Tweeds are an icon of traditional Irish and British country clothing, being desirable for informal outerwear, due to the material being moisture-resistant and durable. Tweeds are made to withstand harsh climate and are commonly worn for outdoor activities such as shooting and hunting. (Source:Wikipedia)
As a Master tailor, tweed is a material I use a lot, it looks great, it’s very hard wearing and by far one of the easiest fabrics to work with. Before you think about ditching the tweed consider other ways you can incorporate it into your style.
Around the home tweed is making its mark – designers are using it everywhere as soft furnishings and upholstering.
Here’s my top 20 ways to upcycle tweed.
Bored of an old suit? Use it to make accessories instead. Ties, pocket squares, scarves, hats – you name it. Tweed can be used for literally anything!
Try tweed on a pair of shoes or slippers.
Pet beds and garments.
Furniture upholstery – dining chair covers or sofas.
Home accessories. The most interesting use of tweed I have seen around the home is on lamp shades. It’s so easy to do with a bit of glue and transforms a boring lamp into a classic.
Cushions and curtains
Wallpaper
Luggage. Suitcases and briefcases. It’s so 1930’s but there’s a reason it works well due to its durability.
Bags, all types from wash bags to sacks. Even doorstops!
Buttons or cufflinks – make an outfit more interesting by replacing the buttons with tweed ones or adding a set of tweed cufflinks to your look.
Storage boxes
Dining or side table tops… the list goes on:
Device covers – laptop, phone and tablet protectors.
Rugs and door mats.
Stags head!
Toys
Umbrelllas
Fabric throws
Bottle covers. Use a jacket sleeve to wrap up a bottled gift or cover an old hip flask.
Wardrobe – yes you could literally cover your whole wardrobe in tweed to contain your perfect bespoke suits inside. Why not, if you can cover walls with it, same principle applies!
Tweed is amazingly versatile. So before you throw away of that old suit think about how you can give it a new lease of life again. Tweed has so much character, don’t dispose, revive!
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