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A thrifty shopper has been praised for transforming 'smelly' blankets into stylish outfits - all while helping the environment and keeping expenses low. Kelsey Reese, 28, uses her design and sewing abilities to transform unwanted items donated to a charity shop into something entirely new - and people say they'd pay good money to own some of the pieces she's created. In one of her TikTok videos, she is seen showing off "things I made from stinky thrift shop blankets and where I'd wear them". In the clip, she models a co-ord set, two tops, two jumpers, and four dresses, joking around saying she'd wear them to everything from a cinema trip to the Met Gala. She said: "I have a high quality quilting machine but I'd think any heavy duty model should handle the material fine. This is from like a year of collecting [blankets] they're not easy to find." Commenting on her video, one user said: "Jaw dropped at especially the first two." Another user added: "If this was a store with repurposed thrift finds I'd shop here!" A third user said: "Do you take commission? I have a blanket but would love the off the shoulder sweater made from it!" One more user added: "This is exactly what I mean when I say I wanna start making clothes." Another user said: "Girl. These are unbelievable." A final user added: "Umm, I'm blown away." Reese, of Lexington, Kentucky, says she would dream about becoming a fashion designer as a child - and in 2020, started taking sewing seriously. She told Newsweek: "I rarely go into the thrift store looking for specific things unless I'm putting out a small collection of the same design. "I walk around, look at everything, and have to let ideas to come to me since I never quite know what I'm going to find. "I did my first blanket project in 2021, it was a floral blanket that I had thrifted for $1.99 (£1.52), and I thought it could make a cool Penny Lane style coat." This passion led her to establish her own recycled clothing website called ReeseCycled, explaining: "What started merely as a boredom-induced closet clean out quickly evolved to something much bigger and brighter than I'd ever imagined." She continued: "Established in May of 2020, ReeseCyled became my creative outlet and a vital source of joy while enduring the hardships and uncertainties of the COVID19 pandemic. "ReeseCycled pieces have been shipped to sweet customers all around the globe, featured in various publishings, and shown on multiple New York Fashion Week runways. "My goal is to create wearable artwork crafted from often unconventional secondhand textiles. "If you had asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, my 10-year-old self would have told you 'a fashion designer'. "Although that was not the career I pursued, I am beyond grateful for the roundabout path that led me back to my childhood dream a little over a decade later."
