month in East London. I'm shocked that people choose to discard sewing machines at their local HWRC when there are so many avenues which enable them to stay in use including ebay, freecycle, flooting and taking it to a charity shop.

In addition to multiple re-use avenues, there is also a growing craft market forcing a rise of sewing machine sales. I have found articles each year from 2009 'Tesco sells two sewing machines a minute' to 2013 'Britain's got a sewing bee in it's bonnet causing sewing machine sales to soar' documenting the clear demand from a growing market.

In addition to the Singer below, I sorted through many other sewing machines that had been rescued. They were old electrical machines, with matching top thread and bobbin threaded up and ready to sew, with an array of spare bobbins, unpickers, needles and safety pins in the little storage compartment, with the cable and foot pedal wrapped carefully around the machine. They are definitely not waste and should be used!

The Sewing Machine Project operates in America, collecting and distributing unwanted sewing machines to communities around the world, supporting people to pursue creative projects.

If anyone knows of any sewing machine re-use projects in the UK please do let me know!