Category Archives: wellbeing

Sew 14 – Textile metaphors

This fabric has a tapa-cloth look but it’s just an ordinary cotton skirt turned into a dress by adding shoulder straps.

Tapa cloth is made from bark and one of many naturally-derived textiles that form society’s early story-telling history.

Beverly Gordon says in her book Textiles: the whole story, there are some potent textile metaphors that are now part of our everyday vernacular describing life experiences.

We talk of ‘spinning a yarn’ when we draw out words and put them together to tell a tale, and we ‘put a spin on’ ideas or events, shaping them as we would like them to be.

People who dabble in magic ‘weave’ spells. These days we also follow ‘threads’ in online conversations, as our discussions weave in and out of each other.

We talk about life ‘hanging by a thread’, which reminds us of our fragility and the preciousness of our time on Earth. Fibre terms are used to describe deterioration or coming apart – things are frayed, ripped, tattered or shredded.

Gordon says a new textile, like a new life, is clean and fresh, and unused cloth often functions as a symbol of purity as well as wholeness. In contrast, worn cloth represents the end of wholeness and, like a worn-out life, has little future.

Through this 365-day eco-clothing project, I’m creating a new story about worn cloth by using creativity and imagination to stitch-up a second life for discarded garments.

Today’s offering was a long, full skirt found in an op shop. It makes a cool, loose dress when strappy shoulders are added. For the straps, I used fabric scraps from two other garments. The spagetti straps looked a bit plain so I added another layer of similar fabric for interest and balance. Pin straps in place before sewing, and adjust the position or length according to your preference.

Sew 11 – Beyond money and power

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.

Sew it Again is a campaign of my own making which emerged during leadership studies last year that changed my thinking about what really matters – and it isn’t money or power. I’m interested in values-based leadership mindful of Earth’s finite resources, so I’m now following my heart on a journey of creativity, empowerment, thrift, sustainability, ecological health and wellbeing.

My thinking aligns with that of Huffington Post editor-in-chief Arianna Huffington’s Third Metric campaign which is “redefining success beyond money and power to include well-being, wisdom, wonder, compassion and giving”.

Huffington said: “We’ll be opening up the conversation around all the ways our current definition of success is failing us, and putting the spotlight on the tremendous shift happening across the country—and across the world—as women and men seek a new definition of success that’s more sustainable and more humane.”

Sew it Again bridges memories of childhood, professional expertise, agribusiness networks and a love of nature with a desire to raise awareness about our escalating rate of textile consumption which is rising at three times the rate of population growth. FAO textile consumption survey 2013

Today’s offering is an old linen dress I’ve had for years but wasn’t wearing. I gathered fallen bark on my morning’s walk and gave it a colour change, along with a piece of silk which I then hand-stitched around the neckline to add interest.

Sew 10 – Fasten with fabpins

This skirt was lovely in its day but wasn’t being worn so I’ve given it a second life as a dress that is fitted with the help of fabric-covered safety pins – which I’m calling fabpins.

You need to find good quality safety pins and wrap them bottom to top with a strip of fabric that is then anchored by a knot. They can be used in place of buttons, but ideally need to be unpinned and excluded from the wash.

Good quality cotton fabric such as was used for this skirt has a high thread count, feels beautiful to touch and can last for decades. It is a shame to see such garments tossed out when styles change and wearers move on to the next best thing keeping up with the latest fashion.

A great Opinion Letter in the 4 January issue of New Scientist magazine provides a fresh take on the idea of ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ which is relevant here.

Wiebina Heesterman from Birmingham UK suggests a switch to ‘powering down with the Joneses’ and challenging neighbours to take actions to help reduce waste and fix the climate.

Wiebina says then you can say things like: “We use far less energy than anyone else in the street, we only had to pay $500 for gas and electricity this year, what about you? Or: “Look at my 1920s dress: it belonged to my great grandmother – I bet you haven’t got anything that beautiful.”

I’ve got a few garments that belonged to my Great Great Aunt Winnie stashed in a top cupboard somewhere which I upcycled and wore during university days (back in the late ‘70s that was!). They’ll be ready for re-upcycling soon as part of my 365-day upcycling journey this year.

Meanwhile with Sew it Again 10, I cut off the bottom border of the skirt and cut it in two. I draped these two panels to form the top, making tucks at the shoulders and sewing the panels to the skirt band, which opens with a side zip. I sewed the top panels together at the side opposite the zip, and secured the overlaps front, back and zip-side using fabpins.

Sew 8 – Sewing is a life skill

This garment began life as a block-coloured linen skirt cut on the cross, which I’ve upcycled into a cool summer dress.

I grew up in a farming family, born of parents who came through the depression and learned to be resourceful. We grew our own vegetables and Dad butchered the meat on the farm in Otago, New Zealand.

Society’s resurgent interest in home-cooking reflects our re-valuing of the nutritional, seasonal, creative and pleasurable aspects of cooking wholesome food in the home.

I learned to cook and bake in our Great Grandma’s kitchen in the cottage. I learned to sew, knit and crochet with Nana – and I later learned other crafts like spinning wool and making paper from my aunt Kate McLachlan. Continue reading →

Sew 6 – Cool cotton lives on

Another hot day in paradise, another simple way to give a cotton dress a second life – by lifting the waistline and thereby shortening the skirt.

On the other side of the world, you wouldn’t be wearing an Indian cotton number on the streets of New York right now – and if you did there’s a chance photographer Bill Cunningham might capture the moment.

I was lucky last night to catch the documentary Bill Cunningham New York repeated on ABC1 and was struck by his authenticity and single-minded dedication to his craft with the New York Times.

Bill’s life has been an obsession with clothes yet he upcycles his plastic poncho by using black gaffer tape to repair tears and works in utilitarian blue shirts.

He describes fashion as the armour to survive everyday life, and dressing the body as an artform. Yet he says 90 per cent of the clothes Americans wear are made outside America – and I’m sure the same applies in Australia as well.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. I’m on a mission to demonstrate that with a small investment of time and effort, you can re-make your clothes in your own home through creative upcycling.

Buying ready-to-wear clothing off-the-rack is quick and easy – when the styles suit your body shape, wallet and situation. But do we need new new? I’m all for recreating existing garments so the length and style is more individual and you will never run into anyone dressed the same way.

There are thousands, perhaps millions, of beautiful natural fibre garments stashed unused in our wardrobes, ops shops or discarded in landfill that can be rescued and refashioned. You just need to take a little time to look at them in a different way – as a natural resource worth reusing.

Today’s offering was a long cheesecloth cotton number with a shirred elastic waist, made in India and found in an op shop for $2. I chopped it off at the waist, lifted it up and attached straps made from the remnants of the top. It is much cooler now and so comfy without the gathered waist.

Sew 3 – Who made your clothes?

We are naturally attached to our clothes on a physical, emotional, even spiritual level. We wear them next to our skin, the biggest living organ in our bodies intrinsically linked to health and wellbeing.

How we look and feel in our clothes is important at all stages of life, hence the multi-billion dollar global fashion industry.

But that industry had a watershed moment on April 24 last year, when 1133 people lost their lives in the Rana Plaza fire in Bangladesh. One of many insightful reports is Fashion Victims story by Sarah Ferguson and Mary Ann Jolle on ABC Four Corners

Fashion is coming to consciousness because of people’s growing interest in the ethics of where and how our clothing is made.

A tweet came my way this morning thanks to London slow-fashion consultant Veronica Crespi @rewardrobe, highlighting the launch of the Fashion Revolution Day USA campaign.

“This is part of a global movement to honour the lives lost last April 24th by both asking and answering one simple question Who made your clothes? Let’s revolutionize the fashion industry through curiosity, discovery, and direct action. Wear a piece of clothing #insideout and become a part of this global movement on 04.24.14.”

I’ve been making my own clothes for about two decades (more on that another day) and am now remaking, repurposing, refashioning clothes through a campaign of my own making Sew it Again.

When we consider the bigger picture of where our society is positioned with regard to climate change, constant consumption and excessive use of limited resources, transformational thinking about the sustainable reuse of natural resources is required.

In his book People, planet, profit, Peter Fisk says managing a business with a higher purpose is like committing to a better way of life. Sustainability is like a lifestyle change – to eat more healthily, to keep fit, to explore the world. By adapting your outlook, you see and seize new opportunities.

Fisk says a purpose behind profit is about defining how the business ultimately adds value to society. A purpose is energizing. It gives us cause and focus, and gives people a reason to love us.

I created Sew it Again 3 from an out-dated op shop dress that had a button-down top and long gathered skirt. I cut the top off, lifted up the skirt to make a muumuu that’s cool on hot summer days. I hand-sewed a shell necklace to the front, and sewed the necklace to an offcut of the old bodice at the back to make it the required length. The model is Belinda.

Sew 1 – adding value to cast-offs

A new day, a new year and a new creative, sustainable and unique way of dressing in upcycled natural fibre garments.

You are what you repeatedly do. During 2014 I’m following my heart on a creative journey through this values-based Sew it Again project which has evolved from study with the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation.

The project is inspiring upcycling of natural fibres through daily posting of repurposed garments, such as this History Skirt, right, created for bright university student Belinda in my Textile Beat studio from pieces of discarded cotton dresses and shirts. Continue reading →