Tag Archives: Eco Fashion

Sew 99 – Upcycling for green thrift

Upcycled denim jeans/skirt and shirtGreen thrift describes the action of upcycling old stuff for ecological and financial health … and wellbeing.

Start where you are, use what you have, do what you can. That’s what I’m doing right here, right now, using a few traditional sewing skills to adapt found clothing to demonstrate how we can all join the Fashion Revolution by upcycling.

Refashioning clothing that already exists makes good sense. The hard work has been done (zips, buttons, hems already in place), resources expended (cotton grown and spun, fabric woven and dyed) and dollars already spent when items were newly purchased.  Continue reading

Sew 41 – Heart in the right place

eco-dyed cottonTo liven up this cotton $2 op shop dress, I eco-dyed it along with some silk which was then used to lengthen hemline and embellish neckline along with beads.

I’m making it my business this year to reinvent existing clothing to demonstrate how using creativity and effort enables us to dress in a different, more mindful, way.

My inspiration comes from seeing and reading what others are doing around the world, as documented by people such as Sass Brown in her books Eco Fashion and Refashioned.

Brown also has a website ecofashiontalk.com and today posted an article about creative challenges involved in upcycling post-consumer waste. Continue reading

Sew 9 – Eco-fashion new values

Linen dress with added collarA dress length that flatters your shape is a very individual thing. Below knee is unflattering for me, which is why I cropped the bottom off this dress and turned it into a collar.

There are some amazing ideas in Eco Fashion, a book by Sass Brown which chronicles sustainability leaders and their creations, and says one of the strongest trends in fashion is the expression of ecological, social and community consciousness.

But the forward by Geoffrey B Small who first recycled menswear in a Paris collection in 1996, pulls no punches: “Fast fashion, planned obsolescence, ignorance and waste rule.” Continue reading