T-shirts are among the most widely produced and commonly worn garments in the world. Most of us have accumulated more than a few over the years, whether they came from a workplace, an event we attended, a favourite band or cause, or simply a trend we liked at the time.
We also tend to treat T-shirts differently from many of the other clothes in our closets. They are worn more often, washed frequently, and rarely given the same careful treatment as dressier clothing. A favourite T-shirt might be worn for years, gradually becoming faded, stained, stretched, or simply out of style. Even when we stop wearing them, it can be surprisingly difficult to let them go.
For this project, I used five extra-large T-shirts and polo shirts that I found at a thrift store. They were in the discount bin and unlikely to be sold because they were stained, discoloured, or out-of-style. Instead of ending up in the landfill they were given a brand new life in this patchwork skirt.
42 squares of fabric were cut from the 5 t-shirts and sewn into 3 rows (R1: 6 squares; R2: 12 squares; and R3: 24 squares). The rows were joined together to make the skirt. The top edge was folded over and sewn to make a casing for an elastic band. The elastic was salvaged from old men's underwear.
The shirt that the mannequin is wearing was also upcycled using paint and stencils to take it from boring to cute. .
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