I make £2,500 a month turning old tea towels into unique dresses and jackets

A Liverpool woman earns up to £2,500 per month by transforming old tea towels into unique garments.

Scarlett Hawkes, 28, has always loved fashion and has been sewing since she was aged 14. But, after dropping out of university - where she was studying womenswear - she decided to continue to teach herself.

Explaining her decision to leave university, Scarlett said: "I felt they weren't teaching me the things I wanted to be taught.”

Learning the basics from YouTube and Google and launching an Etsy shop during the pandemic, Scarlett began upcycling her mum’s clothes but found her true calling when she transformed a Heinz ketchup tea towel into a dress. "I had a Heinz ketchup tea towel from eBay and thought 'let's incorporate it'. I love Heinz ketchup”, she explained, adding: "People absolutely loved it."

Realising she had found her niche, Scarlett launched her business, Afrayed Upcycling, in December 2022. Now she spends five hours each time transforming pre-loved tea towels into dresses, jumpsuits, jackets and skirts, and makes between £2,000 and £2,500 a month.

Focusing on sustainable fashion, Scarlett finds all of the old tea towels on eBay and Vinted and says ‘people enjoy the uniqueness of each item’. She said she pays £8 to £10 per tea towel, noting: “You don’t want a manky tea towel in a dress’

Scarlett also makes custom designs where customers send in the tea towels they want to be used. "I really enjoy working with other people's ideas and fabrics," she said. “A lady recently wanted a 1960s towel for her 60th birthday. We did a chilli on her dress. I like adding the details."

Scarlett sells her midi dresses for £148 and charges extra for customisation, while her jackets start from £115.