“It’s time to stop giving our crap to the poor.” We think we are being kind and generous when we donate our unwanted clothing to charity – but are we just shifting our old stuff their way to help ourselves? When we give to people in need, we should give quality stuff – or cash.

In this thought-provoking post on We Are That Family, Kirsten wrote: ‘Just because our donation feels like we are helping, in reality, we could be hurting. Bales of used clothes are sold to African countries for resell and they end up flooding the market and often put local textile businesses and seamstresses out of business.”

Yesterday I wrote that Australia exports 70,000 tonne of used clothing each year (according to NACRO) mainly to UAE, Pakistan and Malaysia – that is 70,000,000 kg of cast-off clothing every year. Every pair of jeans (less than 1kg) takes 10,000 litres of water to grow the cotton fabric (according to WRAP UK). They are big numbers. Textile waste is a big issue and the more I read, the more I’m convinced that as a society, we need to change our ways. 

Buying less clothing of better quality (and taking care of them) is a great place to start. Buying pre-loved and sharing is excellent. Those who want to go the extra mile can refashion and upcycle reject clothing (as I’m doing 365-days with this Sew it Again project) . Then there are others like Karen Ellis who takes it to the edge with #scavengerstyle salvaging textile resources from the point of landfill.

Through Karen I came to read this Sydney Morning Herald 2012 article about giving pre-loved gifts for Christmas. The quote at the bottom says it all: “And there is an alternative perspective, one informed by the thought that neither we, the people nor the nation, need so much more new stuff, and that the path to happiness may not lie in ever-increasing amounts of making, getting and spending. There is, after all, enough unwanted stuff already out there – used but unused.”

Christmas is around the corner but today’s upcycle is a tilt to the jacaranda, with the beautiful purple blossoms still prolific this late in their flowering season. I found three purple cast-offs garments in the stash – two linen skirts and one viscose top. The darker purple skirt I made years ago and wore enough to get a hole in it but was no longer wearing – so I sacrificed this and cut up on the diagonal to create a collar for the top (from which I cut off the sleeves). The longest purple strip was sewn directly to the neckline of the top with some overlap at the front, another piece was used to create a hand-sewn feature at the front while another was sewn on the second skirt. To enliven this second skirt, I made some horizontal pleats at the front, and affixed the triangle feature above it. Thanks to Mr Darcy for patience with the photos – they took a while and we never did find the purple carpet of flowers which was our original aim.