Category Archives: repurpose

Sew 95 – Three-shirt shift dress

You can go out without breakfast or a car – but you can’t go out without clothes. It is the story of those clothes that is the focus of my Sew it Again campaign to inspire resewing existing clothing for a second life.

I’ve been asked to talk about my work at the Brisbane Visual Arts Community hub by the Australian Textile Artists and Surface Designers Association in Queensland today and I’m taking along my model Mabel in Sew 95, which is three shirts reworked as a shift dress.

All the materials I use are found, mostly from op shops and always natural fibres. I love linen, wool, silk, cotton in that order. Continue reading →

Sew 93 – Getting your stuff together

Desire, buy, use, reject and toss are the five stages of engagement with stuff that make our world go around.

New Scientist magazine this week says humans are materialistic by nature, but we have an odd relationship with the things we own. Possessions enrich our lives but they also come at a cost, both environmental and psychological. In a fabulous 10-page spread, the magazine dissects our relationship to material goods and ponders the future of ownership.

Alison George writes that tools for hunter-gathering were our first possessions and over time objects became valued not just for utility but also for prestige to advertise the owner’s skill or social status. When people began to live in one place their possessions began to accumulate. Continue reading →

Sew 91 – Small actions feed big picture

In a variation from my usual clothing-to-clothing upcycling, Sew 91 is a strappy dress recast as a carry-all bag.

Reducing consumption by reusing stuff that already exists in the world is something we as individuals can do in response to the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report.

Although I live with geologists who have a long-term perspective on climate change across millennia, yesterday’s IPCC report presents a compelling compilation of 1729 expert and government reviewers distilled by 436 contributing authors.

Their considered view is that the effects of climate change are already occurring on all continents … the world is ill-prepared for risks from a changing climate … but there are opportunities to respond to such risks.

In an ABC 730 interview last night with Sarah Ferguson, co-chair of the IPCC Working Group II Dr Chris Field said: “The impacts of changes that have already occurred are widespread and consequential … and the risks of impacts that are severe, pervasive and irreversible is much greater if we stay on a path of continued high emissions.” Continue reading →

Sew 89 – Using what already exists

This silk jacket has shortened hem with sleeves rolled up and is toned down by a jumper-skirt made from a cardigan. Nearly a quarter of the year is gone, which means I’m 25 percent of the way through my Sew it Again year in which I’m following my heart on a creative journey into eco-fashion with no fixed destination in mind except making a difference.

In a nutshell, I’m an upcycling advocate aiming to empower individuals to reuse existing clothing in creative ways rather than always buying new. As an recycler, there are words posted on Day 11: I’m an agricultural scientist by training and my first professional job was as ABC rural reporter working in radio and television in Victoria and Queensland.

Now I’m on a 365-day journey with the Sew it Again project to inspire creative upcycling of natural fibre clothing and revive home-sewing as a life-skill akin to cooking. In between these endeavours, as a communications consultant I’ve run issues-based campaigns such as the 612 ABC Swap It Challenge for health groups, Save the Aussie Banana for growers and water fluoridation for dentists. Continue reading →

Sew 87 – Signpost for wool

This black wool jumper carries the distinctive Woolmark logo but I’m less certain about the fibres in the second jumper I converted to a skirt and scarf for this outfit.

Wool is a beautiful fibre from nature and it is great to see the trademark Woolmark making a comeback after languishing for a period while the wool industry got its act together.

Australia is the leading wool producing nation but New Zealand spearheaded the wool comeback with its Icebreaker Merino story dramatically showing the way. Check out Southern Alps and Merino 101 here – such a great product and the quality remains long after the price is forgotten.

Prince Charles is an influential ambassador for wool as it aligns with the sustainability philosophy he has championed for a lifetime. The Prince’s Campaign for Wool helped revive the Woolmark as the signature of assured provenance.

Woolmark is owned and funded by Australian growers and it was leadership from Stuart McCullough that brought the Woolmark out of mothballs to celebrate 50 years in 2014 and proudly feature in Italy’s L’Uomo Vogue March issue about Australia.

Today’s upcycle is of a black op shop wool jumper which I smartened up by removing the pilling which can accumulate with wear and now it’s as good as new. The second jumper is too lightweight to be 100 percent wool but nonetheless was perfect for conversion to my signature jumper-skirt, but reshaping the bottom and using the sleeves as a scarf.

Sew 86 – Valuing others’ work

Respecting time, effort and resources of others’ creations is part of today’s upcycle which includes the waistband of a knitted garment now featuring as a loose collar.

Thinking of others is key to the inspiring story told at the Rural Press Club by Danielle Crismani about her leadership journey during the 2011 Queensland floods when a simple act of baking muffins for volunteers sparked an outpouring of baked relief at this time of community crisis.

By giving to others Danielle has achieved many things, including being able to opening dispense her recipe for overcoming depression – which is show gratitude, sleep, be kind to yourself and help others. There were many great pearls of wisdom in Danielle’s speech, which you can get a taste of by reading ABC Landline Pip Courtney’s twitter feed. Continue reading →

Sew 85 – Upcycled history skirt

This history skirt is one of a series of three I made for the Green Heart Fair last year from six reject silk and linen garments, which I wear with an op shop navy wool top. Back home in Brisbane and excited today to be wearing this to the Rural Press Club lunch which is about the power of one person to change things and the power of cooking to bring communities and strangers together.

Baked Relief founder Danielle Crismani, @digellabakes on Twitter, is guest speaker talking about her amazing community leadership in 2011 and the recent #lovetothewest campaign. “When the 2011 floods hit the Lockyer Valley, Brisbane woman Danielle Crismani baked a batch of muffins for the volunteers she saw on her TV screen. Within days of a mention on Facebook, hundreds of people inspired by her act of kindness – were baking for flood hit communities. The accidently created charity ‘Baked Relief’ is still going with volunteers baking for Queensland’s drought hit farmers.” Continue reading →

Sew 81 – Reviving the sewing machine

This upcycle is an adapted woollen jumper cropped under the shoulders to become two pieces – the sleeves sewn together as a scarf and the bottom of the jumper becoming a skirt.

When you have a sewing machine and you use it, you have choice about what you wear and can make small changes so existing clothing works better for you.

It was fun to help my Perth friend Pat Milne get her sewing machine out and adapt a few garments that weren’t working very well for her, including a dress that was too big under the arms. Pat used to take classes with friends in a beautiful big sewing studio when living in Orange, New South Wales but had drifted away from the habit in recent years.

Pat also revealed a special collection of threads and sewing tools bequeathed from her Aunt Bett – including these linen and silk threads on wooden spools and a beautiful authentic thimble.

To make this jumper skirt, I cut the jumper below the arms then added another piece of fabric to become waistband with elastic inside it. The sleeves were sewn together on the diagonal and it wraps around the neck as a scarf pinned with a brooch made from an old earring.

Sew 77 – Twin-set, no pearls

This hand-knitted coral pink wool twin-set is an op shop find which I’ve upcycled and wear with a contrasting jumper-skirt.

There was a time when people looked down their noses at home-made clothing. That’s all changed now that cheap store-bought stuff is a dime a dozen and one-off hand-made originals are being re-appreciated.

Knitting and crocheting has been rediscovered as a craft of skill, creativity and relaxation. What fun to come across Woollylatte’s, an exclusive knitting boutique and coffee house just around the corner from where I’m staying with my friends Pat and Bruce at Wembley in Perth. Continue reading →

Sew 72 – Upending banana drama

These black t-shirts are 10-years old and the screen-printing is as good as the day it was created for the Save the Aussie Banana awareness campaign I ran with the Australian industry.

Australia is the only Western country with a commercial banana industry and is relatively free of the world’s worst pests and diseases. It was on these grounds that Tully banana grower Len Collins led the industry campaign against Philippines banana imports.

We used creative ways to raise public awareness via a big banana giveaway at Sydney’s Royal Easter Show and a Cowboys’ rugby league home game in Townsville – see photo below right with a Cowboys’ fan, Benny Banana and Jane Milburn, taken by my friend Chrissy Maguire in 2004.

After an extended import risk analysis by Australian authorities, the quarantine bar was set high to prevent disease incursions (such as black sigatoka, moko, bunchy top, freckle) and imports have not proceeded on this basis.

That was ages ago and now I’ve moved on to an ecological health campaign of my own making, demonstrating upcycling and resewing existing natural fibre clothing for pleasure, reward and sustainability. Continue reading →