Mar 24, 2014 JAZZ IT UP It is particularly common to up-cycle an old top by grabbing your scissors and hacking of the sleeves or cutting a decorative pattern into the back. Although it looks great, have you considered adding material rather than tearing it off? We've put this post together to show you what you can do with a few scraps of fabric or jewels! To create this look all you need to do is cut some strips of fabric - it doesn't have to be the same colour, or if you wish it to match, but have none spare, then consider cutting it off the hem. Tack the strips in place by using large gathering stitches to aid the ruching. Once secure, machine stitch in place, ideally using thread the same colour as the fabric. Here is another way of creating an intricate pattern using the same technique: You'd be surprised how many spare beads you have lying about your house (think of all the embellished clothes you will have bought with spare packets of beads!) Hunt them out, and lets put them to good use! Check out these simple ideas that immediately reinvent your bra/ jeans! Remember, if you don't have any spare beads about, consider using some broken jewellery to jazz up your blouse collar for an easy elegant look: We hope you've got some exciting ideas up your sleeve now, let us see your up-cycling creations by sending them to us on Facebook. It's a sad time here at Junk as our last Sew-Recycled course finished on Saturday, HOWEVER... we love up-cycling too much to finish the project without a big finale!! Sew, on April 5th we will be hosting one last DROP-IN SESSION, at our NQ store (2nd Dale Street) to give you one last blast of up-cycling tips and tricks. Swing by between 12-6pm, FREE OF CHARGE AND NO NEED TO BOOK! All our courses were fully booked, so if you didn't get the chance to attend this would be a fabulous time to do so!Hope to see you there!! Junk X