This silk jacket has shortened hem with sleeves rolled up and is toned down by a jumper-skirt made from a cardigan. Nearly a quarter of the year is gone, which means I’m 25 percent of the way through my Sew it Again year in which I’m following my heart on a creative journey into eco-fashion with no fixed destination in mind except making a difference.
In a nutshell, I’m an upcycling advocate aiming to empower individuals to reuse existing clothing in creative ways rather than always buying new. As an recycler, there are words posted on Day 11: 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.
Today’s upcycle is reinventing an op-shop pink silk and green-floral cotton suit, the trousers of which I’ve put aside because together they were a bit over the top (even for me). I cropped the long jacket off to just under the pockets and turned up the hem, then rolled up the sleeves to relax them a little. The existing triangle feature in the back of the jacket adds interest and character. From my op-shop jumper collection, I found this green cardigan which has shell buttons and a frilly hem which compensates for the fact it is made of polyester. I created this skirt from the body of the cardigan body and cribbed extra body width by adding in sleeve pieces. I also used part of the sleeve to fill in the cardigan V before adding thin elastic for the waistband.
