Have you ever seen a piece of clothing at a thrift store and thought, “This would be perfect if it were only my size!” Or maybe if it didn’t have these weird puffed sleeves or a glittery collar. Most of us simply turn down a piece like that because we don’t have the skills or resources to do anything about it, but some particularly innovative individuals can actually take a piece of clothing that leaves much to be desired and transform it into something they will proudly wear for years to come.
Allow us to introduce you to Sarah Tyau. Self-proclaimed Refashion Designer and mom of three, Sarah is famous for taking old or undesirable clothes and transforming them into adorable looks for her and her family. We’ve gone through Sarah’s Instagram page and picked some of her most amazing pieces to share with you below to show how far a little creativity and a sewing machine can take you. Keep reading to also find an interview with Sarah to hear some updates on her life since she last spoke to Bored Panda and a little bit more about her process. Be sure to upvote all of your favorite looks, and then if you’re interested in checking out our first story featuring Sarah’s incredible clothing transformations, you can find it right here .
$5 XXL men’s shirt from Target clearance into cute girls dress.
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Made a waist-tie and a matching headband too from the extra fabric. Doesn’t she look adorable?
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sarahtyau Report
I’ve failed every single time I tried to dye a clothing red but I refused to give up! Do you think my perseverance paid off?
sarahtyau Report
sarahtyau Report
Thrifted dress into a removal peplum dress, so you can wear it with or without!
sarahtyau Report
sarahtyau Report
Before/after. 1. Dyed the dress. 2. Removed the collar and made into a v-neck. 3. Cut across the waistline to separate the bodice from the skirt. 4. Made the bodice narrower by cutting 1.5” off each side, then added darts. 5. Gathered the waistline of the skirt and sewed it back on to the bodice. 6. Cut off 10” to make the skirt shorter. 7. Using the extra fabric I cut off from the skirt, made pockets and added it to the skirt. 7. Cut off the sleeves. 8. Cut the armhole to make the shoulder narrower. 9. Made the sleeves smaller and sewed it back on. 10. Using the extra fabric from the skirt I cut off, made a waist-tie. 11. Removed the buttons and sewed on new wooden buttons. Any questions?
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Size medium coat to a bib skirt. I wished I could make it into a cropped, straight-leg overalls but there was only enough fabric to make it into a knee-length skirt.
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I found this dress from a thrift store years ago and just got around to refashioning it! I thought about changing out the buttons with more modern ones or replacing with little red bows but decided to keep the original buttons to keep the vintage vibe going. Then paired it with vintage style heels and red lipstick!
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I added black ruffle trim to a plain black tee by playing around with the trim until I came up with what I call a “Ruffle Around Me” top. What do you think of this top?
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My old skirt ⮕ Suspender skirt for her. I actually bought this skirt from a yard sale my friend had 2 years ago but never ended up wearing it. Last week my daughter told me she needed a cute skirt or a dress, and her favorite color being blue, I thought of this design for her.
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XXL men’s shirt into a bell sleeve girls’ dress
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The dress is too big and the shape didn’t flatter me.
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While I loved the fabric and the fit was perfect, I wasn’t in LOVE with the dress. So I removed the ruffles and gave a simple update using white bias tape. The bias tape has worked magic! So what do you think? Do you like the before or the after?
sarahtyau Report
sarahtyau Report
Look what a 30 min. could do to a dress! Don’t you think this would make a perfect Fourth of July dress?
sarahtyau Report
sarahtyau Report
sarahtyau Report
I made the shoulder ruffles significantly smaller, shortened the sleeves, cut off the bottom tier of the skirt and sewed it back on after shortening the main skirt bodice about 8”, then added navy blue trims on the tier and the waist.
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Two men’s shirts into one dress.
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Women’s suit to dress refashion DIY. Project cost: $8 Estimated time: 3 hours Skill level: Intermediate
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My newest Refashion Revision where I transformed a large men’s flannel shirt into a dress for my sweet girl
sarahtyau Report
sarahtyau Report
One of my most pinned refashions! See how I solved not having enough fabric, even after using every scrap of fabric of this denim dress.
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A simple fix makes all the difference!
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sarahtyau Report
sarahtyau Report
Since I made the skirt longer on my last DIY, it reminded me of this refashion where the dress was way too small that it couldn’t even zip up so I made it bigger!
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Bought the closest matching fabric to the dress and added puffy pleated sleeves. Are you a fan of the sleeves or no?
sarahtyau Report
sarahtyau Report
sarahtyau Report
This was my HARDEST dyeing attempt for one dress in my entire DIY experience! I initially tried to dye it to a prettier, brighter pink like a salmon pink but it went way too dark. So I tried to dye it white but it was way too stubborn and only would give me a cream-yellowish color no matter what I tried! So in the end I tried to go for a Robin Blue color. I tried a total 9 times to get the right color!!
sarahtyau Report
sarahtyau Report
Faded light yellow dress suit transformed into a fuchsia peplum dress. Estimated time: 3-4 hrs. Budget: $10 Skill level: Intermediate to advanced
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The Refashion Runway: 6 weeks of elimination, 6 challenges, and 1 final winner. Week 3 Challenge: Handbag, Tote bag or Clutch. Swipe to see the other handbag I made for my daughter. I knew I wanted the bag to be made out of black leather so I scoured a couple thrift stores to find the right one. After taking it apart, the leather was thinner than it seemed at first, so I thought it would be perfect to add fringe, it’s light enough to have movement but thick enough so it doesn’t look stringy.
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In partnership with Dove, I turned a $4 thrifted blouse into a sleeveless bow-tie blouse that’s perfect for transitioning into Fall. I’ve been using Dove Advanced Care Antiperspirant since I was 14 years old, but recently converted to a Dry Spray Antiperspirant fan! Dove Dry Spray provides the same 48-hour odor and wetness protection I love and goes on instantly dry – perfect for a finishing touch on this blouse.
sarahtyau Report
sarahtyau Report
They had a plethora of XL’s and XL’s only on clearance. The price kept going down and down because nobody was buying. I bet the rest went to a landfill!
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Men’s shirt to a crop top + skirt combo.
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I saw this plain XL shirt from a clearance rack at Old Navy for $5 and knew I had to buy it because I loved the color. Inspired by a shirt from Anthropologie, I did my best to make it look as close as possible to the inspiration. And if you look closely on the “after”, you can see the green markings from my disappearing marking pen.
sarahtyau Report
sarahtyau Report
Wore this dress to a “80’s casual dress” themed church event(Young Women Excellence) for my daughter tonight because I thought it meant “a 80’s dress” but upon walking in and seeing everyone in jeans, big earrings, crimped hair and side ponytails, I knew I didn’t get the right memo(like that one time when I walked into a non-costume Halloween party as Maleficent.).And about this dress, if you saw this dress(the before) at a thrift store, would you:1. Buy and wear exactly as is2. Skip right along to the next itemTrying to gauge since I always get some unhappy people whom are angry that I’m taking away bigger-sized options from them(this is only a size 6-8).
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My newest Holiday refashion for you! I feel like some people would look amazing in the before but not me! But I loved the red plaid pattern and the thick, warm, high-quality fabric so I had to find a design to suit me!
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Turned this plain women’s top into a fun design with a pleated detail(using a fork!) and navy blue ribbons
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When I have two very similar dresses, I love dyeing one of them to get a different look!
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Super old refashion when my oldest daughter was tiny! I used to wear this skirt when younger but it was now too short for me so I sewed the sides narrower and turned it into a skirt for my little girl. Super simple way to upcycle a skirt that’s too short!
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One of my 1st refashions where I combined a plain cardigan & a dress slip(both from my closet) to make a new cardigan.
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Am I too old to pull off the original length? Or is that just me thinking that based off of my programming? Either way, this would be my New Year’s Eve party dress… if I was going to some cool party. The party I’ll be going to is still cool, but it’ll be with my mom, aunties and uncles and all my kids
sarahtyau Report
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