Slow Fashion

This post is about something that tends to come naturally to anyone who sews many of their own clothes and that is slow fashion.  I'm sure it is the same for knitters, those who crochet and also those who thrift a lot of items through charity shops.   If you are creative then the process is part of the charm, you know where the item was produced (but not always the fabric) and you know that you have played a small part in it.  There is also the fact that if you have spent many hours producing a garment you will be less inclined to quickly discard it as a passing fad.  You have invested your time and energy into it so it means more to you.

Unfortunately this is not the case for many items of clothing, they are in one season and out the next.  Wearing out of season clothing is viewed by some with scorn and snobbery with no thought for the impact that  all of this is having on the environment or our fellow human beings slaving away to mass produce cheap fashion.

Some people may think well it's not that cheap I buy from expensive stores, well it still is really when you think about it.  Even if you shop high end, factor in the farming of the materials, grown or animal based, the cleaning, dyeing, stitching and shipping.  Anyone who makes their own clothes knows that the labour alone amounts to hour upon hour for some garments and that is without the rest of it, so yes mainly your clothing is cheap!

Years ago people used to buy made to measure here in the UK, they visited a tailor or dressmaker occasionally and buying an outfit was a big purchase for many.  While it is wonderful that we are able to buy for ourselves without experiencing such hardship it is also a shame that we have lost that sense of respect for the labour that goes into every item we own.

I appreciate that when I buy new fabric many of these same principles apply, it is not something I buy often and I use every last bit of it, I also try to source second hand and repurpose whenever I can.

Top made from a charity shop dress.

There is an interesting article here at Not Just A Label, still a more in the theme of mass fashion production but maybe leading things the right way.  Of course there is always going to be a need for inexpensive clothing but often it is not a need that drives people to buy new but  the desire to own the latest trend,  just something to think about.

Repairing Ripped Chinos

Another day another repair, these chinos have been knocking about for a while now.  My son ripped them skateboarding and they were new, I was a bit put out because I tend to say if you are off doing that kind of activity or parkour (glad that has lost it's novelty!) then wear jogging bottoms, but no put on some new clothing first if you are a teenager.  So I just got around to this repair and this appears to be the theme this week while I am off work.

Here is the rip...

Now we have had this dilemma before as this is something that appears to be a common thing on young people's trousers.  I decided to do  what  I have in the past and that is put a fake seam across the knee.  Sounds strange but it does work and for this kind of trouser, a patch does not.

So pin across first and make sure you do it in exactly the same place on the other leg.

I taper it out at each side like you would a dart, if you are worried the trousers will be a funny shape you can do the same on the back as well.  I have found though that after a good press they are fine.   You sometimes buy chinos or jeans with this kind of detail on the front so it's not a problem.

I then turn  them the right way and topstitch close to the seam.

So now they can finally go back in the wardrobe, hopefully no more holes for a while.

I also had to take in a shirt for my husband this week and I have a top to straighten on the bottom for  my mum, it goes down to two triangles at each side and she doesn't like that (it is new).  There is also the fact that my mother in law needs her hair dyeing by me on Easter Sunday when they all come around for lunch, after that I may get to my own pile of put off jobs. 

This last few days has given me time to catch up on a few sewing blogs and to see what everyone else is up to.  I have seen some fantastic bra makes and this really is something I should get around to.  I am not keen on the idea of buying a kit though as they appear ridiculously expensive for what they are.  So if anyone has any tips on the best online shops to buy the notions at a reasonable price please let me know. 

Shirt Sleeve Refashion and Repair

Repairing  clothes is something I seem to do a lot of, not just for my family but for friends also.   If you can repair an item it not only saves you having to replace it, it also saves that item from landfill.  I think these days people are far too quick to throw things out that can be salvaged, even if they don't know how to do it themselves there are people out there who can repair items.  Sometimes people may even see it as an ideal excuse to buy new but when did our clothing become such a throw away item?

Anyway rant over, this post relates to a shirt belonging to my husband that he split a few days ago when he put it on.  The split is on the sleeve and he did say it was too tight so no longer any use to him.  At this point the options usually are; can I make it into something for me? Shall I deconstruct it for the fabric? Is it nice enough that oldest son might want it ? Shall I take it to the charity shop?  (Charity shops also take damaged items for rag weigh in, so don't be put off.)  It is a nice shirt and my son likes it so I said I would sort the sleeve and resize it for him.

Here is the offending ripped sleeve...

My son wanted the sleeve length just above the elbow, about where they would be if you rolled them up.  So I marked where he wanted it to finish.  Then I cut the sleeve off just below so there would be enough to fold back.

Then I repaired the bit of the sleeve that was ripped and zig zagged the edge. 

The cuffs were used to cut out a small rectangle that would become the tab on the sleeve.

I edged each side then folded a small hem to make the tabs, button hole is already there.

I made a small hem on the bottom of the sleeves then folded it back and put my tab in place to get an idea of where to stich it and where the button needed to go.  (The tab in this picture is not yet hemmed I was still getting my idea together at this point.)

Here it is finished.

I also had to take the shirt in to make it fit my son, he also wanted it a bit shorter in case he wanted to wear it out of his trousers.  It looks more of a casual shirt this way so more his style but it will still be smart enough to wear to work.  Being a young man he is more into gadgets than buying clothes so I'm sure it will be appreciated that it is one less item of work wear that needs to be bought.

Once it was all finished I gave it a good iron, it is still a bit crumpled in this picture, I have to take the photos while it is on my mind so I am trying to get into the habit of doing it straight away.  

I hope this has been useful if anyone has had a similar mishap with a shirt or if you just want to change the sleeves to this  style.