Ghibli Jeans Upcycle

For my initial project ideation, I wanted to upcycle a lamp shade and make it into a Studio Ghibli inspired lamp. Studio Ghibli’s aesthetic has natural, earthy, and cozy aspects. I wanted to bring those elements into my design.

When beginning my material search, I went to the thrift store and looked how lamp shades with a wire base. Unfortunately, there were limited lamp shades and none that had the right base to upcycle. Instead, I purchased an iridescent glass bowl to drill and make into a lamp shade. I thought the bowl had the vision of a Ghibli-core style that I wanted to utilize and upcycle.

Figure 1: Glass Bowl                                                                   Figure 2: Glass Bowl

 

Unfortunately, when I tried figuring out how I was going to drill the lamp, I had a lot of considerations and challenges:

• how to get access to the drill bit
• where I can find a cost effective way to drill this/use my resources
• possibility that the bowl will break

In the process of finding resources to drill my bowl, the ITLL did not have glass drilling that would work with my bowl. I went to McGuckins to see if I could get advice while also seeing if I can purchase a drill bit. I wasn’t able to get much help and the drill bits were $40. I decided to just try and figure out a plan B, while I was walking back, my bowl broke in my bag. I had to quickly figure out a solution to this problem. I decided to scrap the idea of making a lamp shade and instead, I recycled an old pair of jeans that I don’t wear.

The jeans that I had were too long and were out of style. Using inspiration from Pinterest, I was able to visualize how to rework my jeans into something wearable and a staple in my wardrobe.

Figure 3: Jeans Before                                                            Figure 4: Jeans Before

 

Here is my Pinterest inspiration:

Figure 5: Jean Inspiration                  Figure 6: Jean Inspiration     Figure 7: Jean Inspiration

I headed to the thrift store, toward the bedding aisle. There were plenty of fabrics and I found that pillowcases were the best fabric to use whilst maximizing fabric and minimizing waste. I also had to find fabrics that still went along with my aesthetic. I was able to find this red fabric with flowers on it. I think it fit the nature theme and cozy feeling of Studio Ghibli while being something wearable and more stylish.

Figure 8: Final Jean Upcycle

Figure 9: Final Jean Upcycle

 

Here is the process of my jean upcycling through a video format. I captured the utilization of the fabric I bought, expanding the legs of my jeans, and sewing the two fabrics together. I tried to create a tutorial-styled simplified video to catch the viewer’s attention.

Figure 8: Video

 

Although my original lamp shade idea went downhill, I really enjoyed reworking my jeans. I found that old clothes are usually donated and rarely recycled. I thought it was a nice idea to upcycle something you have or used to love and recreate it into something stylish and loved back into your closet. I definitely enjoyed making them and am inspired to continue to rework my clothing.

 

Sources:

Figure 5: Lind Alene, https://www.pinterest.com/pin/296463587991449185/, via Pinterest

Figure 6: popetmeimei, https://www.pinterest.com/pin/296463587990834156/, via Pinterest

Figure 7: Franchini Flavia, https://www.pinterest.com/pin/296463587990833533/, via Pinterest

Figure 8: Vo Jessica, https://youtu.be/WkBZ3WCuWgw, via Youtube