Monthly Archives: January 2014

Sew 11 – Beyond money and power

I’m an agricultural scientist by training and my first professional job was as ABC rural reporter working in radio and television in Victoria and Queensland.

Now I’m on a 365-day journey with the Sew it Again project to inspire creative upcycling of natural fibre clothing and revive home-sewing as a life-skill akin to cooking.

In between these endeavours, as a communications consultant I’ve run issues-based campaigns such as the 612 ABC Swap It Challenge for health groups, Save the Aussie Banana for growers and water fluoridation for dentists.

Sew it Again is a campaign of my own making which emerged during leadership studies last year that changed my thinking about what really matters – and it isn’t money or power. I’m interested in values-based leadership mindful of Earth’s finite resources, so I’m now following my heart on a journey of creativity, empowerment, thrift, sustainability, ecological health and wellbeing.

My thinking aligns with that of Huffington Post editor-in-chief Arianna Huffington’s Third Metric campaign which is “redefining success beyond money and power to include well-being, wisdom, wonder, compassion and giving”.

Huffington said: “We’ll be opening up the conversation around all the ways our current definition of success is failing us, and putting the spotlight on the tremendous shift happening across the country—and across the world—as women and men seek a new definition of success that’s more sustainable and more humane.”

Sew it Again bridges memories of childhood, professional expertise, agribusiness networks and a love of nature with a desire to raise awareness about our escalating rate of textile consumption which is rising at three times the rate of population growth. FAO textile consumption survey 2013

Today’s offering is an old linen dress I’ve had for years but wasn’t wearing. I gathered fallen bark on my morning’s walk and gave it a colour change, along with a piece of silk which I then hand-stitched around the neckline to add interest.

Sew 10 – Fasten with fabpins

This skirt was lovely in its day but wasn’t being worn so I’ve given it a second life as a dress that is fitted with the help of fabric-covered safety pins – which I’m calling fabpins.

You need to find good quality safety pins and wrap them bottom to top with a strip of fabric that is then anchored by a knot. They can be used in place of buttons, but ideally need to be unpinned and excluded from the wash.

Good quality cotton fabric such as was used for this skirt has a high thread count, feels beautiful to touch and can last for decades. It is a shame to see such garments tossed out when styles change and wearers move on to the next best thing keeping up with the latest fashion.

A great Opinion Letter in the 4 January issue of New Scientist magazine provides a fresh take on the idea of ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ which is relevant here.

Wiebina Heesterman from Birmingham UK suggests a switch to ‘powering down with the Joneses’ and challenging neighbours to take actions to help reduce waste and fix the climate.

Wiebina says then you can say things like: “We use far less energy than anyone else in the street, we only had to pay $500 for gas and electricity this year, what about you? Or: “Look at my 1920s dress: it belonged to my great grandmother – I bet you haven’t got anything that beautiful.”

I’ve got a few garments that belonged to my Great Great Aunt Winnie stashed in a top cupboard somewhere which I upcycled and wore during university days (back in the late ‘70s that was!). They’ll be ready for re-upcycling soon as part of my 365-day upcycling journey this year.

Meanwhile with Sew it Again 10, I cut off the bottom border of the skirt and cut it in two. I draped these two panels to form the top, making tucks at the shoulders and sewing the panels to the skirt band, which opens with a side zip. I sewed the top panels together at the side opposite the zip, and secured the overlaps front, back and zip-side using fabpins.

Sew 9 – Eco-fashion new values

A dress length that flatters your shape is a very individual thing. Below knee is unflattering for me, which is why I cropped the bottom off this dress and turned it into a collar.

There are some amazing ideas in Eco Fashion, a book by Sass Brown which chronicles sustainability leaders and their creations, and says one of the strongest trends in fashion is the expression of ecological, social and community consciousness.

But the forward by Geoffrey B Small who first recycled menswear in a Paris collection in 1996, pulls no punches: “Fast fashion, planned obsolescence, ignorance and waste rule.” Continue reading →

Sew 8 – Sewing is a life skill

This garment began life as a block-coloured linen skirt cut on the cross, which I’ve upcycled into a cool summer dress.

I grew up in a farming family, born of parents who came through the depression and learned to be resourceful. We grew our own vegetables and Dad butchered the meat on the farm in Otago, New Zealand.

Society’s resurgent interest in home-cooking reflects our re-valuing of the nutritional, seasonal, creative and pleasurable aspects of cooking wholesome food in the home.

I learned to cook and bake in our Great Grandma’s kitchen in the cottage. I learned to sew, knit and crochet with Nana – and I later learned other crafts like spinning wool and making paper from my aunt Kate McLachlan. Continue reading →

Sew 7 – Jumpers make fab skirts

I do love cotton jumpers but they can become saggy baggy with age, which makes them perfect to be converted into a skirt for their second life.

Resewing clothes for pleasure, reward and sustainability is a 365-day journey I’m on this year as a way of demonstrating a different way of dressing by reusing and adding-value to natural fibres garments.

Back in 2006, a University of Cambridge study recommended the greatest beneficial change in future sustainability of textiles would occur if we purchased less clothing and kept it for longer.

The Cambridge report, Well dressed?, estimated UK consumers spent about £625 each on clothing in 2004. Increased spending coincided with dropping prices largely due to the rise of ‘fast fashion’ bringing faster turnover of styles than previously.

UK consumers are purchasing and disposing of around 35 kg of clothing and textiles per person each year, of which around 13% is collected for re-use, 13% is incinerated, and the remainder – 26 kg per person – is buried in landfill. I’m still looking for the Australian figures, if anyone can help?

We, as consumers, can drive change through the choices we make and these might include:

Buy second-hand clothing and textiles where possible
Buy fewer more durable garments and textile products
Lease clothes that would otherwise not be worn to the end of their natural life
Wash clothes less often, at lower temperatures and using eco-detergent
After washing, shake and hang your clothes to dry to minimise need for ironing
Extend the life of clothing and textile products through repair – and upcycling!

As Mahatma Ghandi said, be the change you want to see in the world.

Through upcycling, jumpers make great skirts. Crop the sleeves off the jumper and then cut along the shoulders to open out. Add elastic at the waist. To embellish this jumper-skirt, I cut up a complementary cotton skirt. I added the bottom frill to the jumper-skirt and used the top part (of the second skirt) to line the new skirt. Am I making sense? I used the sleeves and an off-cut of the jumper to decorate a polo top, which I livened up by using pinking sheer scissors to crop the sleeves, trim the collar, and shorten.

Sew 6 – Cool cotton lives on

Another hot day in paradise, another simple way to give a cotton dress a second life – by lifting the waistline and thereby shortening the skirt.

On the other side of the world, you wouldn’t be wearing an Indian cotton number on the streets of New York right now – and if you did there’s a chance photographer Bill Cunningham might capture the moment.

I was lucky last night to catch the documentary Bill Cunningham New York repeated on ABC1 and was struck by his authenticity and single-minded dedication to his craft with the New York Times.

Bill’s life has been an obsession with clothes yet he upcycles his plastic poncho by using black gaffer tape to repair tears and works in utilitarian blue shirts.

He describes fashion as the armour to survive everyday life, and dressing the body as an artform. Yet he says 90 per cent of the clothes Americans wear are made outside America – and I’m sure the same applies in Australia as well.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. I’m on a mission to demonstrate that with a small investment of time and effort, you can re-make your clothes in your own home through creative upcycling.

Buying ready-to-wear clothing off-the-rack is quick and easy – when the styles suit your body shape, wallet and situation. But do we need new new? I’m all for recreating existing garments so the length and style is more individual and you will never run into anyone dressed the same way.

There are thousands, perhaps millions, of beautiful natural fibre garments stashed unused in our wardrobes, ops shops or discarded in landfill that can be rescued and refashioned. You just need to take a little time to look at them in a different way – as a natural resource worth reusing.

Today’s offering was a long cheesecloth cotton number with a shirred elastic waist, made in India and found in an op shop for $2. I chopped it off at the waist, lifted it up and attached straps made from the remnants of the top. It is much cooler now and so comfy without the gathered waist.

Sew 5 – The magic of eco-dye

Colour can be transformational, and each day we enjoy a full range of nature’s offerings from sunrise to sunset when we take the time to look.

By comparison, white and pastel-coloured clothing can seem dull, doubly so considering the bright, computer-generated fabrics designs around at the moment. Combined with an out-dated style, it is not surprising such garments remain stashed in the back of the wardrobe.

I have a few white linen numbers hoarded for years because I value the fabric and shell buttons. They have intrinsic value, but were not being worn. So I upcycled them and used red leaves from my regular bush walk to experiment with eco colour.

Fabrics from plant fibres (linen and cotton) don’t take to colour as well as protein fibres (wool and silk) so I went in search of more information at Brisbane Library and discovered the beautiful books of India Flint.

Eco colour and Second Skin brim with inspiration. Dyes from plants are a renewable resource and in Eco colour, India has catalogued an amazing array of combinations and permutations.

If you are not fussy about the colour, what it seems to boil down to is: gather leaves, simmer in pot for a while, place them on moistened garment, wrap into a bundle, return to pot over very low heat for another while, leave to cool in solution as long as your curiosity will allow. Voila.

The dye uptake will be enriched if you pre-prepare the garment with an alkaline solution such as ash water (from a fire) or washing soda. India suggests using protein such as cows’ milk or soy milk which you leave to dry on the fabric before you dye it. Adding rusty metal objects, such as chains or old tools, to the dye bath also helps fix the colour.

Today’s offering started life as a long linen dress with shell buttons down the front. I cropped it off at the waist and added a new skirt made from an assortment of other white linens with more buttons. I created the new skirt as a long rectangle which was pleated randomly as it was sewn in place using zigzag stitch. The lengths vary and pockets are as they appeared on the original garments. I left the dress in moist ash for a day, bundled it with gum leaves and brewed in a pot with more leaves and a rusty spanner.

The garment has lost some of its colour after washing, but can be over-dyed again later to enrich it further. More dye projects ahead – it is fun and easier than it sounds because anything goes.

Sew 4 – A simple summer sew

We are sweltering in Queensland again and seeking ways to keep cool, so this offering is light and breezy – and easy.

Everything I’m making during this Sew it Again year is upcycled – even my display dummy was bought from an op shop. Older things are often better quality, they were made to last. That’s part of their attraction.

I’m going on this journey in 2014 in response to the excessive consumption that is all around us – the push for more, more, more, bigger, brighter, bolder – driven by those with a vested interest.

A new year is a chance to reflect on different ways of being. And it is gratifying to find others doing similar things: people such as the amazingly creative Melbourne-based Pip Lincolne who made A Year of Ethical Fashion pledge for 2014.

Pip’s pledge for 2014 is that when looking for things to wear, she will only:
a) Buy from ethical makers or
b) Buy second-hand or
c) Make it myself or
d) Wear things I already own or
e) Borrow or swap garments with friends

I’m proud to be doing all of the above as I live my values of integrity, creativity, autonomy and purpose.

Today’s upcycle is for my friend Trudy Riesz, who wondered what to do with her many sarongs that are cheap and cheerful reminders of holidays past. They’re still useful for the beach or the pool, but not so useful for everyday dressing unless turned into a dress.

Cut the sarong in half across the middle. Flip one half so there is a fringe on either side, one fringe will be on the back piece and the other on the front piece, but that is barely noticeable when sewn together. Sew the two pieces together about 2/3rds of the way up each side, leaving the rest for your arm holes and a knot at the each shoulder. This sarong had a couple of marks on it, so I sewed buttons over them.

Sew 3 – Who made your clothes?

We are naturally attached to our clothes on a physical, emotional, even spiritual level. We wear them next to our skin, the biggest living organ in our bodies intrinsically linked to health and wellbeing.

How we look and feel in our clothes is important at all stages of life, hence the multi-billion dollar global fashion industry.

But that industry had a watershed moment on April 24 last year, when 1133 people lost their lives in the Rana Plaza fire in Bangladesh. One of many insightful reports is Fashion Victims story by Sarah Ferguson and Mary Ann Jolle on ABC Four Corners

Fashion is coming to consciousness because of people’s growing interest in the ethics of where and how our clothing is made.

A tweet came my way this morning thanks to London slow-fashion consultant Veronica Crespi @rewardrobe, highlighting the launch of the Fashion Revolution Day USA campaign.

“This is part of a global movement to honour the lives lost last April 24th by both asking and answering one simple question Who made your clothes? Let’s revolutionize the fashion industry through curiosity, discovery, and direct action. Wear a piece of clothing #insideout and become a part of this global movement on 04.24.14.”

I’ve been making my own clothes for about two decades (more on that another day) and am now remaking, repurposing, refashioning clothes through a campaign of my own making Sew it Again.

When we consider the bigger picture of where our society is positioned with regard to climate change, constant consumption and excessive use of limited resources, transformational thinking about the sustainable reuse of natural resources is required.

In his book People, planet, profit, Peter Fisk says managing a business with a higher purpose is like committing to a better way of life. Sustainability is like a lifestyle change – to eat more healthily, to keep fit, to explore the world. By adapting your outlook, you see and seize new opportunities.

Fisk says a purpose behind profit is about defining how the business ultimately adds value to society. A purpose is energizing. It gives us cause and focus, and gives people a reason to love us.

I created Sew it Again 3 from an out-dated op shop dress that had a button-down top and long gathered skirt. I cut the top off, lifted up the skirt to make a muumuu that’s cool on hot summer days. I hand-sewed a shell necklace to the front, and sewed the necklace to an offcut of the old bodice at the back to make it the required length. The model is Belinda.

Sew 2 – opportunity in op shops

A few days ago while visiting friends in a nearby city I popped into their local op shop because this is sale time everywhere.

I bought 27 perfectly decent items of clothing for $38. These included dresses on sale for $2, ladies clothing half price, and fill-a-bag for $2.

Today I reflect on this collection. It includes six garments made of silk, four of linen, the others cotton. Together they weigh 6kg. Each was made from 1-2 metres of fabric, so let’s say they represent about 40m of fabric. All this valued at $38, maybe $1/metre.

What does this mountain of perfectly gorgeous cast-offs say about our society’s use of natural resources? Sure, some of these clothes belonged to people who are no longer with us. But many are cast-off by those caught up in clothing churn, moving on to the next fashion trend.

Through action, I am demonstrating a different way. Sew it Again 2 is made by cutting off the bottom of a long skirt and turning that off-cut into a frill collar on a top and trim for an old hat. Cut the neck out of the t-shirt and sew on the frill using zigzag stitch. I sewed the frill twice for extra strength. The hat frill was sewn by hand.

Why do we feel a need to buy new new? Why buy new fabric and sew from scratch? Think about making old new. It only takes a few simple skills with a small investment of your time and creativity.

In his book A New Earth: awakening to your life’s purpose, Eckhart Tolle says that when you are authentic and don’t play roles, it means there is no self (ego) in what you do. When there is no secondary agenda to protect or strengthen yourself, then your actions have far greater power – and therefore capacity to influence and create positive change.

In a world of role-playing personalities, those few people who don’t project a mind-made image but function from the deeper core of their being, those who do not attempt to appear more than they are but are simply themselves, stand out as remarkable and are the only ones who truly make a difference in this world.

The 6kg worth of silk, linen and cotton garments purchased for $38 at an Ipswich op shop.