Tag Archives: slow fashion

Sew 354 – Countdown with gratitude

Thank you! We are at the pointy end of another year, and on a countdown of 365 days of the #sewitagain journey of discovery, learning, restyling existing clothing and daily posting.

No one achieves anything worthwhile on their own and I am deeply grateful to the many people who have helped me along the way.

Today, I thank the 7000+ people from around the world who have engaged with this eco-social project to shift thinking about how we choose and reuse clothing and textiles. My model includes empowering individuals to reimagine and recreate their own wardrobe collection by resewing at home.

As these Google Analytics screen captures show (right and below), two-thirds of those engaging with the project are in Australia – and the others involved mainly being in the United States, followed by the United Kingdom, Canada, Brazil and Germany. And people in my birth-country of New Zealand are also very engaged considering the relatively small population! Continue reading →

Sew 326 – Slow refashion flexibility

Personal empowerment is one of the best things about having a few simple sewing skills. You are never dependent on what is currently available for purchase because you can craft something that suits your need and preference.

Own-style ticks all the slow fashion boxes of individual, creative, sustainable, ethical, natural, known provenance, comfortable – and is simply a matter of investing time and applying skills to magic something wearable out of not much.

Now on the home stretch of this Sew it Again year, I’m applying effort to refashion some loose, comfortable shifts for summer as the weather hots up in the Southern Hemisphere. Continue reading →

Sew 311 – Immersing in slow fashion

I was fortunate to spend formative childhood years on a family farm in Otago, New Zealand, and have memories of mushrooming after rain with Nana and sitting on Great Grandma’s porch shelling peas from the field garden. These authentic slow food experiences have informed subsequent life choices.

It is a logical side-step in a diverse career across agricultural journalism and advocacy that I am now part of the slow fashion movement in Australia, sharing ways to extend the life of clothes and reduce our clothing footprint.

Slow fashion – as distinct from fast fashion – is based on principles similar to those of the slow food movement which is a conscious cultural choice to slow down and share local, seasonal food grown in sustainable ways. Continue reading →

Sew 50 – Chopping off hemlines

A long bias-cut skirt is updated by cropping to knee-length then worn as is, or with hem-off-cut recast as collar or wrap.

Wikipedia defines fashion as a general term for a popular style or practice, and often refers to the newest creations of textile designers. As fashion trends emerge they’re unique and stunning – that’s the nature of fashion. But in time they tend to look and feel dated – like a planned obsolescence.

That’s where upcycling comes in. By resewing existing garments, you can recreate them for a second life using simple home-sewing techniques as I’m demonstrating with my 365 day Sew it Again upcycling campaign.

Upcycling is a greener way of recycling – finding a new purpose for unwanted stuff instead of moving it on. This UK Upcycling website says “upcycling is all about taking disposable things and creating something useful from them. Usually the only energy being used is your own and it can save you money too. Continue reading →

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 →