Category Archives: campaigns and leadership

Sew 149 – Serena resews trousers

The Sew it Again project is not about Jane Milburn resewing adventures, it is about inspiring and enabling others to relook at clothing that already exists in their wardrobes and refashioning it for a second life.

Serena Williams is an early adopter. Having bought jeans-to-skirt convo Sew 31 at the Reverse Emporium Love Upcycled exhibition, she got in touch about refashioning a wool suit that was no longer suitable for her partner’s corporate role.

We had sew much fun together, although she made me wield the scissors. Tellingly, Serena felt a twinge in her chest as I cut into the fine wool suiting fabric. It is a little scary slicing up something that still has intrinsic value but if it is not being worn as is, the risk is not high.

Continue reading →

Sew 148 – Green at heart

In her book Naked Fashion: the new sustainable fashion revolution, Safia Minney says the price tag on fashion you buy rarely covers the real social and environmental costs – and she explains why.

“For many developing countries, clothing manufacture is a leg-up into industrialisation and so-called development, and is a substantial part of their earnings. In Bangladesh, clothing exports account for 70 per cent of GDP and the industry employs over three million workers, mostly women. The clothing industry offers opportunities to low-income countries because of the relatively low cost of setting up factories, and a burgeoning population that provides a constant supply of deft hands as semi-skilled labour. Developing countries end up competing with each other to be the world’s garment factory, in what has been called a ‘race to the bottom’ for wages, health and safety and job security,” writes Minney, founder of fair trade fashion brand People Tree.

It is a tricky scenario, but the reality is that Western consumerism – in Minney’s words – is stripping land and natural resources away from farmers and fisherfolk and concentrating it all into the hands of a few business owners, investors and their army – the advertisers, creatives and marketeers who make consumption so seductive, even at the cost of our planet and our sanity.”

That’s a reality check if you needed one – and it’s why I’m demonstrating a creative way of dressing with Sew it Again and getting involved with Brisbane City’s fabulous Green Heart Fair, which support sustainable living initiatives such as upcycled eco-fashion. Below is a photo of Stephanie Poncini in Sew 143, Belinda Burgess in Sew 1 and Jane Milburn in Sew 113 taken by Annette Dew for Westside News … and the new bunting I’ve created for the Textile Beat display this Sunday. Come along and join in a T-shirts Reworked adventure I’m working on now.

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 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 →

Sew 136 – Upcycled show makes mark

It has been affirming to see the Upcycled exhibition receive such a positive reception during the past 12 days on show in Coolah’s Pandora Gallery.

By all accounts, it had a positive social impact and provided an engaging opportunity to bring together new members of the community in a creative and uplifting way.

I could also see people shifting their thinking about clothing and textiles, and being inspired by what can be done with stuff in their wardrobes that they aren’t wearing.

Even local solicitor Michael Baxter (photo below) – in town for a Wills and Power of Attorney talk during National Law Week – engaged in the concept and brought a male perspective when he passed through the gallery and asked the question – do you upcycle men’s things too?” Continue reading →

Sew 134 – Wool jumper to beanies + bag

By upcycling every day during 2014 for the Sew it Again project, I’m following my heart on a creative journey that bridges memories from childhood, professional expertise, networks, and a love of natural, sustainable fashion.

As well as upcycling for its own sake, I’m sharing skills and creative ideas with others interested in refashioning clothing they are not wearing and working to shift society’s thinking about the ecological impact of current clothing habits.

Today we had a second workshop as part of my Upcycled exhibition at Coolah’s Pandora Gallery which was a lot of fun, with Carol, Stella, Chris, Natalie, Georgina and Diane all leaving the session inspired by what is possible when you apply a little creative thinking.

And star pupil from Sunday’s workshop Jacki went home and produced this jeans skirt (see below) as a result of seeing what can be done. No doubt Jacki is on the way to upcycling her wardrobe forever more, using her existing sewing skills laced with creative inspiration.

To create Sew 134, we chopped off the sleeves from a wool cardigan, mended the holes then covered them with beads from a reject necklace. We then knotted the ends to form a pompom of sorts for what are now beanies. The buttoned front of the cardigan became a carry bag, with the shoulders and back of the cardi being trimmed and sewn into a long strap. A bit hard to show in photos, but once you start cutting you can devise your own method. Have fun.

Sew 130 – Fast fashion waste

The built environment shapes the way we live, food choices influence our health and the clothing we chose to wear is a statement about who we are.

Media reports today confirm that fast food is having a profound influence on our diet, with a new Australian Health Survey by the Bureau of Statistics showing we are eating 30 per cent less fruit and vegetables than 15 years ago.

Curtin University’s Professor Mike Daube is quoted as saying fast food has eclipsed vegetables as a dietary staple, which is a major concern because of the implications for health costs and disease burden in society. “The results are a triumph for the mass marketing of junk food,” he says.

Just as fast food has negatively influenced our diets, fast fashion has transformed the clothing and textile landscape. In the past decade, our entire approach has changed since globalisation made clothing cheaper and more plentiful that ever before.

Clothing waste is a very real issue, leading to organisations such as the UK-based charity TRAID working to stop clothes from being thrown away and Hong Kong-based NGO Redress promoting environmental sustainability in the fashion industry by reducing textile waste, pollution, water and energy consumption.

Tweets from the Ecochic Awards yesterday via @TRAID and @Redress_Asia quoted: “A third of all clothing is still ending up in landfill In the UK … we throw £140 million of clothes into the bin every year … according to WRAP UK 17-20% of garments made remain unsold.”

Such waste is worrying and these figures are probably similar in other developed nations such as Australia. A desire to value reject natural fibre clothing underpins my 365-day Sew it Again project to raise awareness of how we can creatively reconstruct and upcycle what already exists instead of always buying new.

Sew 130 is two op-shop found jumpers. The striped wool had a couple of small holes which I mended by hand-stitching on a few buttons. The khaki wool jumper was cut and reshaped as a jumper skirt, with the sleeves sewn together (on the diagonal to optimise length) to become a scarf. Ele has accessorised with bright blue and makes these rejects look groovy.

Sew 129 – Putting it out there

The most common reason we hesitate when given a chance to express ourselves creatively is our fear of other people’s negative opinions, says Harvard psychologist Ellen Langer.

In her book On Becoming an Artist, Dr Langer says it is hard to try something without knowing the outcome but from a creative perspective, not knowing the outcome is actually preferable. And it is important to remember that the evaluations of others – both good and bad – are not really objective and needn’t shape our choices.

“Evaluation is central to the way we make sense of the our world; almost all of our thoughts are concerned with whether what we or others are doing or thinking is good or bad … If a change in our attitude about evaluation is to happen, the most important understanding we need to gain is that all behaviour makes sense from the actor’s perspective or the actor wouldn’t do it.” Continue reading →

Sew 125 – An upcycled upcycle

Uncertainty is an essential element of creativity, which in turn comes from mindful attention to your craft of choice. My craft is resewing existing clothing.

Harvard psychologist Ellen Langer says our current culture leads us to try to reduce and minimise uncertainty, leading to mindless rigid behaviour governed by rules and routines.

On the other hand, if we exploit the power of uncertainty we learn that things can become more than we previously thought possible. Mindfulness makes us sensitive to context, perspective, and changing situations.

Sew it Again is a response to changing circumstances around the way we dress. As clothing becomes cheaper, plentiful and designed with built-in obsolescence – an extraordinary amount of clothing waste has been accumulating around the world. Continue reading →