So far, sew good
May 16th 2010 23:44
Like many women, I'm not usually one to wear my clothes until they wear out. Once they've hit their use-by date, in fashion terms, they'll either be sold on ebay or given to charity. But there is the occasional piece - whether it be jeans, a much-loved jacket or in my case, a great dress - that we'll want to keep in our wardrobes for the life of the garment, and in some cases, beyond its natural life. This is when the old-school arts of sewing and mending come in handy, and although I hadn't sewed in more than ten years, I'm rather proud of the result of my own personal project: successfully turning my favourite floral summer dress into what is now, my favourite floral summer skirt.
Now this is hardly a new practice, but it is one that is worth promoting in terms of eco chic, that is, minimising one's fashion footprint by recycling clothes, rather than throwing them out. The Annabella dress in the photo on the left - which cost me around $70 in 2008 - had begun to sag at the neckline, so I cut it off at the waist, and sewed on a strong piece of black elastic at the top hem. Voila - the beauty of the fabric lives on!
The point of this post is simply to remind you that just because you believe a favourite garment to be dead, it doesn't mean that it actually is. Basic sewing is not difficult, and in my humble opinion is a practice that we should all pick up once again. Forget any retro, "Betty Homemaker" connotations it may have - recycling your clothes is all about saving the planet, and it doesn't get more future-conscious than that.
From dress... to skirt! This took less than ten minutes to achieve.
Now this is hardly a new practice, but it is one that is worth promoting in terms of eco chic, that is, minimising one's fashion footprint by recycling clothes, rather than throwing them out. The Annabella dress in the photo on the left - which cost me around $70 in 2008 - had begun to sag at the neckline, so I cut it off at the waist, and sewed on a strong piece of black elastic at the top hem. Voila - the beauty of the fabric lives on!
The point of this post is simply to remind you that just because you believe a favourite garment to be dead, it doesn't mean that it actually is. Basic sewing is not difficult, and in my humble opinion is a practice that we should all pick up once again. Forget any retro, "Betty Homemaker" connotations it may have - recycling your clothes is all about saving the planet, and it doesn't get more future-conscious than that.
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