Fashion Revolution 2016 - Goals

Today officially ends Fashion Revolution week, but it doesn't end our responsibility to bring about change!  This week has helped me think through my abilities and weaknesses in my skill as a maker, and I think I can move forward as a better creator and consumer in the fashion industry.

My personal goals to take from this week are:

What about you?  Have you had any epiphanies or thought-provoking discoveries this week?  Are there any habits you have as a maker and/or consumer that you would like to work on this year?

Fashion Revolution 2016 - Skill Up

Making clothes is a black hole of skills.  It seems to me that the more I know about sewing... the more I realize I have yet to learn.  There are so many kinds of sewing, so many types of garments, so many skills to learn!

While it sometimes seems a little overwhelming, I'm actually really okay with it.  I love learning, and what better field to pick than one that can provide a lifetime of learning?!

It's important to me to master my craft, to become exceptional at what I do.  It means that the clothes I make will be more durable and longer-lasting, thus being better uses of resources.  It also means I will be more likely to keep these garments.  Do any of you know the pain of deciding what to do with a garment you spent hours upon hours making?!  You do NOT just throw it out without a second thought!  If it must go, you find a good home for it or repurpose it into something equally as awesome.  It means something to you.

There are a lot of areas in which I want to improve my skills.  My top three are in tailoring (suits specifically), lingerie, and sewing knits.  I'll be working on these specifically this year.

What areas of "makery" would you like to skill up in this year?  

Fashion Revolution 2016 - Secondhand First

Today's Fashion Revolution theme is "secondhand first," and I don't need to tell you vintage lovers much about that!  Most of us realize the beauty of buying "secondhand" items, especially if they happen to be midcentury or before!

One of the reasons I love vintage is that it's not even like other secondhand purchases from thrift stores or charity shops.  It's generally higher quality and much of it gains value over time instead of losing it.  It's collectible and it's historical... and it's fabulous!

The vintage community, obviously, lives out the "secondhand first" idea extremely well.  It's what makes us the vintage community!  

Another thing that I want to do better in, however, is in buying secondhand fabrics and newer secondhand clothing for sewing projects if at all possible.  Though I don't generally buy clothing from thrift stores very often, they are wonderful places to find clothing to create into something new, sewing notions, and fabric.  My wedding suit was made of mystery fabric from a thrift store, as well as many of my old college dorm accessories.  Now that I think of it... my wedding dress and veil were also "secondhand" vintage!

I actually prefer buying notions, especially zippers and buttons, secondhand if at all possible.  Zippers tend to be especially cost-effective this way, and oftentimes I get vintage metal zippers that hold up for longer!  Not to mention, vintage buttons are far superior in design and look to most modern buttons, in my opinion.

Quite honestly, I don't feel the need to write a very lengthy post, because this is something you are likely extremely good at already!  You see the value; you get it!

What are some of your favorite items to buy secondhand?  Are there any items you would like to be more diligent in checking for a secondhand version before buying new?

Fashion Revolution 2016 - Upcycle

Oh, upcycling!  That is today's Makers for Fashion Revolution Week, and of course it's one near and dear to my 1940s-loving heart!  We vintage wearers know, of course, that upcycling is just the modern term for "make do and mend."  Ladies of yesteryear were creating new fashions out of old ones long before it was a trendy thing to do.  They did it out of necessity and practicality.

I've had a few of my own refashions that you might recall:

The 1930s Gray Dress
90s MuuMuu to 40s Playsuit
Straw Hat Refashion
Middle East Skirt Refashion
Turn a Button-Down into a Vintage Style Blouse
Sweater Makeover

I also have these photos of a jabot I made out of old hankies.  I'm still working on an outfit to style it with!

There are so many awesome vintage resources that have to do with turning old clothes into new ones.  Here are just a few:

"Grand Ways to Eke Out Dated or Worn Clothes"
"Another Angle on Fashions for Victory"
1940s refashioning article and illustrations

For myself, my main action step for this year is to give newer second-hand clothes a shot to be refashioned.  You know, the ugly 80s and 90s garments that are unlikely to come back into vogue ever again and are probably destined for a landfill without a refashion.  They're relatively inexpensive, and it would be a great way to cut down on clothing being thrown away.

Do you have any favorite makeovers that you've done for old garments?  Are there any vintage make do and mend resources that you love?

Fashion Revolution 2016 - I Mend My Clothes

Mending one of those things that I have fallen into by necessity through wearing vintage.  If you've worn true vintage, I'm sure you have had the experience of a popped seam, fallen hem, or loose button that needed to be fixed.  (I've even had those happen while I was wearing them... which is why I recommend all vintage wearers carry a tiny sewing kit in their purse at all times, ha!)

Not many people know how to mend nowadays!  While people of yesteryear always mended their clothing ("make do and mend" was a real thing!), I can honestly say I never thought to mend clothing until I wore vintage.  If a shirt got a hole in it when I was younger, I figured it was ruined and usually threw it out.  No longer!

Fixing garments, I've found, is a unique skill.  It's not exactly the same as sewing a garment.  It takes some ingenuity and creativity!

The 1930s and 40s were especially good at clever mending fixes due to poverty and war shortages.  They used mending tape embellishments to fix torn buttonholes and cover other flaws.  They embroidered over flaws and dyed garments to cover stains.  If you'd like some vintage mending inspiration, here are a few of my favorite examples and resources:

1940s Darning from Colette
"How to Mend After Moth"
"How to Patch an Overall" by Mrs. Sew and Sew

So, here are my action steps for today:

How do you guys feel about mending?  Have you learned any useful tips or have any favorite mending resources?

Fashion Revolution 2016 - By Hand

It's day two of Fashion Revolution 2016, and the theme is:

I didn't realize this until recently, but all garments are made by hand, in the sense that a human being is manipulating the fabric and working at a sewing machine of some kind or sewing with a needle and thread.  I used to think that clothing, especially cheap clothing, was made entirely by machine, much like most of the other products we buy nowadays.  However, that's not the case with clothing!

Every item we wear has been sewn by a person.



Have you ever had a clothing item that you didn't think much about until you tried to make one yourself?  For me, that has been a t-shirt.  I figured that, as the seemingly cheapest  and most plentiful clothing item available, a t-shirt had to be an easy, throw-away type garment to make.

It is no such thing!

Geez, after learning about it, there is so much more to a t-shirt than I had ever realized!  Now I value t-shirts so much more, knowing all the types of machine and sewing skills that goes into each one.

As vintage wearers, many of us bemoan the loss of those gorgeous, intricate details that clothing used to have that has been cut out of most modern clothing by profitability and the throw-away mind set.  As we wear our vintage clothing and invest in these more expensive pieces, as we sew and include our own "slow fashion" details, we are reminding people around us of what clothing could be if we started to really care about it again instead of treating it as a fad that is to be thrown out in a few months.

Thinking about how every clothing item is made by hand, here are my takeaways for the day:

Is there a clothing-making skill or garment that seemed simple to you into you delved into it?  How did it change your perspective?

How do you think we can balance the needs of lower-budget consumers with the needs of clothing artisans to be paid fairly for their work?