Posh Swaps Blog

I recently posted about a DIY refashioning project where I used bleach to create patterns on T shirts and turn a boring plain t shirt into something a bit different. I have now tried out the same technique on a pair of old jeans. This a great way of breathing new life into a pair of faded black jeans. The bleach not only creates a great pattern on the jeans but also changes them from faded black to a nice grey colour. You can vary the colour of the jeans, the pattern and the contrast of the pattern depending on how long you leave the bleach for. For my refashioning project, I scrunched the jeans up and rolled in some neat bleach in the bottom of a washing up bowl, left for 2 or three minutes and then filled the bowl up with water before leaving for a further 10 minutes and rinsing well.

For a less striking pattern leave the neat bleach on for less time and for a lighter overall effect leave the jeans to soak in the diluted bleach for longer. There is a bit of trial and error involved. The first time, I didn’t get enough pattern had to try again.

Don’t forget to protect your clothes when using bleach and wear rubber gloves!

We are pleased to present our first Posh Swaps DIY refashion project. We thought that we would start off with something fairly simple. We have refashioned two boring old t shirts/ tops by bleaching them. It can take a little bit of trial and error to get the desired effect, but it is really quite simple. We used some tops/ t shirts that we bought from a second hand shop for a few pounds.

All we did was to bundle the t shirts up and tie them loosely with string. We then covered our clothes with an apron to protect and donned some very attractive rubber gloves. We put a bit of bleach in the bottom of a washing up bowl and rolled the tops in the bleach. We left for about 3 or 3 minutes before topping the bowl up with water and leaving for another 10 minutes. We then cut the string and rinsed the tops really well.

For the eco friendly option, you can use an eco friendly bleach like Ecover.

This black top turned orange when bleached. I love the effect even if it does look a little like the hippy tie dye thing. It is worth experimenting with the amount of bleach coverage for different effects. A bit more bleach and this top would have been even more orange.

This orange t shirt changed yellow when bleached, making it a really colourful summer t shirt.

All Posh Swaps Refashion projects are available to buy on www.posh-swaps.com

Top designer & stylist, Mrs Jones has created a limited edition collection of only 30 reinvented Oxfam pieces that are on sale now in the Camden High Street Oxfam Store and Oxfam online. Each piece is made from second hand clothes so is completely unique and there is certainly nothing last year about these clothes.

Tie Dye Brittania - the all English sundress in trendy denim

Hats off to  monochrome - an incredible bustier dress in black and white

Shipmate Stripes and Shirts - sailors stripes and shirty checks.

Cheeky nautical stowaway - this striped mini declares ‘genius’ across the derriere

Eighties biker revival - embellished black leather bomber with black and white patch print leggings

Even if you don’t buy any of these, there are some great ideas for DIY projects that you could work on yourself. Don’t forget you can also buy and sell refashioned, reworked and restyled second hand clothes on Posh Swaps.

The lastest book on our must read list is this book for DIYers, restylers and refashioners. Junky Styling founded by Annika Sanders and Kerry Seager is one of our favourite ethical and eco labels. AFter recieving many compliments on their own restyled clothing, the girls set up the company, sourcing clothes from charity shops and jumble sales and deconstructing them to create something new. The original Junky Styling clothes were made from tailored suits and menswear reconstructed into twisted garments. Junky Styling now works from a workshop in Brick Lane with a talented team of designers producing all sort of collections. They also offer a service to redesign your old wardrobe by overhauling, customising or altering your garments.

The new book by the founders of Junky Styling features simple projects that show you how to reconstruct you wardrobe including step by step instructions on how to turn trousers into a fitted top.

We can’t wait to get started!