Re:Fashion Wardrobe

Portia Lawrie is a self-taught dressmaker and clothes designer who has been passionate about recycling for over a decade. She has been writing about sewing since 2010, predominantly at her current online home: www.portialawrie.co.uk Portia is the founder/creator of The Refashioners, an annual sewing event that has been running since 2011. It challenges the global sewing community to look at old clothes in a new light, and provides inspiration and tutorials. She is also the ambassador for PFAFF sewing machines.Portia has been a contributor to Simply Sewing magazine since 2015. She was awarded Dressmaker magazine’s Dressmaker of the Year 2017. Her winning entry was a quilted denim coat made from old jeans. In 2016 and 2017 she was nominated for best sewing blog in both The British Craft Awards and The British Sewing Awards. She was nominated for best Instagram of 2018 (British Craft Awards) and Best Sewing Blog 2018 (British Sewing Awards).In 2020, Portia and fellow designer, Samantha Claridge, launched The ChangeMaker Initiative shop; 100 per cent of all profits are given to charities that promote positive social and environmental changes. Portia lives in Essex, UK, with her partner and son. Instagram: @portialawrie

• About me 6Why re:fashion? 8Why a capsule wardrobe? 12Building a capsule wardrobe 14Sourcing: the secrets of second-hand shopping 18Haberdashery & hardware 28Equipment & notions 30The projects 34- T-shirt Dress 36- Sweatshirt Tee 42- Boxy Tunic Shirt 46- Cropped Striped Shirt 56- Robe Jacket 60- Pieced Linen Tee 66- Button-front Skirt 78- Side-striped Trousers 86- Paperbag Shorts 92- Refitted Jeans 100- Duvet Duster Coat 110Capsule combinations 118Re:fashion techniques 122- Making pattern templates 124- Fitting 126- Size doesn’t matter: sizing up or down 132- Deconstruction 134- Essential machine stitches 138- Essential hand stitches 140- Machine darning 141- Seams 142- Hemming 147- Darts 150- Bias tape 152- Pockets 153- Fly zips 156- Buttonholes & buttons 159- Neckline finishes 160- Band finishes 164- Fabric ties & belts 172Glossary 174Acknowledgements 175Index 176

The fashion industry is the second biggest environmental polluter on the planet. Every year, over 350,000 tonnes of clothing is sent to landfill in the UK just under 14 million tonnes in the US much of it owing to fast fashion. Furthermore, it’s estimated that many of us wear only 20 per cent of our wardrobe regularly, with the other 80 per cent languishing in our wardrobes unworn, or worse contributing to those ever-growing landfill figures.We urgently need to find alternative, more sustainable approaches that allow us to have the stylish wardrobes we crave without hurting our planet. The techniques you learn in The Re:Fashion Wardrobe by Portia Lawrie is one of those alternatives.Learn how to alter or create entirely new garments from pre-loved clothes or forgotten fabrics that are not only chic but don’t cost the earth. Beginning with advice on equipment, fabrics and how to source your clothes for refashioning, Portia Lawrie will then take you step-by-step through a collection of 11 garments that she’s reworked, showing you just how easy it is to refresh or drastically change any piece of clothing you come across.