Monthly Archives: October 2014

Sew 294 – Pulling the threads together

Dr Wendy Relf and Adrienne Richards at Hawkesbury Regional Gallery

It is always helpful to gain fresh perspective on the Sew it Again project as I did today with my sister-in-law Wendy Relf and Hawkesbury Regional Gallery education and public program officer Adrienne Richards.

The project is a creative journey that connects head and heart. It bridges memories of childhood, agricultural science study, communications work and a love of nature – as well as purposefully engaging me in issues of ecological health and wellbeing. As I chatted to Adrienne about my journey from early days on the farm through agricultural science to rural reporting and then issues-based communications work – her summation was that Sew it Again is ‘pulling all the threads together’. Thanks Adrienne, I’ll take those words and put them to good use!

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Sew 293 – Reshaping for a fresh look

I flew to Sydney today and was surprised to see an advertisement for Pfaff sewing machines right up front in the Virgin Australia’s in-flight magazine Voyeur. Sewing is a happening thing.

Just as there’s resurgent interest in home-cooking and baking, crafts such as knitting, crochet and home-sewing are coming into the frame because people enjoy being resourceful and making things for themselves if they have time available.

Sew it Again is a 365-day project demonstrating how to use simple sewing techniques to refashion clothing that already exists but is not being worn as is.

Every day this year, I am posting an upcycled outfit here on sewitagain.com – with all the upcycles easily viewed via pinterest with postings also at facebook.com/textilebeat and twitter.com/textilebeat

Last week I spent a day upcycling with fashion and textile students at Fairholme College in Toowoomba, and Sew 293 is a Year 11 product. This look was created from an unworn cotton knit jumper and a cotton shirt from my accumulated op-shop pile and the students then used their creativity to turn it into something to suit their style. They reshaped the hem of the jumper, cutting along the zigzag open-stitch pattern then sewing across the cut hemline to stop it from fraying. The jumper offcut became a headband. For the skirt, they reshaped the bottom portion of the shirt, taking it in at the sides and turning into a short-sculptured look that utilised the existing hem. A fabulous result, modelled by Shannon.

Sew 292 – Restyle with a bow

The choices we make when we dress each day influence the kind of world we live in. The greenest clothes are those that already exist in the world, mountains of which are readily accessible from your own wardrobes, through op-shops, friends cast-offs or clothing swaps and can then be refashioned.

Having a few sewing skills is empowering. It gives you choice, because you are not restricted to what is newly available for purchase at any particular time. You can choose fabrics you like in colours and styles that flatter your style. And you can be uniquely original – and never run into someone wearing your style. And best of all, by reusing natural fibre clothing you can help save it from prematurely ending up in landfill. Continue reading →

Sew 291 – Re-learning care for clothes

The study of home economics has disappeared from some Australian schools entirely and is considered a lightweight in others – yet it teaches important life-skills about food and nutrition, sewing and textiles, and consumer citizenship.

Lack of knowledge about food and food preparation is no doubt contributing to obesity while absence of simple sewing and laundering skills leads to many clothing being discarded prematurely.

Recent United States research discussed in this Ecouterre article found that young people there have little idea of how to care for clothes. Textiles and Apparel Professor Pamela Norum from the University of Missouri-Columbia surveyed hundreds of American baby boomers and millennials about clothing consumption and found the ability to sew, hem, repair, and launder diminished across generations. Continue reading →

Sew 290 – Sewing in the 21st century

Everyone has a unique journey through life. Good things and bad things happen to each of us – and all we can do is make the most of the opportunities that come our way.

My opportunity this year is to spend time every day refashioning and upcycling existing clothing – demonstrating a creative way of dressing that doesn’t involve always buying new stuff. I’m working through my stash of op-shop found natural-fibre clothing, playing with ideas to reshape and resew them.

I’m not trying to become a clothing designer and I don’t pretend to have fashion qualifications – I’m coming at this from the perspective of conserving natural resources in our finite world. I believe refashioning existing clothing also enables sewing – a dying art in most communities – to be a useful life-skill for the 21st century now that it is uneconomic for women in developed nations to sew clothing from scratch. Continue reading →

Sew 289 – Refashioning at Fairholme

So exciting today to be part of the first-ever Westpac Fairholme Fashion Week in Toowoomba.

Coordinator Mrs Clare Greenhill says senior fashion and textile students focus on sustainable fashion and issues that underpin rampant consumerism in contemporary society.

As Head of Home Economics Department Mrs Greenhill invited me to present an Upcycling talk yesterday and then work with three classes – Year 10, 11 and 12 classes at Fairholme College today.

The Year 10 class this morning had a half-hour challenge to form teams and refashion four different natural fibre garments I’d gathered from various op shops over time. Continue reading →

Sew 288 – The rest of the cotton story

Australian cotton has a great story to tell about its reduced use of pesticides and water, as outlined in yesterday’s post. What has enabled those efficiencies is that cotton plants have been genetically modified to resist insect attack by heliothis pests.

Additionally, cotton growers routinely engage agronomists to check the crop several times a week to oversee the level of beneficial insects and decide when irrigation needs to be scheduled for best effect.

Cotton plants not only produce fibre, but also food in the form of cotton seed which is used as animal feed – with the ratio being two tonne of cotton seed for every one tonne of fibre produced. Continue reading →

Sew 287 – Great story of Aussie cotton

The Australian cotton industry has a cracking story to tell about its sustainability credentials, with pesticide use down by 95 per cent and water use down by 40 per cent according to Cotton Australia’s CEO Adam Kay.

Speaking at the Rural Press Club of Queensland in Brisbane today, Mr Kay said telling the story of Australian cotton to clients and customers enables the industry to take its place as a sustainable source of natural fibres – and face-down creeping competition from synthetic fibres such as polyester which is derived from petroleum.

Having begun its Best Management Practice program in 1997 along with environmental auditing, water-use efficiency measures and more recently the Better Cotton Initiative, the Australian industry is now sharing its story with global customers interested in sustainable natural fibres. View Mr Kay’s talk below.

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Sew 286 – Going green in Brisbane

A lot of interesting, green and thrifty people come to the Green Heart Fair. They come to pick up their free trees from Brisbane City Council, to see Peppa Pig and to gather ideas on how to live more sustainably.

Green Heart Fair values are in alignment with Textile Beat and Sew it Again values. As my rough-hewn signage says, Sew it Again values are creative, mindful, ethical, original, thrifty, eco-friendly, sustainable, unique and zero waste.

Thanks to my friends Neroli Roocke and Leanne McKnoulty for helping out, and the many interested folk who stopped by the Textile Beat activity tent. Continue reading →

Sew 285 – White shirt skirt

So much fun at Undress Brisbane seeing sustainable fashion showcased in a glamorous West End warehouse presented by the amazing Edda Hamar and the #undress14 team. I loved meeting refashioner Kim Bailey from East of Grey and seeing Sinerji and Melanie Childs (a New Zealand upcycler) designs on the runway.

I was wearing my white-shirt skirt created from white shirts – with the sleeves being left-over for another upcycle (in incubation). I picked up these eight shirts (most cotton, one linen, one cotton-polyester) over time from various op-shops because they were such good value and I admired their front features. Continue reading →