Fragments Garments #4 — Exploring Upcycling
![Fragments Garments #4 — Exploring Upcycling](https://re-fream.eu/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Header-FB-4-scaled-e1590417725819.jpg)
Mid-Term Presentation
The entire Re-Fream community and all of its artists met in IED Madrid in January to present the advancement of the co-creation projects. This event allowed us to share both our preliminary results and the problems we were sometimes facing. As all teams and partners from the three Hubs were gathered, I had the chance to collect a lot of interesting feedbacks.
![](https://re-fream.eu/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/IMG_5490-copie-1024x768.jpg)
The one that caught the most of my attention was that my modular conception with small fabric pieces could allow for upcycling production textile waste. It had always been a research path I envisaged, but in which I did not have the time to invest in until then. I thought it was about time!
Collecting Textile Scraps
![](https://re-fream.eu/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Illustration-1-Blog-Post-4-1-1014x1024.jpg)
To explore this new development avenue, I started by digging into my own atelier’s end-of-collection scraps. I decided to focus on black and grey material to give a sense of unity to the prototype in spite of the fact that it would end up being composed of a patchwork of different materials. I ended selecting eight different textiles: biface neoprene, biface 3D knit, gazar, felt, jersey, spacer, grained calfskin, laminated leather, and suede.
Puzzle Patchworking
![](https://i1.wp.com/www.re-fream.eu/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/IMG_3118-scaled.jpg?ssl=1)
![](https://i2.wp.com/www.re-fream.eu/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/IMG_2983-1-scaled.jpg?ssl=1)
![](https://i1.wp.com/www.re-fream.eu/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/IMG_3120-scaled.jpg?ssl=1)
The bigger fabric pieces were used to laser-cut the clothing archetypal parts such as the collar, sleeves, and hems, and the smaller ones were used to cut small square-shaped modules. The pattern created by the initial attempt to assemble the modules as presented above did not convince me so I decided to dismantle everything and to remount the puzzle part with an ombre effect going from the lightest grey to the darkest black while keeping the chevron shape.
![](https://i2.wp.com/www.re-fream.eu/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/IMG_3132-scaled.jpg?ssl=1)
![](https://i1.wp.com/www.re-fream.eu/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/IMG_3137-scaled.jpg?ssl=1)
I liked the second assembly attempt result much more and decided to leave the prototype like this, just replacing the wool collar by a grained calfskin leather one to add more drama to the piece. I completed the look with an inner lining made of large panels of thin jersey to add more comfort.
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.re-fream.eu/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/IMG_3200-scaled.jpg?ssl=1)
![](https://i2.wp.com/www.re-fream.eu/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/IMG_3206-scaled.jpg?ssl=1)
Here is the final version of the prototype, in my next post you will discover the beginning of my co-creation residency in the Hub Linz, and my collaboration with the company Profactor, specialized in 3D printing.