Reflecting on what I’ve learned from this 365-day Sew it Again journey, I had the opportunity to summarise it in a one-minute pitch at #TEDxSouthBank today, as follows:
Every day we eat and we dress. We’re now conscious of our food – it’s time to become more conscious of our clothes. Do you know: Continue reading
Creative types use lateral thinking when reviewing the usefulness of any old coats lurking in your wardrobe, back door or opportunity shop.
Off-season or damaged coats are often available for just a few dollars at op shops, yet they have metres of useful fabric when cut up and repurposed as a craft resource.
I removed the lining and cut up a beige wool coat (see photo in Sew 339 how-to) into pieces, throwing out the small damaged sections which had led to the demise of its usefulness as a garment. I had the fabric pieces stored in a plastic bag, waiting for their moment to shine. Continue reading
I remember seeing Fur is Green advertisements when visiting Canada and the United States in 2009 and thinking it was clever marketing. The Fur Council of Canada campaign maintains that fur is a natural, renewable and sustainable resource. It claims synthetics, by contrast, are generally made from petroleum (a non-renewable resource), which is not consistent with the sustainable use of our environment.
The campaign website said: At a time when the true ecological cost of “cheap”, mass-produced, disposable “fast-fashion” is just beginning to be calculated – think millions of tons of poor-quality fibers and short-life garments filling up landfills – the naturally durable and recyclable qualities of fur makes more sense than ever.
Now that I think about it, perhaps the seeds for this 365-day Sew it Again project were sown back then because this message resonates through my ongoing reuse of natural fibre clothing that already exists instead of buying cheap new synthetic stuff. (BTW, here’s a favourite photo, right, of my lovely children Max, Lily and Casey in Montreal during that 2009 trip to visit Casey while doing part of his engineering degree at McGill University).
Anyway, fur fashion is a polarised debate as Leon Kaye explains it in this Triple Pundit article. I am squeamish about animal suffering for people’s pleasure but I grew up on a farm and work in agriculture so I have a pragmatic approach to eating meat and wearing animal products. We have laws to ensure animals are treated humanely and we expect them to be enacted.
I don’t believe I would go so far as to buy a new fur coat – yet was happy to purchase this vintage fur in a Launceston op shop when I visited Tasmania a few winters ago because it reminded me of a fur coat my great great Aunt Winnie once owned. And it was only $20.
Living in Queensland, we have to guard against pest incursions (silverfish, moths) during summer months because there is nothing more traumatic than seeing a treasure munched. Therefore, I store this fur with bags of cloves in the pockets and in a flat fully-sealed plastic hanging bag. This storage technique may not be ideal but the fur emerged intact to become Sew 253. It does not have a label but the coat is so beautifully constructed, I wondered if the original lining had been replaced. Either way, all I did was fix the hand-stitching on one section where the lining had come away from the fur and it was good as gold. Here’s me in Sew 253, after book club at my dear friend Kay’s, on the banks of the Brisbane River my Australian Rural Leadership Program buddy Keelen Mailman wearing Sew 74.
The coming to consciousness about what we wear on our bodies is being driven along by many factors – including popular culture icons engaging their profile and influence for greater good.
Pharrell Williams, of ‘Happy’ fame, is one such musician involved in a fashion initiative that is turning plastic and ocean waste into desirable clothing under the G-Star RAW for the Oceans collection launching this month. Read more in this 1 Million Women article by Bronte Hogarth.
Another popular musician Will.i.am is stepping out too, in sharply tailored suits made by Coca-Cola funded reuse initiative Ekocycle with fabric created from recycled plastic bottles, as reported by Ecouterre magazine and in the video below. Continue reading
Last year National Op Shop Week came and went without much of a ripple – in contrast to this year when there has been an incredible media response, including from New Corp HQ.
Hats off the Jon Dee from Do Something Near You and the National Association for Charitable Recycling Organisations for raising the profile of the important role op shops play in our society and highlighting how we can contribute by donating, buying and volunteering.
News Corp Australia became involved as part of its 1 Degree environmental sustainability initiative, which is about the small steps we can all take that add up to big change and lead to a sustainable future. That’s so aligned with my Sew it Again project, refashioning existing clothing. Continue reading
This is a truly beautiful cotton lace vintage-style top which is embellished with pretty pansy and daisy flowers, and fastened with shell buttons.
It is fun discovering beautifully-made items like this top at op shops and creating an original outfit by teaming them with a skirt such as this linen one worn by Katy, right, or just blue jeans, below.
From a broader perspective, supporting op shops through National Op Shop Week is a means of raising raise awareness of the important role these charity shops play in our community. This week aims to:
Here’s my gorgeous niece Kate wearing an earth-toned crocheted wool vest with a silk top and two strands of indigenous beads made from seeds and wood.
All of these items were found in op shops and with it being National Op Shop Week from August 24 to Sunday 31, Kate is modelling a series of outfits styled from charity shop finds that only require a wash and go.
Although Kate now works in a pharmacy, she spent several years managing a clothing store so knows how the fashion business works to flatter individual features and bring outfits together. Continue reading
National Op Shop Week begins today and will bring focus to the role of opportunity shops in extending the useful life of consumer goods. By donating to, or purchasing from, op shops we tangibly make a social, ethical and sustainable contribution to society.
Most of us have much more clothing than we need in our wardrobes and It makes sense to shift things we no longer need or want – or have never worn.
I’m such a big supporter of op shops that I’ve accumulated more than I need, particularly seeking out natural-fibre clothing made of linen, wool, cashmere, silk and cotton. Only one-third of modern clothing is made from natural fibres, with the majority two-thirds being made from synthetic fibres or petroleum. Continue reading
Hand knitting has undergone a resurgence in recent years due to many factors – the recession, a desire for authentic and long-lasting garments, individual expression, and the reassurance and warmth of traditional crafts.
Although I knit scarves, I don’t have the patience to knit whole garments – yet I value them and love discovering rejects in op shops where some are dispatched to find new owners and purposes.
You can tell if garments are made of wool by the feel, weight and smell of the fibres (particularly when wet), by looking at them in the sunshine (wool doesn’t glisten) or doing the flame test to a thread (wool will smolder not ignite). Continue reading
Hacktivism strikes me as a great term to describe the art of hacking into reject and cast-off clothing that is no longer loved, at the same time as making a statement about waste and exploitation that arises from contemporary fashion consumption habits. (That was until I googled it and found it’s more readily aligned with computer hacking.)
Anyway, this method of upcycling reflects the #scavengerstyle fashion political statement made by upcycler Karen Ellis whose 24/7 practice is wearing garments salvaged from the point of landfill in Victoria, Australia for the past five years.
Karen brought my attention to Otto von Busch and his >self_passage< research project that ‘explores how fashion can be used for empowerment, self-development and personal growth instead of being a phenomenon of top-down decrees and collective anxiety’. Continue reading