Revive and Reimagine: Upcycling Fashion

Creative Approaches to Designing Sustainable Clothing
Designalong with or without Garment Designer

For sewers, knitters, weavers, spinners, quilters, embroiderers, crochet, textile artists, etc.

$75.00

• Wednesday, February 4th, 2026, 9 a.m. PT. (design lessons)
• Wednesday,  February 18th, 2026, 9 a.m. PT (sharing and design lesson)
  …. a month or so to create…
• Thursday,  March 26th, 2026, 9 a.m. PT (student presentation/sharing)

• Meetings will be on Zoom
  Attend live or watch the recordings

Upcycling clothing isn’t just a trend—it’s a creative, sustainable way to breathe new life into garments that would otherwise gather dust or end up in landfill. Whether you’re a total beginner with a pair of scissors and a needle or an experienced sewist or yarn person with a stash of fabrics and/or yarns, upcycling invites experimentation: repurposing, reshaping, and reimagining existing pieces into garments that reflect your style while reducing waste.

Join us in our next Designalong: Revive and Reimagine: Upcycling Fashion – Explore a variety of techniques and then choose one for yourself to move from concept to final garment. You will love learning with others in this workshop format. You will also enjoy learning that the approach to design is simple and logical. Whether you make your own recycled fabric or a garment, you will love the great feelings being sustainable provides.

Here is an outline of the Designalong:

 Class #1: Introduction to the Upcycling: with a Focus on Techniques

• Discussion of the Project: Parameters
• Presentation of Examples
• Approaches to Upcycling Techniques
  • Deconstructing your Source Garments
  • Prototyping Ideas
• Planning Fabrications
  • Denim as a source
  • Other Fabrics
• Inspiration: Using Pinterest to Gather Ideas
• Discussion of Mood Boards
• Building a Mood Board in PowerPoint, Canva, or by Hand

Homework

• Choose your Upcycling Approach
• Begin to Collect your Materials
• Collect Images of Inspirations as well as items to use for your Mood Board
• Create a Mood Board revolving around your choice of fabric and style
• Create a Rough Sketch of the garment you want to create

Class Two: Presentations of Concepts and Planning your Pattern

• Presentations of Student Mood Boards/Concepts
• Presentation: Techniques to Use when Upcycling
  • Sewing
  • Knitting
  • Joining Parts
  • Embellishment
• Q&A
• Discussion of Translating your Design Concept to a Drawing with Dimensions
• Using Reference Garments and Proportions
• Moving your Design Concept to a Clothing Pattern
• Possible Garment Building Techniques

Homework:

• Plan the dimensions of your Garment
• Build the Pattern
• Test Techniques
• Create your Upcycled Garment
• Prepare a presentation to share with the group.

Class #3: Presentations and Discussion

• Presentations of Student Designs
• Critique
• Discussion

If you have any questions, please email Susan at Cochenille. susan@cochenille.com