Forum: ell.stackexchange.com
Tags: <grammaticality><phrase-request>
Title: Does this sentence make sense? (I reformed the cloth into a dress.)
Question: When I want to express that I reformed the cloth and made a dress, can I say like 'I reformed the cloth into a dress?  If I am wrong, What is the best answer for it?

Answers:
sents: text: Using reformed sounds rather odd.
text: If you reform something, you improve it, you don't change it into something else.
text: So, if you reform an electoral system, it is still an electoral system, but (hopefully) a better one.
text: Using either turned or made would be more appropriate: I turned the cloth into a dress.
text: I made the cloth into a dress.
text: Or even:
text: I transformed the cloth into a dress.
text: But that sound a little pretentious.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/40588/Mick
score: 11
sents: text: One could simply say reuse in this context.
text: I reused the cloth to make a dress A slightly fancier way of saying the same would be: I repurposed the cloth to make a dress.
text: In both cases, the prefix re- gives the sense
text: the the cloth had a previous purpose or form, rather than being a fresh piece of cloth.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/44922/mike
score: 9
sents: text: Using "reform" this way might be allowed by the rules of the language, but it is definitely not idiomatic.
text: A native speaker would not say that.
text: A native speaker would more likely say "I made a dress from the cloth".
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/48271/Rob K
score: 6
sents: text: It's not that "reform" is unacceptable -- it's an awkward use of the word.
text: I like the suggestion of "transform".
text: In the context of dress making it implies that the dress was not simply crafted from cloth, but that the designer was an artist who elevated the cloth to a higher purpose.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/48263/phearce
score: 3
sents: text: Reform is incorrect in this case, because it describes taking a working form and turning it into another working form .
text: Re - a latin prefix meaning "again" - implies that the subject was previously formed, but raw materials such as cloth are by definition not yet formed.
text: It would be correct to say that you formed the cloth into a dress.
text: It wouldn't be the best word for this case; formed is old-fashioned and not very specific.
text: You might have sewed , cut , or even fabricated the cloth into a dress, and those would be better options.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/48277/rsegal
score: 1
sents: text: I can think of one example where "I reformed the cloth into a dress" would be accurate.
text: "Form" can describe forcing something into a shape.
text: Fabric can be "molded" or forced into a custom shape (other than flat), by mechanical processes.
text: If you start with cloth that was formed into a shape for some purpose and decide to reuse it to make a dress employing a similar shaping process, you could say you reformed the cloth into a dress.
text: A forming process certainly isn't a typical way to make a dress, but that would be the literal meaning of the sentence in the question.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/48032/fixer1234
score: 0

Summary of the answers:
Reformed would not be used in this context. However, turned, made, reused, transformed, sewed ,  cut , or even  fabricated  the cloth into a dress, would be better options.
The use of "reform" sounds awkward to a native speaker and although in some cases it could be allowed by the language rules, it has a different meaning. More appropriate alternatives are: "turned", "made", "transformed" the cloth into a dress, "reused", formed", "sewed", "cut" or even "fabricated".