Celebrate National Op-Shop Week with This Super Cute Thrift Flip
- Words by Peppermint
words and process shots HANNAH KLOSE photos KELLEY SHEENAN
If you’ve been looking for an excuse to hit the op-shops, we’ve got you. This week in Australia is National Op-Shop Week, so we asked op-shopping queen Hannah Klose of Never Ever Pay Retail to show us how to make the most of the beloved oppy.
Obviously, this National Op-Shop Week I’ll be thrifting seven days straight… so it’ll be a fairly normal week for me! But something I’ll also be working on is ways to get more mileage out of the preloved pieces I find.
It still blows my mind that some people buy garments, wear them once, get the snap for Insta and send them on their way to landfill. This week I’m taking on the challenge from sustainable fashion advocate,and founder of Eco Age, Livia Firth to ensure I get 30 wears out of each piece of clothing I thrift.
Matching sets are still a major vibe this spring, especially tops and skirts with a little bit of skin showing in between. When I found this shift dress for $5 at a rack sale a few weeks ago, I couldn’t resist doing a little DIY! And you can too! It’s actually a super basic flip and only took me half an hour. Get ready to turn a simple dress into a whole new wardrobe (cue the Aladdin soundtrack)!
Here’s What You Need
Sewing machine
Thread
Elastic
Pins
Scissors
Let’s Get Making
STEP ONE // Thrift a shift dress in a midi or maxi length (the longer the better so you have more material to play with).
STEP TWO // Try the dress on to figure out where you’d like your crop to finish and your skirt to start, and mark with a pencil or safety pin. Always go longer than you think for the top and remember to allow 3cm for the seams to feed your elastic into.
STEP THREE // Lay the dress flat and cut a straight line across where you’ve marked to create your separates.
STEP FOUR // If the dress is super shifty and you have a lot of fabric width-wise you may want to take your top and skirt in at the sides – this will depend on how bunched up you want your elastic seams to be.
STEP FIVE // Zig-zag stitch or overlock your edges where you’ve cut the fabric to prevent fraying and then turn the top and skirt inside out and fold a seam that’s wide enough to feed your elastic through. Either use pins to hold the seam in place or iron the seam flat so it’s ready for sewing.
STEP SIX // Straight stitch the seam leaving a 2cm gap on one of the side seams to feed the elastic through.
STEP SEVEN // Wrap the elastic around your midriff to work out the length you’ll need for the crop top, then repeat around the waist for your skirt.
STEP EIGHT // Pop a large safety pin on one end of each elastic strip to help with feeding the pieces through each seam and then use safety pins to connect the ends.
STEP NINE // Before stitching the ends together, try the top and skirt on to make sure the elastic is tight enough to keep both in place but not too tight that it cuts off your circulation! Once you’re happy with how the separates feel, stitch the elastic ends together and then seal off the seams.
STEP TEN // If your dress came with a tie for the waist, wrap it around the top of your skirt for a nice little finishing touch.
STEP ELEVEN // Take your matching set for a spin or mix and match with what’s already in your wardrobe!
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“My piece of advice for makers and designers? Run your own race… make sure your key decisions stay anchored in your brand’s core beliefs.”
- Bec Bligh
Quick show of hands: who’s opened a water bottle expecting a refreshing sip… and instead been greeted by the unmistakable whiff of uh-oh?
Because for something that follows us everywhere (desk, car, hikes, yoga…), the humble drink bottle is strangely prone to becoming a science experiment. Hard-to-clean corners and gaskets. Mystery smells. Bec Bligh and her husband Tim know it well. A six-month sailing trip along the Queensland coast left them with a lifetime of memories and one stubborn annoyance: mouldy water bottles they couldn’t properly clean.
So they did something about it.
Enter @EverVessel. Thoughtfully designed borosilicate glass and stainless steel bottles that keep things beautifully simple: durable materials, wide openings, easy-to-clean parts and none of the techy gimmicks that tend to age badly. Turns out simplicity, done well, is pretty powerful stuff. (Their many design awards agree!)
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We chatted with Bec about the sailing trip that started it all, the philosophy behind Ever Vessel, and why the most sustainable product is often just the one you keep using.
Tap the link in our bio to read the full conversation. 🚰
#EverVessel #ReusableWaterBottle
Pull up a chair… there’s room at this table!
For the first time, Feast for Freedom is bringing people together for a spectacular long-table dinner as part of the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival.
A Longer Table is exactly what it sounds like: one beautiful shared table inside the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (@Asrc1), piled with generous dishes inspired by this year’s hero cooks, Noha and Nige.
From 6 to 9pm on Wednesday, 25 March, this is what you can expect:
🍽 A three-course shared feast
🍷 Matched drinks
🎶 Live entertainment
✨ A room full of good humans
Your ticket doesn’t just buy you a delicious dinner. It supports the ASRC’s vital work and helps create a fairer future for people seeking asylum.
Seats are limited, and long tables have a way of filling up quickly – head to @MelbFoodAndWine’s website to book now: feastforfreedom.org.au/mfwf
#FeastForFreedom #MelbourneFoodAndWineFestival #LongTableDinner #FoodForChange
Sew versatile! 🪡
Another great make from Lisa from @SunnySewsEveryday:
My #PeppermintWaratahWrapDress is finished and I’m so proud of it. It has been designed not to flap open and flash your pants in the wind, so I feel confident it will be a great wheelchair or standing dress in English weather.
#PeppermintPatterns #WrapDress #WrapDressPattern
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This DIY project was featured in Issue 53 and now you can access it for the lovely low price of only $5.
Sun-safe chic is always in style. ☀️
Find it via the link in our bio!
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✨ INSTANT CLASSIC ✨
The Peppermint Myrtle Shift Dress is a beginner-friendly make with a few special details based on the ever-stylish shift shape – the perfect dress you need in your wardrobe right now!
Myrtle cuts above the knee with options to customise the length. Don’t think she’s reserved for hot weather either: try a heavier-weight fabric to turn your Myrtle into a pinafore-style garment for layering.
For our fabrics we chose two from our lovely sewing partner @Karmme_Apparel – the bold Rottnest Stripes in a lightweight, soft-drape cotton, and the quality linen in the handpainted Mexico Collection.
Get making the Myrtle – the only question is, can you stop at just one?
Link in bio 🪡
Fabric: @Karmme_Apparel
Sewist: @Laura_The_Maker
Photos: @KelleySheenan
Models: @SerahSews and @Pins_And_Tonic
Location: @ShareTheDignityAustralia
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It’s time to Feast!
Some recipes travel a long way before they land on your table to delight your taste buds. This year’s Feast for Freedom invites us to gather our friends, cook something delectable and raise funds for the incredible work of the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (@Asrc1) while we’re at it.
The 2026 Feast features recipes shared by two remarkable cooks: Noha, who brought the flavours of Palestine with her when she arrived in Australia, and Nige, a Sri-Lankan Tamil cook whose journey with food began in the most unexpected of places.
You can host your own Feast up until 30 April – simply register online and get planning! Host a dinner, organise a workplace lunch, or gather your community… However you do it, the idea is simple: cook, connect and celebrate the cultures and stories that shape Australia.
Want to find out more? Head to the link in bio to meet Noha and Nige, learn more about their stories, and discover a delicious recipe to try.
#FeastForFreedom #PeppermintMagazine #FoodForGood #ASRC
