The sustainable refashion sewing challenge is back!: #REFEBULOUS

The REFEBULOUS sustainable sewing challenge is back!

Read the blog in Dutch here/Lees de blog in het Nederlands hier

#REFEBULOUS 2021

The sustainable refashion sewing challenge REFEBULOUS on Instagram will be continued this year and will last the entire month of February. The difference with last year is that every day is devoted to a specific theme, so-called prompts. In this blog I explain what you can expect this month. For instance the many sponsors who have enthusiastically provide the challenge with one or more prizes. BERNINA is one of them. You have the chance to win a prize every day, simply by participating.

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To get inspired? Read last year's REFEBULOUS blogs here

How do you participate?

The sustainable refashion sewing challenge is international. If you participate, post a photo on your Instagram account and use the hashtag #REFEBULOUS, so we can see each other’s contributions. Furthermore you put in the caption below the photo an explanation how this photo fits within the theme of the day.

You don’t have to post every day, you can hop on the #REFEBULOUS train whenever you like.

Additionally to compete for the daily prize, tag the day sponsor(s) (@ * name_sponsor *) and @madebyliesl. On my Instagram account I post the theme daily, I provide an explanation in which ways you can interpret the theme. I also share who the sponsor is, what the daily prize is and what you have to do for it. At the end of each week, the prize winners are chosen by a random selection. I use an app for that. I share the winners in my stories and on my grid. You can choose which day (s) you participate. You certainly don’t have to participate every day, but you can of course. The goal of this sustainable refashion sewing challenge is to encourage and inspire each other to reuse clothing, fabric or haberdasheries in any way (reuse / refashion / repair / renew / etc.), Possibly by adding new fabrics. .. in other words make something REFEBULOUS again.

The prompts

As mentioned, every day has a specific theme. Below I explain what I am thinking of per theme. You can interpret the theme in your own way, provided they are related to the sustainable Refebulous challenge.

Week 1

1. Hello: introductory round

2. First refashion: share your (story) about your first refashion sewing project. This can be anything.

3. Skill or technique: which technique or skill do you often use when reusing clothing, fabrics or materials. Weaving fabrics, darning socks, colour block, or….

4. Closet peep: a look into your wardrobe. For instance show your refashion projects, your thrift shop gems or your garments that have lasted a lifetime (because you always repair them or give them a second life).

5. Most used pattern: which pattern do you use most often. The reuse of sewing patterns is, of course, also a sustainable.

6. Scrap busting: What do you make from leftover fabric? To illustrate: You can find inspiration here and more projects here.

7. Fave to refashion: Do you have a favourite type of garment that you often use for refashion. Think of jeans, men’s shirts, t-shirts, ties, men’s suits, or …..

Week 2

8. Harvest haberdasheries: Literally harvesting haberdashery. Do you reuse it? No better way to be sustainable than to reuse this too. Think of buttons, zippers, belts, labels, nice details from clothing, and ….

9. Home décor: You can also use reuse material for your home. For example, making cushion covers or an ottoman. Do you give your furniture a new life by reupholstering it? Or do you make something else with scraps of fabric for your home?

10. Repair / refresh magic: Repairing or refreshing clothes so that they last for another round. I would really like to master Sashiko’s art of repairing holes in jeans. But what’s your magic in restoring?

11. Mix in new fabric: You can give an item a second life by adding new fabric. I often use it in upsizing (making one size bigger) a sweater of one of the kids. Maybe I can also apply it myself because of the Covid pounds ;-).

12. Thrift shop gem: The gem you found in the thrift store. This can be anything, provided it is linked to fabric, styling, clothing or clothe making. Think of that piece that didn’t need refashioning, nice accessories or shoes with which you styled your me-made outfit, that pile of patterns you found or the basket full of haberdasheries.

13. Sustainable sewing: Do you also use your superpower (the fact that you can sew) to live a more sustainable life? Think of making make-up remover pads, bags to shop your fruit and vegetables, etc.

14. Love of making: It’s Valentine’s Day and the theme is, of course, love. This can be interpreted very broadly.

Week 3

15. Reinvent: Literally reinvented. Do you reuse materials in a completely different way or do you discover or develop a sewing technique that makes something easier?

16. Special tools: Which tools do you use in refashion?

17. Simple refashion: Sometimes it only takes something small or simple to give a garment a second life. Share your ideas or projects. Numerous blogs about this have been posted on the Bernina blog: Redesign in no time

18. Best tip / book / profile: Where do you get your knowledge and inspiration from?

19. Thrift your closet: Dive into your closet and discover new projects. Now that we can’t go to the thrifts shops, we look for the gems in our own wardrobe (or in that of your partner / kids).

20. For the kids: There are so many great ideas for making beautiful projects for children out of adult clothes. Share your ideas and projects.

21. Accessories: Do you ever make accessories with leftover fabric or haberdashery that you have harvested? Need inspiration? Then read this blog: Sew accessories

Week 4

22. Paint (with thread): Do you ever embroider or paint fabric or clothing? Show how it worked out.

23. Best pattern: What is a good pattern to use for refashion? A pattern with many parts or not? What are your thoughts on this, what do you prefer? Or if you don’t use a pattern at all, it’s more of a freestyle process we would like to know too.

24. Mix & Match look: You can go in all directions with this. Old and second-hand clothing together in an outfit, combining me-made and refashioned, lots of recycled prints together, a me-made outfit and thrifted accessories or …

25. Fave supply shop: Where do you get your materials? Do you also opt for sustainability? In fabrics maybe. Do you choose the store nearby (if that is possible again) or do you order everything online? Which consideration do you make?

26. Zero waste pattern: There are patterns with almost no cutting loss of fabric. Do you know them or have you already worked with them? What is your experience. I myself am a puzzler and make it a sport to cut as cheaply as possible. How do you do that?

27. Proudest refashion: What are you most proud of? Where have you challenged yourself?

28. What’s next: Which sustainable and / or Refebulous projects will you take on next?