Down a long driveway, in a tiny corner of her family’s lounge, is where Zoe Wallis stitches together her competition-winning upcycled fashion garments.

The Year 13 Katikati College student recently won the Re:Stitched Runway Upcycled Fashion Competition’s High School crown for the second year in a row. Her first entry in 2024 was the runner-up.

She was bitten by the sewing bug at age 5 and never looked back, even though she’s had to unpick many creations over the years.

Wallis wanted Katikati News readers to know she didn’t become a great sewer and upcycler overnight.

“I’ve had so many failures but I kept going. If you love something – don’t give up! Just keep going!”

The 18-year-old will finish college this year and plans to study fashion at tertiary level.

“My plan is to go to Wellington. It has three universities that offer fashion and design – it’s just picking which one, which I haven’t figured out yet. But definitely Wellington and definitely fashion.”

It was a haphazard playdate that introduced Wallis to sewing. “My friend had an aunt that lived next door that sewed. We sewed with her. Ever since, I’ve been enthusiastic about it.”

She took fabric technology at college as a mandatory subject in Year 7-8, then chose it from Year 9. This year Wallis’ school didn’t offer the subject – but this hadn’t stopped her further honing her skills.

“The internet has been a huge encouragement, seeing what other people can do and seeing ideas for upcycling.”

She’s entered Re:Stitched Runway Upcycled Fashion Competition’s High School for three years – because it focused on upcycling preloved clothing. “Many [sewing competitions] are centred around costume design and encourage you to make your own stuff.

“I’m not really into that. I like upcycling, creating new from old – that’s my thing.”

In 2024, Wallis entered the Bay of Plenty TOI Wearable Art regional showcase and won a Best Storytelling award. The same year, she was part of her school’s entry in the Bay of Plenty regional Showquest that won first place. “I was a leader and a dancer.”

What does she love about fashion? “For me, it’s the actual sewing component – I’m not a designer. I really like the hands-on aspect.”

His father Michael Wallis disagrees. “You are a bit of a designer,” he said. “You’ve designed your ball dresses for the last two years and you won Best Dressed one year.”

Zoe Wallis said she liked being behind a sewing machine, figuring out how to unstitch a piece of clothing and transform it into something else.

“I have a plan before I begin. I also like adapting patterns. That’s a lot of technical work, because you’re working with numbers to figure out how much you change the item and how it will fit your model.”

Her younger sister has been her model for three years. Gail Wallis, a Year 9 Katikati College student, said she enjoys modelling “but I stay pretty far away from sewing though – that’s Zoe’s field”.

Run by EnviroHub Bay of Plenty, the Re:Stitched Runway competition gave participants a brief with a “challenge material” they had to incorporate into their final design, one week before they choose 10 pre-loved garments donated by Turning Point Trust.

Participants then had one month to transform the preloved items into a ready-to-wear outfit their model showcases at the fashion show, this year held on July 25.

EnviroHub Bay of Plenty’s Hannah Cousar said 55 contestants entered this year – 40 in the adult category and 15 in the high school section that Wallis won.

Contestants were judged on their outfit’s wearability, construction, creativity and sustainability, Cousar said. “The fashion show was sold out, with more than 200 attendees coming together to celebrate and support sustainable fashion and local creativity.”

Wallis said her 2025 winning outfit consisted of a denim jacket, a patchwork denim skirt, a bag and two scrunchies, and the “challenge item” was a piece of a hi-vis vest.

“I think what really works for me is focusing on the challenge item. Last year it was high-vis – many contestants tried to disguise it but I worked with the material.”

She figured out the opposite colour of hi-vis orange was blue and teamed them together using denim. “A lot of theory goes into my designs.”

This year’s “challenge item” was a flag. “I realised flags are a synthetic material which is used in jackets – so I thought, ‘How do I make a jacket that works?’ I looked at the material, not the item itself.”

This year, Wallis picked a preloved men’s vest, jeans, one-piece swimsuit, school skirt and a formal grey dress to work with.

She made a skirt, top and jacket ensemble with a bag and denim socks. “I completely custom-made my pattern this year,” she said.

“It takes a really long time, and to ensure the pattern will fit within the fabric that I had, because it’s cut into different shapes and bits and bobs – and I had to fit them into straight lines.”

While some would pull their hair out, Wallis relished the challenge. “I like puzzles so it’s quite engaging for the brain – and lots of unpicking. One tip is to look at the inside of the clothes, not just the outside.

“What I was looking for was satin – that was my goal. I found it inside the vest and the dress. That’s what I used for the sleeves and inside of my jacket.”

Entering Showquest again this year – plus school and part-time work – made for a busy month. “It was intense.”

On the day of the fashion show, Wallis was still hand-stitching a handbag to complete her outfit.

Gail said 2025 featured many garment fittings. “This year, I basically watched her sew and a few days before, I tried it on – and it all fit.

“On the day, we thought, ‘We don’t know if we’ll win this year because we won last year’,” she said.

“The other entries were amazing too,” Wallis said.

They were wrong.

Wallis said the Envirohub-run competition is a great opportunity for people to hone their skills. “It’s an amazing opportunity to get a feel for upcycling because upcycling is a lot different from sewing with a flat piece of material and a pattern.”

The competition had grown more popular each year she’d entered. “I do hope that continues – it’s fantastic.”