“Over the summer, I had a lot of time, so I was mass-producing a lot of up-cycled things”

Anika Sharma: “I’ve always been a really crazy, artistic child. Ever since I was five years old I would go to school with the most insane, mismatched outfit you could imagine. When I was in first grade, I started making earrings and bracelets out of paper clips… and I think that’s when [my upcycling] started — I would use things laying around my house. When I was in sixth grade, I learned how to hand-sew, and so then I started making clothes, jewelry, pillows, that kind of stuff. I made a dress, which was really interesting because it was out of a bed sheet that I found. It turned out ok, but it only looks good with a belt. I get a lot of my style ideas from Instagram and Pinterest — if I see something that would be cute, I would try to replicate it with my own stuff that I have lying around. I do recommend that people start up-cycling because it’s such a fun thing to do, and also a good one. I’d recommend starting with old clothes… that aren’t good to donate, like things that may have holes, and start cutting them up and seeing what you like to see in an outfit and then put it all together.”