Tag Archives: Charters Towers

Sew 266 – Adding sparkle to black

The future is not a destination, it is a journey made up of small steps. We need courage to design our future with purpose and deliberation, to be the change we want to see.

I’m in Canberra and reflecting on these words articulated by Federal Member for Indi Cathy McGowan in a Charters Towers speech last week at the QRRRWN conference. Cathy referred to visionary garden designer Capability Brown who created landscape legacies in the United Kingdom with instructions for 200 years into the future. Cathy challenged us to project ourselves into the future, to get involved, put up our hands for leadership and influence outcomes. Continue reading →

Sew 262 – A transformational journey

It is not on my bucket list. I don’t hanker to be in the Birdcage at the running of the Melbourne Cup which stops the nation every November. It brings together horseflesh and fashion in spectacular, luxurious style, but seems somewhat elitist and wasteful to me.

Yet I didn’t look a gift horse in the mouth when the opportunity emerged to hold a roving replica of the Cup doing a whistle-stop tour around the nation to drum up excitement for the big race. ABC Open’s Michael Bromage and I swapped cameras – he took this photo of me, and I took a photo of him, complete with the white glove. Thanks Michael, thanks to Melbourne Cup organisers and thanks to the gorgeous QRRRWN ladies for creating carnival atmosphere! Continue reading →

Sew 261 – Wear your own sparkle

Your sparkle is your uniqueness. Wear your sparkle and be the best version of yourself you can be said Julie Cross, one of the many inspirational speakers at Queensland Rural Regional and Remote Women’s Network conference in Charters Towers.

We make our own footprints in life. If we place more importance on the opinions of others than our own, we give away our power.

So inspiring to be part the QRRRWN network full of women doing amazing things – including four fellows from the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation. Georgie Somerset, below left, the outgoing QRRRWN president. Cathy McGowan MP, Catherine Marriott (wearing a Textile Beat history skirt) and Jane Milburn. Continue reading →

Sew 260 – Student models doily skirt

Upcycling today at the Queensland Rural Regional and Remote Women’s Network conference at Charters Towers with great women and girls from All Souls & St Gabriels School.

So grateful to have an opportunity to demonstrate creative ways to reuse existing clothing at the Women of the Worlde conference – and talk about how our modern clothing habits have led to increasing consumption of textiles, two-thirds of which are synthetic fibres derived from petroleum.

The world is smothering in cheap synthetic clothing, with UK figures indicate nearly one-third of clothing ends up in landfill. This waste has sparked my creative Sew it Again journey that integrates professional expertise with a desire for sustainability and well-being – woven with threads of childhood, thrift, empowerment and a love of nature. Continue reading →

Sew 259 – Streamlining a favourite

This year I’m on a creative journey that integrates my professional expertise with a desire for sustainability, ecological health and wellbeing – that is woven with threads of childhood, thrift, empowerment and a love of nature.

My goal is to travel the world inspiring creative upcycling of natural fibre clothing. And I’m working to achieve that goal in five steps, with this Sew it Again year being step three.

That may sound structured but it’s a fluid process – I’m writing the script as I go along, drawing on universal intelligence and fresh input, ideas and opportunities that emerge along the way. Continue reading →

Sew 258 – Creativity in Charters Towers

It is my pleasure this week to be in Charters Towers where the regional council is working to nurture and develop an artist culture and build a creative economy.

I was invited to present a Purposeful Passion workshop as the first of a series of Regional Arts Development Fund workshops to help foster emerging and existing artisans by providing tools, information and connections.

On the way to the Towers, it was fun to stop at the mighty Burdekin River just east of the city – where my friend, pioneering bush photographer Fiona Lake, agreed to model Sew 258, a denim bag upcycled from a girl’s denim skirt. Thanks for the lift Fiona! Making the bag was just a matter of sewing the bottom of the skirt together, then using denim leg offcuts (from earlier project) to create a strap that is sewn either side. Continue reading →

Sew 257 – Change T-shirt to suit you

Just a quick post today because I’ve flown north, back to the old stomping ground of Townsville, north Queensland where we lived for many years.

I’m enroute to Charters Towers for the upcoming Queensland Rural, Regional and Remote Women’s Conference, where I’ve been invited to present a Sew it Again Jane workshop on refashion and upcycling. The Women of the Worlde conference from September 16-18 promises to be enjoyable and enriching because there are so many enterprising and inspiring women in the network.

And tomorrow I’ve been invited by Charters Towers Regional Council to present a workshop on turning your creative passion into purpose, which is another exciting opportunity to reiterate ‘start where you are, use what you have, do what you can’. Continue reading →

Sew 170 – REfashion is non-toxic

The reasons why I’m upcycling natural fibre garments during 2014 include because it is creative, mindful, resourceful, flexible, sustainable, thrifty, bespoke, handy, fun, ethical, reducing waste, shifting habits, demonstrating alternatives and non-toxic.

This Ecouterre article about toxic threads provides further affirmation: “Around 80 billion garments are produced worldwide, the equivalent of just over 11 garments a year for every person on the planet, according to Greenpeace. The growing volumes of clothing being made, sold, and disposed of magnifies the human and environmental costs of our clothes at every stage of their life cycle, which means that even minute quantities of toxins can cumulatively amount to the widespread dispersal of damaging chemicals across the globe, the group says.” Continue reading →

Sew 100 – Bring on the buttons

Buttons 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. Continue reading →