a year of ethical fashion

so i spotted pip encouraging people to

join her in pledging to a

Year of Ethical Fashion 2014

#YOEF

now this is my kind of thing

i have for most of my adult life bought

second hand or upcycled clothing

i love buying from a maker when i can

i own plenty of clothes to meet my needs

& i'd like to join in a swap thing somewhere, sometime

oh & now i have been back sewing

clothes for me ......

these are small grass roots ideas that are not new

all of history has determined that our textile industry

requires of us to have these attitudes to sustain our resources

sub or lack of standard conditions for workers are not new either

what is new is that our world wide economy of scale

has escalated over the last generation+

we are not satisfied with what we need

our desires to have more

accesibilty to more economic clothing

& the hype of fashion that creates 

some kind of 'socially approving' desire

to want to have to use up & to discard

we have created an impossible whirlwind that our planet can not sustain

and

then there is the issue or what is 

fair????

fair conditions & fair payment

from the very production of textile fibers

to the actual garments

there are more and more companies

are joining in with supporting 'fair' & 'ethical'

Oxfam Australia regularly posts on their face book page

join in over there too ....

so in 2014 ..... i 'pledge' to be always mindful in 

shopping/sourcing for

clothing to wear for both myself & my family .....

that it be ....

:: bought from ethical makers 

= fair trade or handmade sellers

:: bought second hand

:: made by myself

:: be it already in our wardrobes

:: swapped or borrowed or gifted items

essentially i have what i 'need'

but in finding 'my-style' which is a

'first-world' fashion esthetic ..... 

i would of course like to have 'new-to-me' items

since May '13 i've made myself lots of new items

they are unique, fitted to me & my taste

& i can only hope that the people involved

in the production of the fibers were treated 'fairly'

who knows ..... probably not!?

but at least i'm half way to helping getting this 'right'

join in ....

spring sewjourn

 seriously love going to sewjourn

besides is being a sweet australian cottage

& the wonderful light filled space that is the studio work room

its about people & making together

started out way back going along with a couple of real life friends

but now i feel like i know everyone somewhat

you know its that time forged thing that carves out friendships

Lara has summed it all up perfectly

all part of my village now

 go on wear a chunky belt & some acid yellow beads with that

show your curves

 some garments were made

yay .... tops & dress finishes ... 

& a new quick and simple 3 piece top pattern that i adore

 so i sewed up x10 smocks ... about 2/3 the way

a black & white stripey quilt binding

half square triangle quilt was worked on .... wip

that means i've started on the 544 hst's that i have

that is going to be a marathon as every single

mini hst block needs to be carefully pinned so the corners line up

but you know ... i live for the journey!

 another chunky oversized scrappy stacked coin strip

ready for another double sided quilt top

and

some free form blocks for shannon

because if i lost my home & the things in it

that are special to me i'd love a quilt too

enjoyed making these alongside annie

little bit of green love .....

well there may have been some 'partying' about these parts

a detailed post will come soon

but

thought i'd sneak in first with my

mother-of-the-birthday-boy skirt!

its a 'key' outfit to be noted on the day - but of course!!

there was some kind of topical green theme

going on ....

check out the most amazing gorgeous green dress

made by my very talented friend for her smallest

..... cool huh!

 so on the green theme & riding my recently re-ignited inspiration

for making clothes for myself .... & having just completely

re-sorted my entire fabric stash

... well there was this green cord that i have been hoarding

for longer than i care to admit ....

not enough for the entire skirt ..... but

 i do love a spot of problem solving

... bring on a great graphic b&w contrast panel & some black denim

there you go .... & 'had' to be finished all before church yesterday

as it was the plan to wear it ... yep

 .... um, might have been a few mins late!

another of Nikki's A line skirts ...

it sits nicely on me & i like the cut

& my invisible zipper was almost invisible!!

oh .... and

do you like the way those sneaky numbers smuggled their way into the facing??

bit of fun ... just for me to see ... but shhhh now you know too!!

a golden sewjourn

sewjourn certainly has a golden glow

went there with Karen & Lara

... met an awesome bunch of girls

Kathryn, Rachel, Tan & Megan

 different but just as lovely time away

the walking foot had an evening out

with a couple of quilts

one on behalf of my mum (little elephants just below)

is a wip - a post will be forthcoming

the other a real recent favourite (1st pic)

acidic stacked coins

&

then some secret Lorax piecing!

for a little boy who is turning 5 very very soon

he adores the Lorax ... both the Dr Suess' book & the movie

in fact, its the whole party theme!

stay tuned for this post too ...

'twas a rather grey day in Lancefield on saturday

all warm & cosy tucked in the studio

 .... everyone busy & machines humming

quite inspired by all the ideas really

a heartful thankyou to you all these girls ...

for both including me so warmly in on your special

sewjourn hideaway 

& also for all your encouragement & patient answers ....

you see ....

i'm a lucky girl .... as i have a new toy

my new janome overlocker

kind of a request for mother's day 

with some additional market funds making it possible

(excuse the very relaxed attire .... not loving this pic of me but keeping it real here!

still, a thankyou to Karen for capturing the moment!)

 i'm buzzing with ideas now

seriously had the most amazing time

learning & reminding myself how

satisfying it is to sew yourself clothing

that suits, that is a great fit 

& that really didn't cost all that much to make

 so my world has shifted

with a new appeal towards

wearing handmade that i've actually made

& for knits!! yep ...

two .... two Sewaholic Renfrew Short sleeve tops

had the advantage of trying one on for size last week!

.... here's a couple made by the lovely Karen ...

i made one silky purple-y (below)

& the other (not pictured) a deep purple/blue!

(i know i know did i say blue .... more purple-ish but yeah ... )

i made myself a Style Arc Laura dress

which fits me nicely & i will model it for you soon

what was so invaluable was Lara's stash of previously made garments

so generously brought along so that they could be tried on for fit!

here's her amazing Laura Star dress ..... yes ... 'nabbed'

& with her advice i tweaked it to my body shape

.... started off with a much longer hem line 

& then decided shorter was the way to go!

there were also some green comfy pants

or pj's really pattern by Make it Perfect

& there was enough of the grey&black knit fabric

left over from the dress that i made a

single layer version of the Style Arc Fay skirt

again i had the chance to try on Lara's & Rachel's for fit!

thanks so much ladies!

& the awesome spotty stretch denim above

is an unfinished A line skirt by Nicole Mallalieu

i also have another one of these started

so all i need to do is hop to it & perfect

the whole invisible zipper thing .... working on it!!

but these fit so nicely too ...

 sunday was a glorious shiny happy golden autumn day

a wonderful treat

a steep & very exciting learning curve!

love the journey

& enJOYed getting to know my

traveling companions for the weekend