Handcrafting Hand-Me-Downs

As an oldest child, I know not the perils of hand-me-downs. For all of you middle children, youngest children, or even only children forced to don a cousin’s outgrown clothes, I am sorry; having to wear a sibling’s wardrobe, especially if they’re a little bit country and you’re a little bit rock and roll, can seem like a dismissal of your personal style preferences. I mean, I borrow clothes all the time from friends or even my younger sister, but choosing the secondhand route is an entirely different ballgame.

So I sat down with my much-persecuted younger sister, Abigail, to see exactly what could be done to make old new again. Being easily the most fashion-forward person in our immediate family (sorry Dad, I really do love those seersucker shorts), she had more than a few ideas on how to revamp my questionable (her words, not mine) clothing choices.

Cut old graphic t-shirts along the seam. After separating the front and back, cut a solid black t-shirt in the same way. Sew the black back and the other t-shirt’s front together and voila, you have a color blocked top.

For solid colored tees, just buy a small roll of lace trim and sew a strip down the front. It completely changes the shirt, plus casual lace is about to be the next big thing.

Switch up the buttons. It sounds like a small alteration, but different buttons on a shirt or pair of pants can set it apart from the garment it was before.

Lighten jeans with bleach. Put on gloves and mix a quart of bleach with a half-foot of water in your bathtub. Stir everything around with one of those wooden paint-mixing sticks you find at Lowe’s or Home Depot. Let them drip dry and then throw them in the washing machine. Make sure the color is a shade or so darker than you want, since jeans appear darker when wet.

Another way to change jeans up is to buy some super-thick, brightly colored thread and sew stitches around the border of the back pockets. If you’re not to steady with a needle and thread, there’s probably a YouTube video out there to take you through it step by step.

Who doesn’t love graffiti? Cut out a shape of your choosing or use stencils. Shake up a bit of fabric spray paint, which can be found in craft stores everywhere, and spray to your heart’s content. You can end up with some fabulously unique dresses!