Author Archives: Jane

Sew 146 – A blanket connection

Connectedness and community is something inner-city neighbourhood friend Lisa Baumann and I reflected on this morning. These positive characteristics of old-fashioned country life are not always cultivated in modern cities but are comforting when you come across them.

It was lovely sharing a coffee at Abode and scoping up Lisa’s day-old newspaper before heading home. Then to open the Sunday Mail and find a spread which has stories about Cunnamulla friends and sheep/wool producers Pru and Stu Barkla beside Ministry of Handmade’s Julie Hillier, well it’s made my day. I feel the urban and rural connection. Continue reading →

Sew 145 – Many fashion futures

Most of us are spoilt for choice in the Western world, with every conceivable item available in a plethora of colours, styles and sizes ready for our consuming pleasure. We purchase our identity according to whichever brand message grabbed our attention from the rivers of print, screen, digital and social information flowing our way.

Clothing shapes our day. Each morning we dress to be comfortable, look fabulous and belong. In seeking to satisfy those needs for 7.2 billion people in the world, apparel fashion has blossomed into a $1.7 trillion industry. As long as consumers happily and mindlessly reach out for more and more clothing, manufacturers will keep providing it.

Any thinking person knows that endless consumption is destroying the planet. Our wardrobes bulge with stuff we don’t wear because we purchased it for a single occasion, our shape has changed, or we bought it cheaply, hurriedly, without longer-term consideration. Continue reading →

Sew 144 – Seeing resewing results

We all bobble along in the world, making the best of what we have and contributing where we can to make a difference. I’m assiduously working away this year on the Sew it Again project, supported by my family and friends to demonstrate ways of upcycling existing clothing to conserve and revive natural fibre resources instead of buying new.

And it is exciting when others catch the ball and run with it! Star pupil from the Coolah workshops Jacki sent me this update: ‘Had a great day – mended two dresses, patched some work jeans that had holes and upcycled a hoodie top into jeans, bag and scarf with little pockets to keep hands warm. That outfit was for an 8-year-old girl, the daughter of a friend. When I gave her the clothes she said “Look Mum the jeans aren’t ugly anymore”. See below for Jacki’s photos of the second-life she created for her unworn hoodie. Continue reading →

Sew 143 – Skirts from trousers

How about this for an amazing statistic – China’s annual consumption of tissues is about 4.4 million tons. This has led to an Eco-Handkerchief event around the use of handkerchiefs over tissues as part of an eco-business trade mission to China from Australia to promote sustainable and environmentally friendly products to a ‘green-hungry’ Chinese market.

So many things that were once considered old-fashioned and traditional are returning to the fore because we recognise them as ‘eco-friendly’, sustainable and practical ways of living.

It was affirming to be among creative women for the sixth birthday celebration and opening of BrisStyle HQ at 24 Macquarie St at Newstead last night and chat with others who value handmade and traditional craft skills. Continue reading →

Sew 142 – Repairing old favs

Crisp new natural-fibre fabrics are lovely to feel, yet the softness and malleability that comes with age has great appeal too.

The men in my family often come with hands outstretched when their favourite trousers or shorts need mending (they’re good at housework and cooking so it’s a quid pro quo). I love that we have this family ethos of treasuring things for sentimental reasons rather than monetary ones.

Staying overnight recently with my friend Georgie Somerset on her and Rob’s beef property at Durong, I took this photograph, below, of their mending pile stacked in a corner waiting for a spare hour or two in between cattle work, community work and board meetings! Continue reading →

Sew 141 – The ripple effect

When you throw a rock in the pond, ripples emerge as a result of that action. This Sew it Again project is not exactly a rock, rather a deliberate and sustained action that is demonstrating the multitude of ways we can reclaim our wardrobes by resewing.

Over the past few decades as women relished long-denied educational and workplace opportunities, we readily outsourced our clothing requirements. Home-made was considered old-fashioned and we embraced easy (and cheap) opportunities to buy off the rack.

The more we bought into the fashion thing, the more we lost the skills and confidence to ‘do for ourselves’ thereby becoming disempowered and dependent on fashion houses and clothing supply chains.

In the same way the food revolution reclaimed the freedom, pleasure and nourishment enabled by home-cooking and baking skills, we are poised to revive home-sewing skills as part of the fashion revolution. Continue reading →

Sew 140 – Making a difference

This website encapsulates a creative, wholehearted leadership journey by me, Jane Milburn, with no set destination except to demonstrate a more sustainable approach to the way we engage with what we wear.

Family and friends are supporting me to unhitch from the ‘office job’, immerse in slow fashion and use simple home-sewing techniques to model creative ways of re-using instead of re-buying.

It is affirming to know that my efforts are not in vain and the Sew it Again project is considered worthy of being archived for posterity.

The State Library of Queensland has selected Sew it Again for regular archiving in the National Library of Australia’s web archive, PANDORA and I’ve enabled that to happen. Exciting. Continue reading →

Sew 139 – Clothing recommission

Some people wear vintage clothing well – but there are other people who don’t and some garments that make you feel out-of-date.

Such was the case with this lovely brushed cotton frock which my friend Ele gave me to update for her as Sew 139, see below.

But first, I’ve included a photo of this quick and easy refresh Ele achieved for her verandah chairs using large op-shop bought t-shirts and a bit of hand-sewing using blanket stitch one evening.

This upcycle just goes to show you don’t need a sewing machine, you don’t need heaps of time or money – you just need a little motivation and effort to transform an old sofa with $25 worth of cast-off clothing.

Continue reading →

Sew 138 – Washing and wearing

After our clothing has been made and sold, the main environmental impact comes from the way we wash and dry it.

In The Sustainable Fashion Handbook by Sandy Black, the University of Oxford’s Chris Jardine estimates that each washing machine or dryer uses about 10 percent of an average household’s electricity consumption.

Simple options for reducing environmental impacts (and cost) of washing and drying are:

Wash full loads – the energy required for a washing cycle is the same, regardless of whether the machine is full or empty;
Wash at as low temperature as possible – heating the water uses most of the electricity required to run the machine;
Dry garments on a line, not in a dryer – line dry garments outside on a washing line, or inside on a well-spaced clothes rack. Continue reading →

Sew 137 – One of a kind

Having an original, one-of-a-kind garment is interesting, fun and an expression of creativity – but it is not for everyone.

We all have our own preference and taste, whether that is conservative, conventional or high fashion as determined by so-called trendsetters and style leaders,

Because I’ve never been one to follow the crowd, upcycling existing clothing suits me well – I can experiment with different styles and enjoy natural fibres without breaking the bank.

My Upcycled exhibition in Coolah was a unique opportunity to present an alternative and adventurous way of engaging with our wardrobes, rather than simply buying off-the-rack, ready-made fashion as has become the norm over the past two decades.

My premise is that home-sewing is a life skill, just like home-cooking, and the Sew it Again project aims to transform the way we think about and wear our clothes. Continue reading →