Are you familiar with the Mini-Cycle buy-back program? When your children's clothes don't fit anymore, you can sell them back to us (to learn more, click here!) Afterwards, we sell them as they are or mend and repair to continue the garment's life. Sometimes, however, pre-loved clothes are too damaged or worn to sell again, so we get creative!
As an example, we recently collaborated with the seamstress Leonor Gonzalez to transform some of the clothes into *drum roll*... scrunchies!
Our up-cycled scrunchies make a beautiful accessory for your child (and let's be honest, for us moms, too!) We're already in love with the scrunchie trend, but even more so with these, knowing they are made from pre-loved clothing that we couldn't sell. Eliminating fashion waste has always been our heartbeat at Mini-Cycle, and we're thrilled with this collaboration to extend the life of these fabrics even farther.
You've seen our six scrunchie options, now have a look at their previous life as children's clothing worn child after child!
(For this flowered camisole, the straps were too damaged to repair. Replacing them would not have matched the rest of the piece, so we decided to reuse the fabric to make one of the scrunchie models).
(This dress was stained at the top, near the fawn print. We obviously tried to remove it, but sadly, without success.)
(The buttonhole on this Mini Rodini dress was too damaged to repair properly. We thought it's original and colorful pattern would be perfect for scrunchies!)
(And the final result!)
Flash interview with Leonor
To learn more about Leonor's creative process, we asked her the following questions:
When did you start sewing?
I learned as a little girl in school. There I was taught handicrafts and liked it very much. Then I did some embroidery courses later on.
What do you enjoy most about sewing or creating a new piece?
I love to embroider and let my imagination fly!
What advice would you give to a beginner sewer? (skills, qualities, etc.)
My advice to a beginner is dedication and patience and love for what you do.
Tell us about your next projects.
I really like the Mini-Cycle project and I am ready to help in any way I can!
What are your inspirations in the field?
I am inspired by children, nature and reusing fabrics to create new things.
Thanks to Leonor's hard work, we were able to up-cycle the pre-loved clothes that sadly, could not be resold. These old pieces were given a second life and new purpose, rather than using new fabrics and tossing the old garments. Shop our scrunchie collection here (hurry, these are sold in limited quantities!).