There’s always great reading in Virgin Australia’s Voyeur magazine. The September issue is particularly relevant considering this eco-social Sew it Again project I’m undertaking in 2014 to repurpose natural fibre clothing for sustainable and ethical reasons.
The conscious consumption article Label Conscious by Clare Press outlines the reasons why many are rethinking the way we engage with our clothes since the Bangladesh factory disaster last year exposed nasty secrets associated with cheap fast fashion.
Press writes: “By definition fashion is built on the new, but even by its own standards change has been dizzying. Over the past five years we’ve seen a revolution in the way clothes are made, marketed and sold … Designers are producing more collections more quickly and the high street is knocking them off like never before … All this adds up to greater demand for and consumption of fashion at both the luxury and budget ends.”
This choice and turnover has led to bulging wardrobes, increasing waste and an awakening to the origins, the making and the stories associated with our clothing. My personal response to the plethora of perfectly good clothing languishing in wardrobes and opportunity shops is to set about refashioning and reshaping it for a second life. This satisfies my values of integrity, creativity, autonomy and purpose – and by writing about what I am doing every day I’m sharing ideas and skills to empower others who may be interested in changing course in this way.
Sew 247 is a raw silk outfit cut on the cross which I originally made for myself several years ago but was not longer wearing. Inspired by the Raggedy collection that features in Sass Brown’s book Refashioned, I did a quick restyle to the skirt by making random pleats in one side. To change and distress the round neckline, I folded the top in half and cropped it into a new V-neckline at the front before using zigzag stitch to secure the edge. The creative process of continually restyling and resewing your own clothing at home is empowering because you become independent, develop an original style and become part of the DIY maker movement.
