Category Archives: wellbeing

Sew 38 – Scissors do the trick

This rework of a shirtmaker dress was quick and easy with a curved reshape of the hemline, scooped at the front, then the sleeves cropped and just zigzagged to finish.

I feel a bit of a butcher taking the scissors to such garments but my conscience is clear because its from an op shop, tossed out because a button fell off.

The fabulous thing about cutting and resewing existing clothing is you can experiment, have fun sewing and trying techniques without breaking the bank or wasting new resources.

I’ve been harvesting natural resources at ops shops for some time now, which is why I’m spending this year working my way through the stockpile and demonstrating a different way of dressing with Sew it Again. (My son Max laughed when I told him I’d filled up a loyalty card and got $50 of free stuff – ‘its like frequent flyer points’ he said.)

The whole idea of endless consumption of stuff and continual growth of society – which we’re sold as being good for the economy – is unsustainable. The Impossible Hamster video shows why. Then there’s this amazing video by the Planetary Collective which documents the Overview Effect felt by astronauts when seeing the beauty of Earth as a planet. Continue reading →

Sew 37 – Consumerism creates waste

Another day, another outfit – and another amazing new book! The Sustainable Fashion Handbook, by Sandy Black – which was just waiting on the library shelf for me to find.

Today’s outfit is refashioned from items off the $2 op-shop rack, just one step away from becoming landfill yet barely worn. The shirt sleeves became a belt, extended by an offcut from skirt which helps blend the pink and beige stripe separates.

In her 2014 book, Professor Sandy Black says taken holistically the textile and clothing life cycles consume more energy and water than do the product lifecycles of any other industry except construction or agriculture – with cleaning, drying and ironing of clothes by consumers being especially costly. 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 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 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 25 – Back to front makeover

Jazz up a shirtmaker linen dress by turning it back to front, cutting off collar, adding scarf and resewing collar in reverse.

This upcycle marks day 25 of my Sew it Again campaign in which I am on a journey that aligns my values, personal and professional background, skills, instinctive creativity, love of nature and interest in pioneering new opportunities.

It springs from study last year with the Australian Rural Leadership Program in which I identified as a post-conventional leader working at individualist and strategist levels.

According to Rooke and Torbert in Harvard Business Review April 2005, strategists typically have socially conscious business ideas that are carried out in a highly collaborative manner. They seek to weave together idealist visions with pragmatic, timely initiatives and principled actions. Rooke and Torbert’s leadership model outlines a step-wise, logical evolution in leadership capacity built through experience and self-awareness.

Another insight I gained from study was I am an INFP. And thanks to my Twitter friend Lisa Claessen, I was inspired to read via this website that INFP-character traits defined as:

Introverted: composed, self-reliant, reserved and thoughtful
Intuitive: creative, imaginative, idealistic and innovative
Feeling: empathetic, sensitive, ethical and authentic
Perceiving: flexible, accepting, tolerant and open-minded

Truity says INFPs are imaginative idealists, guided by their own core values and beliefs. They see potential for a better future, and pursue truth and meaning with their own individual flair.

Individualistic and non-judgmental, INFPs enjoy spending time exploring their own ideas and values are creative and often artistic; they enjoy finding new outlets for self-expression.

INFPs value authenticity and want to be original and individual in what they do. They are often concerned with a search for meaning and truth within themselves. Following tradition holds little appeal for the INFP; they prefer to do their own exploration of values and ideas, and decide for themselves what seems right. INFPs are often offbeat and unconventional, but they feel no desire to conform. The INFP would rather be true to themselves than try to fit in with the crowd.

The INFP may react strongly if they feel their own values are being violated, and they want an open, supportive exchange of ideas.

INFPs engage themselves in a lifelong quest for meaning and authenticity. They often have a special affection for the arts, especially the avant garde, as they love experiencing new concepts in self-expression. (Find your type here.)

Well that explains it! For all of the above reasons, I’m spending 2014 on a values-based creative quest to demonstrate a different way of dressing that is sustainable, unique and rewarding.

This shirtmaker dress has intrinsic value for its lovely linen and shell buttons, but the style was dated. I cut off the collar, added a scarf to the neckline leaving the loose ends to tie in a knot at the buttoned back of the dress (which had been the front). I then sewed the collar on the front of the dress (which had been the back). In reality, the dress can be worn either way around – so it now has a second and third life!

Sew 18 – Silk skirt now dress

I love recreating cast-offs into something fresh, as I did by turning this beautiful but unworn long silk skirt from an op shop into a comfy and cool shift dress.

For everyone, clothing is essential. As well-known Australian designer and champion of natural fibres Liz Davenport said in Management Today September 2013, ‘you can get to an event without a car and without breakfast … but not without clothes’.

Clothing choices impact on our well-being, self-esteem and self-image, but there is a bigger picture to consider as we become mindful about where clothes come from and their true cost.

In Sustainable Fashion and Textiles, Kate Fletcher has written a definitive text on this subject in which she says the reuse of textile products ‘as is’ brings significant environmental savings. The energy used to collect, sort and resell second-hand garments is between 10 and 20 times less than that needed to make a new item. Continue reading →

Sew 16 – Composing outfits

This outfit is a compilation of three items gathered separately which I brought together in a wardrobe try-on session.

It is easy to end up with a lot of oddments and separates in the wardrobe, doubly so when you buy op shop as I do. So instead of having a scramble each morning about what goes with what, I have sessions where I bring together all the mishmash stuff and create outfits which then hang together.

Dressing this way, you never see anyone else in the same outfit – as can be problem when you buy the latest fashion trend.

In their book Paris Street Style: A guide to effortless chic, Isabelle Thomas & Frédérique Veysset say we express our idea of who we are by the clothes we wear. It’s an unconscious, unspoken language that we direct at other people.

“You have to find your own look. There’s no need to knock yourself out to stand out; all that’s required is to be aware of who you are. If you are that, you can develop a harmony between your clothes and your personality. It’s not a question of age or money, more of a state of mind and an intention.”

They quote sociologist Patricia Delahaie as follows: Today, in the era of individualism, everyone can live and dress their own way, inventing themselves and the images that suit them best. Everything is possible now … your look reveals quantities of information about you. To what tribe do you belong? What image of yourself do you want to project? Do you wish to join the mass, or do you need to assert that you’re different? Is it your intention to be seen, or would you prefer to stay in the background? Are you eager to express your creativity, do you need to display the sides of yourself that are sporty, asexual or even rigid?

There wasn’t much sewing involved in today’s offering. The linen wrap-around skirt (Turtle Creek) is as found in an op shop. The designer linen top (Carla Zampatti) is also as found in op shop, except for the add neck scarf – a cast-off from my sister which I thought was a perfect lift to bring the outfit together. It is just stitched on the inside of the neckline and can be easily removed if preferred.