Sewing Students Study a Historical Tradition

Coinciding with Earth Month 2014, Bergen Community College in Paramus, NJ hosted an exhibit of clothing crafted from upcycled/repurposed materials. The college's Adult Education Sewing Class studied the practice of repurposing and upcycling or reusing articles of clothing and their fabrics. This practice can be traced back many generations in America.

The class displayed their creations along with those of the instructor's other sewing students. Students created bags and quilts from tee shirts, dresses and vests from men's suits, jewelry from fabric scraps, diaper bags from military fatigues, a wedding gown from a Battenburg tablecloth, and even dog clothes from antique linens. A pictorial history of the tradition of repurposing/upcycling garments was was also featured.