Tag Archives: Sunday Mail

Sew 146 – A blanket connection

Steph in wool blanket Sew 146Connectedness 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 119 – Upcycling is endless

upcycling is endlessThe theory of ‘buy once, buy well’ definitely makes a valid case for having fewer garments of better quality in your wardrobe.  Yet most of us are attracted to the constant stimulation of variety and change, so it is easy to understand why cheaper fast fashion options are popular.

Upcycling existing clothing is a way of enabling a near endless array of unique choice and difference, at little financial and environmental cost. Certainly there is a time cost – that is offset with satisfaction of mindful creativity and empowerment from originality.

I love this Sunday Mail quote from fashion authority and author Marion von Adlerstein: “I don’t think great style belongs exclusively to fashion people or arty types; anyone can tap into it with a bit of thought. It’s about creating the best version of yourself you can be.” In other words, give it your best shot.  Continue reading →

Sew 100 – Bring on the buttons

Upcycle using buttons to hide marksButtons are useful, decorative, sentimental, collectable, fun … and they cover a multitude of sins when upcycling.

In a long-ago Sunday Mail magazine article (23 November 1997), I wrote about the magic buttons and the stamp of individuality they bring to garments. The story included a north Queensland grazier who was making buttons from timber on her property to generate income during hard times. The buttons were made by pruning branches from native hardwoods on the Charters Towers property that were 1-2cm in diameter, dry them for weeks to harden the sap, cut them into circles and treat with durable varnish to keep the bark in place and make them washable. Sunday Mail story on buttons Continue reading →