Tag Archives: silk

Sew 89 – Using what already exists

upcycled suit

This silk jacket has shortened hem with sleeves rolled up and is toned down by a jumper-skirt made from a cardigan. Nearly a quarter of the year is gone, which means I’m 25 percent of the way through my Sew it Again year in which I’m following my heart on a creative journey into eco-fashion with no fixed destination in mind except making a difference.

In a nutshell, I’m an upcycling advocate aiming to empower individuals to reuse existing clothing in creative ways rather than always buying new. As an recycler, there are words posted on Day 11: I’m an agricultural scientist by training and my first professional job was as ABC rural reporter working in radio and television in Victoria and Queensland.

Now I’m on a 365-day journey with the Sew it Again project to inspire creative upcycling of natural fibre clothing and revive home-sewing as a life-skill akin to cooking. In between these endeavours, as a communications consultant I’ve run issues-based campaigns such as the 612 ABC Swap It Challenge for health groups, Save the Aussie Banana for growers and water fluoridation for dentists. Continue reading

Sew 88 – Nature and knowledge

upcycled hemp-silk dress

This dress is an old hemp top upcycled with a salvaged silk trim which matches the colour of frangipani flowers that fall from a tree on my local bush-walking track.

Gathering beautiful fibres and found stuff is second nature to me as an upcycler – and for this Sew it Again year I’m integrating these traditions with new knowledge and fresh ideas from a range of sources.

I’m grateful to yesterday have been able to spend time with Head of Fashion Kathleen Horton and Lecturer in Fashion Alice Payne at QUT Creative Industries and source their views on upcycling, fashion and the factors which influence the way we dress.

Kathleen spoke about how fashion is splintering in many different directions and 3D digital printing of clothing is not too far away.

Information about another new-age development came via my WA friend Lucinda Giblett who sent a link to the work of designer Suzanne Lee who is growing vegetable leather using kombucha fermentation techniques. See her amazing ‘grow your own clothes’ TED talk hereContinue reading

Sew 80 – Valuing natural treasure

upcycled silk two-piece

Today’s textured pink silk two-piece suit has a simple frill added to enhance its plain neckline, after the skirt bottom was recast as the collar.

Reusing material from nature has been a theme today. My brother’s friend Marcus and I spent the morning at Gingin north of Perth working out a future for the mountain of recycled jarrah timber my brother Paul accumulated over years as a builder.

I guess that’s the problem with upcycling. It is one thing to have an intention to reuse natural resources – but they need to be in the right place in the right hands at the right time to be useful. Otherwise they become a burden.  Continue reading

Sew 75 – Colour frills

upcycled top and skirt

A plain, serviceable top and skirt can be revived by adding silk frills – five rows to the skirt and one to secure the altered neckline of the top.

I’m excited today to have the opportunity to attend a talk by Western Australia’s most famous botanic artist Philippa Nikulinsky who has dedicated 50 years to her craft as an illustrator of natural history specialising in plants from harsh environments. The colour and attention to detail in her work is superb.

Philippa’s story began back in the Kalgoorlie goldfields where she was born and continued through a wonderful partnership with her husband Alex and their creative children and grandchildren, some of whom I had the pleasure to meet yesterday.

Hearing other people tell their story helps crystallise your own – particularly when there are shared values of integrity, creativity, autonomy and purpose involved.  Continue reading

Sew 74 – Adding a button fix

Sew it Again 74 web

This embroidered silk wrap-around op shop find had a belt-tie waist which I upcycled by adding two buttons/buttonholes to secure the garment more definitively.

Sometimes we need to see things done before we can conceive of different ways of working and wearing – which is why I’m demonstrating upcycling ideas every day with this Sew it Again campaign.

Being in Western Australia for the next couple of weeks, I was lucky to be inspired by a whole bunch of creativity in the annual Sculptures by the Sea at Cottesloe Beach. Several of the textile creations which took my eye are photographed below.  Continue reading

Sew 73 – Untangling a shawl

shawl outfit

It was only after I took this op-shop find home that I identified it as a square shape adapted as a shawl by folding on the diagonal, buttoned at front and armholes hidden in the layer below.

I’m posting from Western Australia at the moment – having prepared a few weeks’ worth of upcycling ahead of time. My purpose in being here is to finalise my youngest brother Paul’s estate, after he died in an excavator accident a year ago. He’s left a few mysteries for me to solve – and one that remains outstanding is a single key attached to his Mercedes vehicle key which none of his friends know to what it belongs. We may never know. Life’s like that – uncertain, mysterious and ephemeral. Continue reading

Sew 71 – Have creative courage

upcycled suit

Today’s upcycle adds an extra row of buttons to create room in a double-breasted silk jacket and turns a cardigan into a skirt and scarf.

These garments may not be perfect couture but they’re wearable and workable. And as the quote from @Wisdomalive on Twitter said today: Imperfection is an essential ingredient in the pursuit of excellence.

This aligns with a New Scientist article (March 8) by Michael Bond about The Secrets of Success, which include adopting a growth mindset – the belief that abilities can be developed through dedication and practice and aren’t fixed by biology. Continue reading

Sew 68 – Glowing with silk

upcycled silk outfit

This op-shop silk top was resewn for a better fit then teamed with home-made silk skirt, and a scarf to finish.

My excuse for having wardrobes of accumulated natural-fibre clothing is I’ve been rescuing it from op shops for a song. Older clothing is often better quality and more interesting than new garments, which are increasingly being made from synthetic fibres.

Statistics show that average apparel fibre consumption in 1992 was 7kg per person and that increased to 11kg each by 2010 – an 80% increase in less than two decades. During that time, most of the increase is in synthetic fibres made from petroleum with natural fibres consumption increasing only marginally.

Each year, we are each adding 11kg more clothing to the global stockpile – with much of the reject stuff heading to landfill. What does 11kg of clothing look like?

I’m giving a presentation later this month on this topic and bagging up old stuff a friend was tossing out as props so we can eyeball what an individual year of new clothing looks like for one person. Globally, we multiply those bags by 7.2 billion to get a year’s worth of clothing consumption.  Continue reading

Sew 67 – Dressed to frill

Purple frill dressThis was a long shift dress to which I added rows of salvaged silk and repositioned the hem as a collar.

On this International Women’s Day it’s troubling to read the statistics of women still living in difficult circumstances and disempowered, enslaved or subjugated.

Oxfam International says women perform 66% of the work, produce 50% of the food, but earn only 10% of the income & own 1% of the property.

The Women’s Agenda highlights these statistics along with the stunning Oscar speech of 12 Years a Slave actress Lupita Nyong’o in which she said: “it doesn’t escape me for a moment that so much joy in my life is due to so much pain in someone else’s”.

As I reuse existing clothing I’m valuing the hard work that has gone before and rejecting exploitation exposed by the Rana Plaza fire that has sparked a Fashion RevolutionContinue reading

Sew 64 – A little upsize

adding room to silk jacketThere’s nothing worse than a too-tight jacket, so create a little more space by adding extender ribbon loops near the top buttonhole and use a scarf to fasten and cover the space.

This jacket now fits my current shape and is suitably dressy for Parliament House and today’s announcement of the 2014 Queensland RIRDC Rural Women’s Award.

I’m proud to be part of the alumni for this Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation program, as 2010 Queensland runner-up, and enjoy opportunities to catch up with women and men doing great things in the sector.

Even though I live in the city, I feel connected to the bush because of my rural heritage, education and advocacy work. In fact we all have connection to rural because that is where our food and fibre comes from – and we need to be increasingly aware of that. Continue reading