Upcycling? new trend or are we all just broke?

There has always being many reasons why people make do and mend, from simply not having any money to being more Eco friendly with how we live but with this new trend on the increase do we do it out of necessity or simply to keep up with the Jones'?
Personally its been a mixture of both for many years starting back when my husband lost his job, we went from a full time wage to nothing in what seemed like over night so all the luxuries of eating out and new clothes whenever i felt like a pick me up where the first things to go but as time went on i fell in love with all aspects of making do with what we already had from re purposing furniture or old towels and bedding to passing down clothes through our daughters and the excitement they got from getting something new.
Now its become more of a hobby for me and in the back of my mind a business opportunity as everything i find stuffed in the back of a cupboard or abandoned on a shelf i find myself imagining all sorts of alternative uses for it.
The girls love seeing mine or even their unloved clothes turned into something fun and individual as they are clothing and almost worn out shoes turned into sparkly creations and the scraps whipped into dolls/ teddies new clothes, who doesn't see the fun in that and with the millions of people all over the world loosing days perusing Pinterest there is no end of inspiration for that old table you've been putting off taking to the charity shop for three months and knowing something that has gone unloved for so long is now something that has become a firm favourite around your home is real good for the soul not to mention the wallet!

So here is a little look at what I've been upto recently..

I found a tutorial on pinterest about upcycling tshirts, this one i split up the back and inserted some floaty fabric, instead of being a body hugging jersey t its a more relaxed look.

 Sadly my fave doctor who t had shrunk in the wash *yeah I'm sticking with that reason* so i split the side seams and inserted a 6 inch wide band of star fabric which is taken from a pair of old pj bottoms and bobs ya uncle its a loose fitting t.

 This gorge river island cardi that i had never worn because i didn't like the neck is now wearable as I've added a cream crocheted collar, again which i had never used.

 Same again with my fave etsy bought tshirt it had suddenly got a bit on the tight side, its now more comfy and i can get back to wearing it after adding a 4 inch side band

 Surprisingly this cute jersey pencil skirt, started life as an old pair of pj bottoms, who'd have thunk it eh!

 We have all seen the epic tutorials on pinterest for upcycling a pair of old cowboy boots, i simply adapted it to do my old tan boots, added some fabric scraps, old belts and some other bits and bobs!

There is also a converse boot upcycle coming soooooon!!!

So tell me... why do you upcycle or make do and mend??

L x