How to Easily Upcycle Clothes with Crochet Techniques

Learn about the art of crochet upcycling with these beginner-friendly DIY ideas, tips, and examples for sustainable stitching

Crochet and homespun outfits have been huge summer trends for several years. From influencers sporting strappy tops to homemade homeware, it feels like we’ve gone back in time to the crochet peak of the '60s-'70s. But we’re also leaping forwards in terms of sustainability: it’s high time we slow down fast fashion, and upcycle old clothes with color and personality.

Here, we explore what upcycling is and why it’s so important for sustainability with crochet and upcycling expert Emma Friedlander-Collins. We explore practical crochet tips and examples, and share a beginner-friendly eBook to help you revive your favorite pieces using easy crochet methods.

What is upcycling?

Upcycling is the practice of improving or remaking items to create a product of higher value. In the case of crochet—one of many ways you can upcycle clothing—that means adding colors, textures, and shapes using stitches.

Upcycling can be applied to furniture, textiles, decorative objects, and so on. While some may upcycle clothing and furniture to sell, for others it’s more about injecting personality into a piece, so you don’t have to throw it away.

Emma explains, “There are enough clothes in the world. We don’t need to always be buying more.” Through her brand Steel and Stitch (@steelandstitch), she creates content around crochet and other craft techniques, and is the author of several books helping others reinvent their wardrobes.

How does upcycling relate to sustainability?

The fashion industry is fast and furious, making far more clothing than is ever sold. And in our culture of trends and keeping up with the "latest thing", we often discard our clothing in unsustainable ways, like landfill. Upcycling doesn’t require new clothing to be made, and allows clothes to be worn for longer, making it a more sustainable choice amid growing concern about the climate crisis.

What’s the difference between upcycling and recycling?

When you upcycle clothes, you creatively transform an existing garment, or part of it, into something new. Meanwhile, recycling means breaking down material before it’s used to make new garments. This involves the use of water and chemicals, and the production of carbon emissions.

What about charity donations? The issues here revolve around supply and demand, and what workers can cope with. Emma shares that only around 10% of the clothes we donate are actually resold: the rest go to landfill or textile recyclers. So while recycling is potentially helpful, upcycling is the holy grail of sustainability!

Using crochet to upcycle clothing

Emma explains that the magic of using crochet for your projects is that you’re not just repairing, but remaking garments. All you need are the basic crochet stitches: chain, single (UK double), double (UK treble), increasing, and decreasing stitches.

It’s easy to feel intimidated by this when first starting out, but Emma reassures us: “once you start cutting into your clothes, you’ll find you can’t stop!”

If you’re completely new to crochet, watch this video to get to grips with the chain or foundation stitch.

Five tips to crochet your clothes

Emma encourages experimentation and trying things out as a beginner. However, she has some top tips to make your first crochet project easier.

1. To pick your yarn color scheme: go for a walk and take pictures, then come home and use yarns to make mini color palettes you can store for future reference. Nature is a great source of balanced, harmonious colors.

2. Don’t go out and buy fancy materials. All you need to edit a garment is a hook, needle, scissors, and yarn.

3. For most upcycling projects, start with a backstitch around the area (e.g. around the collar of a top). You’ll then latch onto this line with your crochet hook, and add one crochet stitch to each backstitch.

4. Split the process into small parts: rather than backstitching a whole collar at once for example, do a quarter at a time: a short line of backstitch, and then your rows of crochet. This prevents the tension of your yarn from getting too tight, which would make your garment pucker.

5. Plan your outlines with washable felt tips if you’re doing a more complex shape or adding a patch. Felt pens stick better than fabric chalk, but also wash out.

Examples and ideas of crochet projects to inspire you

Finally, check out a few of Emma’s projects, all of which were achieved simply by cutting off part of an old garment, and crocheting in its place!

1. Lengthen sleeves using rows of crochet. This is perfect for growing kids, or if you buy something in the wrong size.

2. Make a personalized bomber jacket by cutting the sleeves off an old denim jacket and using granny squares to make new ones.

3. Repair stretched or holey T-shirt collars with a striped design. You could also add a waistband!

4. Revamp an old denim shirt with a cowboy-inspired crochet embellishment.

5. Turn worn flip flops into slippers using crochet squares and pom-poms (this project is explained in detail in Emma’s course).

Download our new crochet eBook

If these examples have got you excited about using crochet to upcycle clothing, deepen your understanding of this yarn craft with our new eBook, A Beginner's Guide to Crochet.

A handy reference combining all the essential information in one place, throughout its pages you’ll learn about crochet materials, the differences between styles, and inspirational design ideas. Plus, you’ll discover a tutorial and downloadable pattern to help you practice techniques.

After clicking the button below, you’ll find the eBook PDF file in your Downloads folder on your computer.

More crochet and upcycling ideas…

With the wealth of resources online, it’s easier than ever to repair and upcycle our clothing to ensure we wear it for many years to come. For even more inspiration, check out these resources.

1. Explore Steel and Stitch’s course, Upcycling with Crochet for Beginners.

2. Master stitches and styles with these ten online crochet courses for beginners.

3. Discover nine free tutorials for DIY ideas to upcycle your clothes.