At a global level people are beginning to question the way we dress, where clothing comes from, and whether it is made with ethical and sustainable processes.

As there is rising interest in home cooking and food growing for health and wellbeing, there is a pressing need to rethink our approach to textiles and fashion. Fast food and fast fashion are convenient – but not necessarily sustainable or good for us and our planet.

My model for a social and environmental shift includes empowering individuals to reimagine and recreate their own wardrobe collection by creatively chopping and changing existing clothing to suit themselves.

Instead of global generic bland brand dressing, this shift involves local, individual unfashionistas branding themselves through sustainable, ethical eco-clothing as part of a REfashion Revolution turning waste and reject clothing into something to wear with pride.

The concept of reusing existing clothing has appeal to people concerned about increasing levels of textile waste and prepared to be resourceful and creative in how they dress. If you live in south-east Queensland and are interested in upcycling in this way, my July workshops include a one-day Creative Chop and Change session facilitated by ATASDA on July 12 in Brisbane and a half-day Jumper to Skirt convo session at Abbey of the Roses in Warwick as part of Jumpers and Jazz on July 25 

Rosanne was one of the Biloela beauties excited to be reusing materials that would otherwise languish in cupboards, or eventually be dumped, to create something unique and wearable that can be endlessly patched, mended or adapted further – adding even more character to the story of how it came to be. Rosanne said she enjoyed the workshop immensely ‘upcycling is great, come back again!’

She was sew productive in making two skirts (Sew 168 and this one) before racing off to play golf most of Sunday. Sew 169 is a zero-waste history skirt which utilises what was leftover from Sew 168 as well as two additional unworn garments. Rosanne cut eight panels from a cream embroidered A-line skirt and appliqued vest and the denim short legs from Sew 168. She stitched these together to form a circle, which was sewn to a black stretch waistband (from the black skirt used in Sew 168). Almost every last centimetre of what remained from the original black cotton skirt was used to create a frill to finish the bottom of this gorgeous history skirt.