Stuck at home, many channel creative energy into upcycling

Two-year-old Pranavi Kandage recently sashayed into one of her mom’s WhatsApp groups in what looked like a couture off-shoulder, black-and-white striped gown. What her mom’s friends couldn’t see were the hair clips, elastic hair ties, safety pins and other random items that created this illusory runway look from what was an old T-shirt belonging to her mother, Rashmi.
“I was organising my cupboard when she came in and picked this up.It got me thinking that I could fashion temporary dresses for her as a fun lockdown activity,” said Rashmi, who recalled a video of a mother repurposing dupattas into dresses for her toddler. Kandage scavenged her house for ties, pins and whatever else would help make the tops fit her moody, pint-sized model. “She was very cooperative the first time but kept running away the next time I tried,” recalled Rashmi.
Even as the lockdown has forced the Western world to rethink consumerism, upcycling seems to be emerging as a creative side-effect. Starved of cheap retail therapy, many are giving old household paraphernalia a new lease of life. “You can’t go out shopping and wearing the same clothes could get boring,” said 35-year-old digital marketing professional Prerna Gupta, who has been revamping leftover fabric and old dupattas into comfortable tops or shorts to wear at home.
Along with sister Sanjna, Prerna started off by making a spaghetti top from an old dupatta. “There’s no sewing machine at home so Sanjna handstitched the new spaghetti. We have converted some old jeans and cotton pants into shorts. Sanjna now plans to use the leftover legs from the jeans to make bottle covers and pouches,” said Gupta. The sisters have been juggling work-from-home with their pursuits. “I’ve painted on a white shirt and am trying to pick up new skills like tie and dye. We usually do it on weekends,” said Gupta.
For some, the restlessness of watching the lockdown stretch served as fuel. Choreographer and dance teacher Urja Narwankar, for instance, had been reimagining the bright blue cloth her family used to decorate the Gudi on Gudi Padwa as a top for a while. The extended lockdown strengthened her resolve to pick up the needle and thread after 15 years. “I thought my stitching skills would be rusty but it all just came back to me when I started,” said Narwankar. “The best part is it’s a perfect fit.”
Retired banker Sushama Mohan has been churning out quilts from old dupattas that are still in mint condition as well as bedsheets. Her modus operandi is simple: cut up old bed sheets, place a bedsheet piece in the centre, two dupattas on either side and stitch them together by hand on all sides. To keep layers together, she creates designs of simple patterns. "Colourful, relatively coarse threads give better effect. I took inspiration from Kantha work where clothes are embroidered using a running stitch. In the old days, mothers used to stitch smaller sized quilts called 'godhadi' for their infants to sleep or play on," said Mohan, who has been using the quilts at home. "They are very soft and comfortable," she vouches.
Sometimes, you don’t even need to rely on pins and needles. Ranjeeta Nair recently played god to her worn pair of blue running shoes. On a whim, she reinvented the trainers she had used in Sikkim last year by painting them black with two bold streaks of yellow and orange running across their body. “I will use them when I travel next,” she said.