Before-and-after photos show how a seamstress transforms thrift store clothes
Samantha Grindell
- Caitlin Trantham is a self-taught seamstress who started transforming thrifted clothes into outfits that look brand new in January.
- Trantham spends less than $10 on all of the garments when she buys them, and she plans on donating many of her creations.
- Trantham also shares her work to TikTok, where she has nearly 100,000 followers and thousands of views on her videos.
Caitlin Trantham is a seamstress and mom of three.
Trantham got her start in sewing when she taught herself to make blankets around seven years ago, as she told Insider's Celia Fernandez.
In January, Trantham started transforming items she found at thrift stores into cute, vintage looks.
Trantham got the idea to revamp her thrift store finds while she lived in Jacksonville, North Carolina, where she often shopped at Goodwill and The Salvation Army.
"My husband is in the Marine Corps, and we are being stationed in Hawaii," Trantham told Insider, but her family is in between permanent locations right now.
She finds all of her ensembles at thrift stores, and she tries not to spend more than $10 on a garment.
She told Insider that she occasionally spends additional funds on supplies like buttons and zippers, but she works hard to ensure her creations save her money.
The time it takes Trantham to make her ensembles varies.
"Sometimes I can finish a makeover in two to three hours," she said, as was the case with this ensemble. "The blue lace dress I did was so simple, quick, and easy."
But sometimes it can take her longer if the outfit is more complicated.
For instance, this dress was difficult to work with.
"The red and black dress with rose embroidery took a couple of days just to dismantle," Trantham said.
Likewise, this pink '80s gown was time-consuming to transform because Trantham had to hand-sew a lot of the materials.
Trantham told Insider the '80s prom dress is her favorite transformation so far.
"I modeled it after a '50s party dress, and it was a style I always wanted to have," she said.
Trantham documents her outfit transformations on TikTok.
Trantham's videos are popular; her TikTok has nearly 100,000 followers to date.
You can see more of her videos here.
She told Insider that TikTok is the "perfect platform" for her work.
"Pictures on Instagram are great, but with TikTok, you get to see a dress in motion," she said.
"It transforms in one 15-second clip," Trantham added. "I feel like this has a bigger impact on the audience because it's like magic."
Trantham also likes that TikTok allows her to engage with her followers on a deeper level.
"I can follow it up with short tutorials, to further engage and interact," she said of her videos.
"Also, I know so many people share some of the same struggles I have," she added. "We don't necessarily have a lot of money to spend on fashion and being able to get a custom garment out of a $4 dress is something really special and fun."
Trantham advises people who want to revamp thrift store clothes to select their pieces carefully.
"Analyze and visualize what you want and if it will be possible with the garment you have picked," she said.
She also said the dismantling process works better if you're patient.
"When taking apart your garments, seam rip first," Trantham said.
"Try not to go in with your scissors and cut everything up," she continued. "Go into the seams and dismantle piece by piece. It might be frustrating and feel tedious, but once you cut you can rarely ever go back."
Trantham plans on donating her creations to other military spouses.
"We have the Marine Corps Ball every year, so there is a program that donates ball gowns and fancy dresses," she told Insider. "My plan for the end of this year is anything that I have that is fancy is going to get donated, and hopefully somebody else will be able to use them and love them."
Trantham also hopes her work can encourage people to shop more sustainably.
"With being on a platform like TikTok, I really want to push people to think about sustainability in fashion," Trantham said. "We all know the effects fast-fashion has on the environment, so I'm really hoping to inspire more people to look at things that are in thrift stores and reuse them."
Trantham plans on continuing to document her work on TikTok.
You can follow Trantham on TikTok here.
- Read more:
- A seamstress on TikTok transforms thrift store clothing into outfits that look brand new
- 2 brides shopped separately for their wedding dresses and ended up choosing styles that were the perfect match
- A bridal company released a line of Disney-inspired wedding gowns that will make you feel like a real-life princess
- People are painting tiny noses and mouths on their faces as part of a hilarious new TikTok trend
READ MORE ARTICLES ON
Popular Right Now
Advertisement