Category Archives: refashion

Sew 152 – Sustainable fashion at the fair

Endless consumption can’t rule. To sustain our lifestyle into the future we need to be mindful about the resources we consume and the waste we create in doing so.

It’s wonderful to be living in a city that promotes sustainable choices through the biannual Green Heart Fair and share ideas with friendly Brisbane residents and visitors.

Textile Beat was part of the action, and thanks to City Smart, family and friends for enabling that to be. Some of the Sew it Again collection found new homes – and others were paraded by the gorgeous Em and Maddy. Continue reading →

Sew 150 – Turtleneck becomes fringe

Tight necklines can be uncomfortable, which might be why there are many turtle-neck wool jumpers to be found in op shops.

I decided to test what would happen when I fringed the neck and Sew 150 is the result. I’ve since washed it on gentle cycle in a laundry bag and the edges developed a nice fluffy effect, no unravelling in sight.

So instead of throwing away jumpers with tight necks, consider fringing. To achieve this effect, cut by following the rib-lines about 1cm apart, taking care to stop before the reinforced edge of the neck. Keep the strips as even as possible – get your eye in by looking ahead of where you are cutting. Wash with care. Sew 150 is teamed with a brown wool jumper skirt, with sleeves used as a tie belt. The different colours is the photo are due to the flash – not a magic new dye process. 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 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 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 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 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 133 – Alter a turtle neck jumper

Alternative ways of living and shopping that are more healthful and mindful for ourselves and our environment are all around us when we open ourselves to them.

It is great to see Reverse Garbage in New South Wales has a new shop ReConsidered at Redfern to increase the reuse of materials and decrease the amount of valuable resources heading to landfill. This South Sydney Herald article quotes Reverse Garbage CEO Narelle Mantle saying the project is promoting care and responsibility for one another and our environment. “ReConsidered seeks to inspire others to literally reconsider the notion of what is ‘waste’ and ‘garbage’ and to see value and function in materials which have been thrown to the wayside.”

This aligns with my Sew it Again project this year, in which I am valuing natural fibre clothing as a resource that can be reinvented for a second life. Sometimes it only takes a small change to make an otherwise attractive garment more comfortable. Continue reading →