o many people have the creative desire to reinvent their clothing or add a special-looking garment to their wardrobe without spending any money. It’s likely you are one of them and that is what attracted you to pick up this book. Perhaps you have a plain T-shirt from the Gap you would love to jazz up into something stylish or you might have attempted to change vintage or thrift-shop clothing into something new. Or you have a shirt or skirt that sits at the back of your closet because it just needs something. This book will help you learn the approach and the techniques used to deconstruct and reconstruct clothing. Rip It! will free you from the frustrations of not being able to implement many of your ideas and give you a working knowledge of techniques to help you translate your personal designs into new clothing by showing you step-by-step methods and giving you guidelines to get started.

We’ll start with all the tools you’ll need, the basics of cutting fabric, and easy layouts using patterns; then we’ll move into simple ways to reconstruct the look of a garment. Each chapter covers a different category of clothing—including accessories—and teaches you several techniques to redesign them. I’ve even included a resource list of where to find all sorts of trims, patterns, tools, and fabrics.

Deconstructing and reconstructing clothing is not new. It started in the 1950s when teenagers started to cut off their old Levi’s to turn them into Bermuda shorts, deliberately leaving the cut edges frayed for a washed, worn look. In the 1970s, with the emergence of punk rock, fashion designer vivienne Westwood turned T-shirts, sweatshirts, and other garments into radical designs and became one of the most original and influential designers of our time, giving deconstructed and reconstructed clothing a place on the runway.

Deconstructed clothing then moved into high fashion and became more of an intellectual process that inspired another diverse direction of silhouettes and ideas. Japanese designers were some of the first to do this by simply turning the raw seams of garments to the outside for display. Designers Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garçons and Issey Miyake are examples of this style of design.

Designers in New York, London, Paris, Milan, and Tokyo are all influenced by deconstruction-and-reconstruction fashion. This new-old approach and energy has inspired many to try inventing their own street wear. The desire to create a personal style and need to feel unique continues to drive this trend forward, and there are magazines and websites devoted to this D.I.Y., or do-it-yourself, movement.
Some of these D.I.Y. designers have even opened their own shops, featuring their own versions of deconstructed and reconstructed T-shirts, skirts, pants, and accessories, often made out of vintage clothing. Project Alabama, a new company known for their handmade unique designs out of recycled T-shirts that are sewn in Alabama, has been written up in several fashion magazines and sells clothing from $250 to $4000 dollars in stores like Barneys New York!

Celebrities have gotten in on the act, too—when Britney Spears performed in jeans that she’d torn the waistband off, it had a profound impact on jean companies who hurried to create jeans with the same look. Gwen Stefani and Beyoncé Knowles appear in videos with their unique versions of cut-up T-shirts and dresses. Fashion ads are featuring rock stars wearing short cut-off jean shorts with frayed edges. A lot like it all began in the ’50s.

For many years, I was a sportswear designer in New York’s garment industry. After working for other companies, I designed and manufactured my own line of contemporary sportswear. It wasn’t until I started teaching sewing that I realized how many people share the desire to create their own clothing. Students often tell me they want to make something that is totally their own because they don’t like what they see in stores.

Through out the years I worked in design rooms, I accumulated many design and sewing techniques. Surrounded by some of the best sewers and patternmakers, I was lucky to be able to learn from pros. Rip It! is my way of helping aspiring designers achieve their dreams. This book is intended to inspire and help you to bring to life some of your own creations. So let’s just rip it and get started bringing out your inner designer!

----Elissa Meyrich
author of Sew Fast, Sew Easy: All You Need to Know When You Start to Sew, creator of Sew Fast, Sew Easy school (online and in NYC) and the original Stitch & Bitch Cafe