#knitty gritty

CROCHETING PHONE POUCH a micro guide by Upcycling Fashion Store on How.Do

You started in needlecraft and crochet when you were quite young. How did you get into crocheting with upcycled materials? 

My mother and grandma taught me the DIY philosophy! We used to crochet everything possible to be crocheted or knitted and re-use/recycle with a little creative touch. DIY experiments like the mobile phone pouch I make just for fun. I'm always looking to discover new materials with different textures and I try to figure out how I can use it or crochet it! Living in Berlin got me in touch with the Upcycling movement: finally people like me, reasoning about how to re-use everything possible and how to give fabrics a second or third life. It felt like home! I started in 2011 with wool headgear and in 2012 I won a fashion contest (Bizarre-lab fashion contest) with my first upcycled-crochet-combined-dress. The idea to crochet old fabrics came just spontaneously...Just to try something new at first and then it worked well.

Image courtesy of Nina Cottrell 2013

What kind of products do you create and sell under the Carla Cixi label? 

I started with crocheted headgear (tube scarfs and gloves using recycled knitwear), continued experimenting with crocheting upcycled fabrics, then launched an upcycling haute couture line which combines elegantly tailored garments with opulent sculptural crochet. With the same crochet technique, I'm now doing a line of collars you can wear over a common t-shirt to make it special! I also collaborate with a designer (not a "fashion" one), André Stache.  Together we made lamps and necklaces out of climbing rope. He's also a really interesting upcycling maker!


Image courtesy of Nina Cottrell 2013

Where can people find your work to admire and purchase? 

My headgear and necklaces are in Upcycling Fashion Store. Garments are made to measure and customers can contact me directly for more details. Collars and some blouses with crocheted details are in the Water To Wine project store in Berlin Mitte . Most of the time I find material for my creations at the Berliner Stadtmission which collects clothes donations for the poor and homeless. A recent on-going project of the Berliner Stadtmission, called Komm und Sieh (Come and See), is to give young upcycling designers the chance to purchase leftover clothes at a very low cost to use for their creations. And Water To Wine is the shop of this wonderful project! 

Image courtesy of Sebastian Kreinau 2014