Upcycling is both a creative hobby and a way to help the environment by giving clothes a second chance. Junior Liberty Marchand embarks on a creative journey, redesigning old clothes to fit her style.

Marchand was inspired to start upcycling after seeing countless posts on her Instagram feed of clothes that she wasn’t able to find anywhere else. She decided to take action into her own hands and design the clothes herself.

“Honestly, Instagram is a huge resource for me,” Marchand said. “I see a bunch of styles that I’m interested in and that inspired me to make my own clothes. You know when you go to a store you can’t always find exactly what you want? Being able to sew helps me to make what’s in my head.”

At the beginning of her journey, she was unsure how to properly execute her visions for designs. But after some time, she learned new tricks about how to carry out her ideas, even without sewing.

“I started freshman year, just like cutting shirts and gluing them together,” Marchand said. “I didn’t know how to sew yet, but I started actually sewing in the summer of sophomore year”

She has progressed in multiple areas of design. From learning how to sew a perfect stitch to developing her creativity, Marchand has started developing her own unique ideas and styles outside of her comfort zone.

“I’ve just learned new tricks and how to sew clothes properly, like the first clothes I made were kind of funky and had a bunch of messed up spots, but now I can make really clean cut clothes,” Marchand said. “My creativity has grown a lot and I’m more experimental with my work.”

Marchand gets motivation from all sorts of places, whether she’s at the thrift store and sees potential in a piece of clothing or she thinks of an idea of something to make. Altering clothing is a process that she has developed a skill for through a lot of hard work.

“A lot of times, I just see something I like at a thrift store,” Marchand said. “I go to the DAV a lot and I’ll see something that I think has potential so I’ll upcycle it. If I just have something in my mind that I want to make, I’ll just go to a fabric store and get fabric for what I want to make.”

Marchand has achieved satisfaction with countless different articles of clothing. So far her favorite thing she has made has been a dress that also has become a chance for her to showcase her clothes making abilities.

“My favorite thing I’ve made is probably my prom dress. I’m still working on it right now, but it’s already by far the favorite thing that I’ve made because it’s taken me many hours,” Marchand said. “I’ve been working on it for at least three months now, and it’s really pretty.”

Marchand leaves a word of advice to people hoping to pursue a hobby with upcycling and fashion design.

“Don’t expect your best work your first couple of tries” Marchand said. “Just be consistent and you’ll get where you want to be.”