Tag Archives: Eske

Sew 357 – Leadership is an action

Five years ago, I was down a dry gully in the remote Kimberley region on the Australian Rural Leadership Program when one of our spiritual travellers mentioned a quote which resonates with me to this day.

“Leadership is an action you take, not a position you hold”, was the quote repeated by my C16 team mate and attributed to Donald H. McGannon, an early American broadcasting executive who believed in the industry’s potential for good. The quote is powerful because it demonstrates a process for every one of us to influence outcomes, not just those with positional or assumed power.

I’ve been taking action every day this year on a 365-day campaign of my own making – refashioning existing clothing instead of buying new. This campaign is about dressing with conscience – reducing our clothing footprint on the world through reuse and choosing natural fibre clothing because it has less embodied energy than synthetics. And it is great to see the influential 1MillionWomen campaign for individual action against climate change pick up the Sew it Again story. Continue reading →

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 269 – Eske upcycles old treasure

There are certain clothes, memories and treasure that money can never buy. This look created by Canberra teenager Eske, is one of those – it being the refashion of an old T-shirt (not just any old T-shirt) to create something totally unique.

The blue cotton shirt began life as a uniform worn by those privileged to be part of the Main Press Centre at the Sydney 2000 Olympics. It was well-worn by Eske’s Dad, Tim Gavel OAM – an ABC Sports commentator extraordinaire and community philanthropist. It had a good run in Tim’s wardrobe, until it developed a hole in the back and stains under the arms – as happens with active wear! Continue reading →