Buying clothes secondhand from jumble sales or charity shops is a great way to save money and support recycling. However you're lucky if you can find something that's simultaneously the right colour, size and style so it's a good idea to learn some basic skills to help you transform bargain buys to suit your own taste. Try to use your imagination:

• Love the material, hate the style - can you restyle, use for patchwork, or turn into a cushion cover or bag?
• Love the style and fit, hate the material - is it worth taking apart and using as pattern pieces?
• Love the style and fit but hate the colour - could you dye it? (Needs a lot of care but can work well)
• Love the material and style but too big - is it worth altering? (Tricky but possible - see customising shirt link below)
• It's nice but boring - could you change the buttons or add embroidery or some kind of trimming?

If this is something that appeals we can particularly recommend New from old by Jayne Emerson. This has lots of imaginative ideas and detailed instructions on how to change necklines, adding embroidery and dying etc. Learn how to turn a tablecloth into a skirt and an old sweater into a bolero jacket. Another book we've just found and love is Sewing Green by Betz White. This has 25 projects made from repurposed fabrics, such as an easy summer skirt from pillowcases, slippers from recycled sweaters, furoshiki (wrapping presents in fabric scraps), an apron from a shirt and a wallet from the cuffs. Also has lots of useful references and profiles of leaders in the eco-sewing movement.

See our Creative links page for useful blogs.

Useful Links

Traid and TraidRemade - recycle and refashion unwanted textiles - look out for their 'Sew Good' workshops

Dylon - information and advice on many aspects of dying fabric

Customising a vintage shirt - step by step instructions from designer Paul Smith

Junky Styling - turning trousers into fitted top

Wrist-warmers - made from sleeves of old jumper

VIdeo tutorial - making bat-wing jumper dress out of two old sweaters. Excellent for opening mind to possibilities of items rather than seeing them in a static way.

Creative Re-use Centre - 5 steps to organising a local depot to repurpose the 'junk' most of us throw away