This history skirt is one of a series of three I made for the Green Heart Fair last year from six reject silk and linen garments, which I wear with an op shop navy wool top. Back home in Brisbane and excited today to be wearing this to the Rural Press Club lunch which is about the power of one person to change things and the power of cooking to bring communities and strangers together.

Baked Relief founder Danielle Crismani, @digellabakes on Twitter, is guest speaker talking about her amazing community leadership in 2011 and the recent #lovetothewest campaign. “When the 2011 floods hit the Lockyer Valley, Brisbane woman Danielle Crismani baked a batch of muffins for the volunteers she saw on her TV screen. Within days of a mention on Facebook, hundreds of people inspired by her act of kindness – were baking for flood hit communities. The accidently created charity ‘Baked Relief’ is still going with volunteers baking for Queensland’s drought hit farmers.” 

Also today is the national launch of Liz Harfull’s latest cookbook, The Australian Blue Ribbon Cookbook. The South Australian ‘rural story teller’ won an international award for her last book on South Australia’s best country-show cooks. A surprise best seller, her new book is a collection of tips, recipes and stories from the country’s very best country show cooks.

This focus on traditional home-cooking and its place in community is well-aligned with my 365-day Sew it Again campaign in which I’m on a mission to revive home-sewing as a life skill and see more resewing of existing garments as an alternative to fast fashion.

This history skirt has a story to tell. It is created from pieces of reject silk garments from which I cut eight individual panels. These are each decorated with a pocket, bow or ribbons, then sewn together to make a circle skirt. This is finished with an elastic waistband at the top and a strip of linen as a hem. The wool top was an op shop find which had a tight neckline. I cut the neck at the middle front, stopping just before it joined the body. It may surprise you that wool knits like this don’t seem to fray, but if you are worried you could always use blanket stitch to secure.