thrift

Who would have thought that one day I would get excited about mending?

This post is taken from a brief I came across today, I wrote it back in 2010 for a jewellery brief called Mikromegas "small works, large ideas". I wish I had a photo of the pins I produced but I don't seem to have any... they were displayed at COFA in a jewellery cabinet so long that I never got them back! It's nice to look back and remember the things that have inspired you!

4th August 2010

On July the 31^st I attended a mass clothing swap called ‘Rethreads’ which was part of the Exchange for change campaign run by Oxfam Australia. The festival is run to focus on and celebrate ethical practises in the textiles industry. Rethreads clothing swap promotes environmental and sustainable ideas where participants are invited to swap up to 20 of their best cast-offs and swap them for others. This encourages recycling to reduce landfill, reusing to reduce the demand for energy resources and reducing gas emissions. This initiative was incredibly creative and stacks of fun. 

For the 40-hour famine this year (as in 2010), I have decided to do something different. The fashion industry culture has pushed people into a mindset that to wear the same outfit twice is embarrassing, even disgraceful. Especially to be seen wearing the same clothes twice in a row! Yet some children in developing countries have no choice. They do not have clothes to choose from, they might have one set of clothes if they’re lucky. They don’t have a choice, that’s just what they wear. To raise money for poor communities in other countries I have decided to famine from the choice of clothes for 40 days. I am wearing the same t-shirt and jeans for 40 days (and washing them). As well as gaining sponsorship to raise money I am also aiming to raise awareness of the state of people in third world countries. I aim to get people to think about the issue in the textiles industry that pushes people to buy more new things and throw out the old, to encourage people to think about sustainable and ethical textile practises.

It is also a personal challenge to myself not to worry about the opinions of others about what I wear, to appreciate the fact that I have so many clothes to choose from every day, to think about others that wear the same clothes everyday and to consider the messages of the media that push people to have this mind set.

Back to the present, 7th October 2014.

Today, I am mending my husbands work pants which have 3 massive rips in them, (he must be working very hard!) He resisted the urge to just buy a new pair and instead asked if I could repair them for him. I would normally cringe at the thought of having to mend another pair of pants. However today, considering the waste I'm saving, instead I am thankful that I know how.

I would really enjoy running a small workshop around learning to sew & mending/altering clothes in the local community. If you are interested, comment below and I'll be in touch.