Introducing... Michelle (aka MankyCat)

Hi, everyone!!! 

My name is Michelle, but I go by Manky (or MankyCat) online.  I'm married to wonderful man who shares my interest in various artistic and crafty endeavors, especially sewing.  We have two beautiful children, my son being one month shy of 3 years old and my daughter just having turned 4 months old.  I work full time and am the breadwinner for my family while my husband stays home to care for the kids. (Please forgive the images here.  Most are not really "fashion" oriented unless you are into LARPing, faires, and such, but I hope to work more on daily-use refashioning now, even if somewhat quirky.)

My family a couple years ago, before my daughter was born.
The goggles were made from scraps of pleather, various
leftover knicknacks, and clear plastic packaging. The bustle
skirting is made from an old scarf my sister gave me many years before.

 I've done some refashioning, but not as much as I would like.  Most of my projects were costuming based, but I want to focus more on daily-wear now.  I love using scraps and making them into useable items... I have a real tough time throwing any bit of fabric away!  I have a number of projects I plan to get started on or finish. 

What is your motivation for refashioning?  Wasting less money on items that I can easily make myself.  I also hate the idea of throwing away items that cannot be donated, when I can make them into other things.  Why should perfectly good material go into a landfill when it can be used to make *something*.

Where do you get your inspiration? Originally my inspiration was from lack of money.  Then it was the general attitude of rework things into new items in the 1940's.  And now, it's a combination of things, including my children.  Seeing what other people are making is also a huge inspiration, especially lately.

 

Tsumami Kanzashi flower hair clip made from scrap
cloth, a spare button, and a few leftover beads.
Every scrap has a possible use for me.

Which techniques do you use in your refashions?  Almost the same ones I use for when I did costuming.  Mainly, don't be afraid to try new things and don't be afraid of failure.  Use premade patterns (with or without changing them to fit my needs), take clothing items apart to make into more items, sketch out possible clothing lay-outs and create your own patterns from them, or simply just go crazy and see what happens.   I mean, those are techniques, right?  Otherwise, I use sewing, crocheting, and embroidery techniques for the most part, and whatever else I pick up along the way.  :-)

 
Where do you find things to refashion? My closets, my mother and sisters (who tend to have too much stuff and try donating the items to me for use), thrift stores... the usual places.



A treasure chest bustle topper made from a halloween purse.



What is your favourite refashion?  Hm... I would say some of the funky skirts I made when I was younger.   Or when I turned my ill-fitting read leather duster into a vest with spikes.  It looked fab when I went out with some of my edgier friends.

Do you recycle anything other than fashion?  Yup.  Crafting wise, I try to reuse what I can within reason and constantly try to impliment more recycling of items as we adjust to the last set of changes.  As for general recycling, we try to recycle as much as we can.

Where can I read more about you and refashioning? There's more about my artsy and sewing projects on Sew Mankycat.  I have several other creative outlets online focusing on bento meals, steampunk cooking silliness, and so forth, and tend to focus on each in their own turn.  Currently, Sew Mankycat has the spotlight and I hope to post more pictures of my newest (and some of my older) projects soon.  :-)