Tag Archives: Jenna

Sew 361 – Creating opportunities

While I’ve not resorted to singing and dancing, I have been spruiking at every opportunity this year about ways to resew and restyle unworn clothing into something fresh.

I’m grateful to those who created those opportunities to present talks and workshops in three Australian states and raise awareness about ways to dress with conscience and reduce our clothing footprint on the world.

There’s a global rethink happening about the way we dress, as people begin to ask more questions about where clothing is made and what from, and there’s a trend back to local and handmade. Continue reading →

Sew 316 – Making a difference

When we slow down and use traditional home-sewing skills to repair and refashion clothing that already exists in the world, we are practising slow fashion. This is the opposite end of the spectrum from fast fashion which thrives on high turnover, continuous and conspicuous consumption of newly made fashion clothing.

Slow magazine recently posted a story about the Sew it Again project, while another thoughtful magazine Womankind has a great article about the merits of meaningful creative practice. Womankind says that the story of making something may have disasters and triumphs along the way, but it brings meaning to our lives. Continue reading →

Sew 312 – Old jeans live again

Textile waste from the clothing industry comes in two forms – either pre-consumer waste generated during the design and marketing phase, or post-consumer waste in the form of second-hand clothing.

Post-consumer waste is the main focus of Sew it Again because the project grew out of my thrift shop ‘habit’ and instinctive sense of ‘rescuing’ natural fibres garments – and during this year I’m working my way through the accumulated surplus (five wardrobes +).

In Australia there are about 3000 opportunity shops run by various charitable groups which operate under the National Association of Charitable Recycling Organisations (NACRO) umbrella and collect post-consumer waste to either redistribute to those in need or sell to raise funds to fulfil their missions. People who frequent thrift shops do so for many reasons – it may be from necessity, or from thrifty green values (like me), or collectors looking for something unique (that’s me too). Continue reading →

Sew 27 – Resewing brings second life

This favourite linen dress was in need of a makeover so I shortened the length, used the off-cut to make a long ribbon then sewed some to the neckline before replacing elastic.

Reinventing clothing that already exists in our own and others wardrobes is my purpose this year as I demonstrate a different way of dressing by resewing existing resources.

In our modern world, home sewing is in danger of becoming a lost art, having fallen off the radar as fast, cheap fashion replaced the need to do for ourselves – just as fast food did with home-cooking.

In the same way that we have rediscovered home-cooking as a nourishing and pleasurable activity, I believe home-sewing is being rediscovered as a life-skill of value and reward. Continue reading →