Designer stretches fashion boundaries

Embracing recycling in artwork has paid off for the second year in a row for Karnup artist Jo Ireland, who is a finalist in next month's Stretch Arts Festival Mandurah Common Threads Wearable Art competition.

Mrs Ireland said she was always creative but after being introduced to the Stretch challenge of designing a fashion garment from recycled materials, she opted to take her craft on a new journey and has not looked back.

In 2013, Mrs Ireland took leave from work for bowel cancer treatment and used the competition as a positive distraction.

"I like to try to make pretty things out of ugly things - I enjoy upcycling," she said.

"My first entry made it in the final - I had no idea what to expect but found it inspiring and encouraging."

This year's theme was fabrication and having travelled to Dubai, Mrs Ireland said she was inspired by the colours of the skyscrapers.

The colour scheme led her on a mission in search of coffee pods and thanks to a callout via Facebook, she was inundated with donations.

She said the hardest part was hunting through thousands of pods for the colours she wanted and then converting them to a piece of art.

"I melted, squashed and cut them, experimenting with how I could use them," Mrs Ireland said.

Eventually, she found she could morph the pods into individual petals for the flowers and attached them onto a grey dress made from a recycled tent, high-visibility strips and an old leotard. Mrs Ireland's creation will take to the runway at the Common Threads Wearable Art Showcase on May 2.

For details or tickets, visit www.mandurah.wa.gov.au .