Author Archives: Jane

Sew 36 – Quality shines through

This op shop skirt oozed quality so I couldn’t bring myself to chop into it and instead added dress straps cut from the legs of a pair of trousers which I’ve attached using safety pins.

Closer inspection marks the skirt as a Cappopera design made in Italy from a beautiful linen-cotton blend fabric and splendidly stitched. The previous owner must have moved on from this life, this style or this size – but either way it became a natural resource worthy of upcycling.

Finding a plethora of such beautiful garments in op shops started me on this Sew it Again year of resewing existing garments as a demonstration of what we can all do if we rediscover a few simple home-sewing skills.

In her article Exploitation is still in vogue on ABC’s The Drum, eco-entrepreneur and activist Hannah Parris says Australians are enthusiastic garment consumers. Continue reading →

Sew 35 – Dress renovation

This op shop dress was done over by shortening it, taking pinking shears to the armholes then adding a knit-fabric collar cut from the bottom-half of an op shop vest.

Resewing existing clothing for a second life is creative, ethical, thrifty, sustainable – and fun. It takes is a little time (making that is the hard part), a simple sewing skills and imagination.

Society is now much more aware of where food comes from and its impact on our health and environment – and is gradually coming to consciousness about where clothing comes from and its equivalent impacts.

In her book Sew Eco, Ruth Singer says the textile and fashion industries are fraught with potential environmental and ethical issues. Some to consider are: Continue reading →

Sew 34 – Denim gets ripped, not

Old denim jeans are a dime a dozen and for today’s offering, I converted a pair of jeans to a skirt by cropping them at the knees, turning upside down and creating new waistline.

My year of upcycling existing clothing with Sew it Again is all about transformation – of old clothing, damaged clothing, ill-fitting clothing and myself!

I can see how my bossy left brain – the maths/science part – has inhibited my creative right brain with this conversion because it looks a bit too ‘neat’ for my liking. I started off well, upending the jeans is creative, but then tried to tame them with a neat waist and bow.

The exciting thing is that I know that if I work at it every day, my actions and commitment to creatively pursue new ways of doing old things, such skirts in future will be wilder and freer.

Denim is a fashion perennial and according to MX Style it is ripped, pale, overalls and dresses, and boyfriend denim that’s on-trend this season. And apparently rips are back big-time. Continue reading →

Sew 33 – Renewal by upcycling

This bias-cut silk skirt was shortened by cutting off the old waistline and replacing with thin elastic, then recasting the waistline offcut as a draped collar for a matching silk shirt.

My friend Robyn Sheptooha called in with a bag of surplus clothing the other day and we shared a cup of tea while she told me the story of each – how it came into her life and why it was going out – and being put to good use as garment fodder for my 365-day Sew it Again upcycling project.

We met ages ago with boys in Year 3 and meander in and out of each other’s lives, catching up when time permits.

I did so enjoy reading Nikki Gemmell’s column Swamped Again in The Weekend Australian Magazine yesterday because it took me back to those days on the whirligig, bringing up three children with little time to call your own. Continue reading →

Sew 32 – Ethical dressing

The beautiful buttons on this linen outfit are from my mother-in-law’s collection gathered over her lifetime in Cairns north Queensland and given to me in metal cake tin containers.

Quality, heritage and warmth are interwoven in my journey to revive traditional home-sewing skills and reuse natural resources for pleasure and purpose.

I’m also discovering a global ethical fashion community conscious of where clothes come from, how they are made and their ‘true cost’ to people and the environment.

Beautiful, informed people such as founder of manifeco.com Kate Black who wrote on Huff Post recently:

“Ethical fashion, also known as eco, green or sustainable fashion, can take many forms; it can be items that have been passed down (through family or from thrift and vintage shops), clothes from small-batch or local designers, even big brands are getting in the game with fair-trade certifications and using environmentally preferred fibres like organic cotton or tencel.” Continue reading →

Sew 31 – 1 of 12 months’ upcycling

This denim jeans-to-skirt conversion marks the completion of one month’s upcycling in my year-long campaign transforming discarded garments for a second life. Yippee. I’m learning, discovering and connecting with others as I demonstrate choices we have for a different way of dressing that is mindful of ecological health, Earth’s limited resources, wellbeing, ethical sourcing, creativity, thrift, resourcefulness and individual choice. At its heart, this Sew it Again campaign seeks to revive home-sewing as the enabler to wean us from dependence on others for everyday clothing which is as important to our health and wellbeing as the food we eat. Home-cooking has made a comeback, so why not home-sewing? I’m demonstrating ways of resewing existing garments at home as a quick, easy, rewarding and affordable way of dressing because there are mountains of discards stashed away in wardrobes and languishing in op shops. Continue reading →

Sew 30 – Library full of knowledge

This garment was upcycled by Jane Milburn of Textile Beat. It is part of the Sew it Again project to demonstrate a different way of dressing by repurposing exiting clothing for pleasure, reward and sustainability.

That’s my job this year because I’m stepping up. As Rachael Robertson says in her book Leading on the Edge … ‘if you have the expertise or knowledge, speak out and step up into leadership, regardless of your position’.

The current propensity for endless, almost mindless, consumption means our world is bulging with cast-off clothing which we don’t know what to do with because home-sewing skills are now as rare as hen’s teeth.

Perhaps we are at a turning point. The fashion industry is recognizing the need for change after last year’s Rana Plaza fire in Bangladesh exposed exploitation and a fashion revolution is underway. Continue reading →

Sew 29 – Earthy and natural

This dress had several makeovers to be what it is today, morphing from long white-collar linen, short no-collar linen, eco-dyed, re eco-dyed, and silk-scarf trimmed.

All sounds a bit time-consuming, but each stage was a quick change and eventually the garment transformed to be number 29 in my 365-day Sew it Again eco-clothing project.

I’ve bought new the few business suits I own, but the rest of my wardrobe comprises garments I’ve made, altered, salvaged from op shops or been given as cast-off from friends.

I know where my clothes come from, know they are ethically sourced and made of natural fibres (including black cashmere coat Toronto op shop and silk dress Gold Coast op shop).

There’s a growing global awareness about where clothing comes from, how it is produced and its impact on ecological health which mirrors the recent coming to consciousness about food sources and impacts on our own and the planet’s health.

Sustainable apparel consultants such as Shannon Whitehead are bringing awareness to these issues. Shannon summarised in a recent post the six things you should know about your clothes:

There are chemicals on your clothes
There are more than 27 million slaves in the world today
Big retailers are a big problem
Our old clothes (and disposable behaviour) are ruining Africa’s economy
It takes decades for your clothing to decompose in a landfill
We’re not helpless

I began researching this subject while doing leadership study last year which led to my Sew it Again project to demonstrate a different way of dressing by resewing garments from our own and others wardrobes to reuse and repurpose resources that already exist.

Today’s offering had languished in the back of my wardrobe because its button-down front was dated but I love linen and can’t throw it out. I cut the dress to knee-length and cropped off the collar with pinking sheers but found the white was dull (and noticed a small hole which I patched). I used onion and passionfruit skins to dye it – then gave it another burst with passionfruit skins because I loved the purple shades. A silk scarf from a friend complemented the colours so I stitched it on as a drape (and hem trim) to distract from the button-down front. Its earthy and natural – and will be included in Reverse Emporium’s Love Up-Cycled exhibition from February 8.

Sew 28 – Love upcycled

All credit to New York designer Michael Simon for the gorgeous heart features on this vintage top. I just added a few beads to cover age marks and teamed it with a skirt made from an inverted pink top trimmed with cream linen.

I’m thrilled to be one of 25 upcyclers contributing to the Love Up-cycled exhibition opening February 8 at the Reverse Emporium which is a great showcase for Sew it Again creations.

This is another small step to establishing the values and brand of Textile Beat as a creative, natural and unique way of dressing that is ethical and sustainable.

Reverse Emporium is at Woolloongabba and runs a quarterly series of exhibitions showcasing the work of Brisbane artists that demonstrate an awareness of sustainable practices and a devotion to reducing the impact of their craft on the environment.

It is the gallery shop front for Reverse Garbage, which says Australians generate about 14 million tonnes of garbage each year. About two-thirds of this is commercial and industrial waste – reuse of which reduces landfill and helps protect the environment from further pollution.

I’m an agricultural scientist by training, a communications consultant by practice and this year I’m on a creative journey upcycling natural fibre garments for pleasure, reward and sustainability.

Hearts are highly relevant for Love Up-cycled with Valentine’s Day just around the corner.

I had to dig deep into my stash to relocate this top gifted to me for upcycling last year by my friend Robyn, which she had been given by a friend 20 years earlier but was no longer wearing.

The quality and integrity of the top is so strong that I resisted the temptation to cut into it. Instead, I teamed it with a mod skirt which I created by turning another top upside down, adding thin elastic at the waistline before trimming it across the sleeves and adding a linen bias-cut frill.

Sew 27 – Resewing brings second life

This favourite linen dress was in need of a makeover so I shortened the length, used the off-cut to make a long ribbon then sewed some to the neckline before replacing elastic.

Reinventing clothing that already exists in our own and others wardrobes is my purpose this year as I demonstrate a different way of dressing by resewing existing resources.

In our modern world, home sewing is in danger of becoming a lost art, having fallen off the radar as fast, cheap fashion replaced the need to do for ourselves – just as fast food did with home-cooking.

In the same way that we have rediscovered home-cooking as a nourishing and pleasurable activity, I believe home-sewing is being rediscovered as a life-skill of value and reward. Continue reading →