Memories in cloth

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Do you carry an old-fashioned cloth handkerchief in your pocket or purse? Tissues and packaged wipes might be more convenient but we are becoming aware of their cumulative waste and moving back to reusable products.

There are memories in cloth. Favourite pieces may be mended and patched to extend their lifetime. Special garments may hang in wardrobes, even if they no longer fit, because they hold moments in time. The glimpse of an old favourite floral shirt, down-cycled to cleaning rag, evocatively sparks remembered joy of wearing. I am thrilled with my fabric-painted hanky squares that once were my little kids t-shirts (they’re now aged 24, 29 and 30) now upcycled as all-purpose cloths in my handbag.

These words first published in QCWA’s Ruth Magazine Winter edition 2019

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Posted in: clothing waste, leadership, lifestyle, reuse, slow clothing \ Tagged: , , ,

Wear change, do clothing slow

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One million species are at risk and we humans are largely to blame, according to the latest UN biodiversity report.  Governments, business and individuals need to act because we are eroding the very foundations of our economies, livelihoods, food security, health and quality of life worldwide, said Sir Robert Watson, chair of the UN’s Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services.

We can agitate for governments and business to take action – AND take action ourselves through the everyday choices in what we eat and what we wear. I wrote this Slow Clothing Manifesto back in 2015 to summarise the actions and choices we can take to reduce our material footprint: think, natural, local, quality, few, care, make, revive, adapt, salvage.

It becomes more relevant each year, with each new report on the need for transformative change. The power is in everyone, through everyday choices, to change the culture of consumption to one of conservation. Use what already exists, don’t feel pressured to buy more new, think bigger than yourself.

Posted in: leadership, slow clothing \ Tagged: ,

Sewing outside the lines

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What part are you playing in the Fashion Revolution?  I am proud to have been on the Fashion Revolution Australia committee from the early days when the world awoke following the devastating Rana Plaza factory collapse in April 2013. Thousands killed, injured and orphaned in pursuit of profits and cheap clothes in distant comfortable countries like ours.

Jane Milburn wears upcycled silk. Photo by Robin McConchie at Mt Coot-tha Botanic Gardens.

I created Textile Beat in 2013 based on a lifetime of making my own clothes so I could influence change by focusing on natural fibres (not plastic), upcycling (less waste) and making in your own style (storyful clothes). I often make my clothes from natural fibres reclaimed from garments that might otherwise become landfill. This one, above, (photographed by Robin McConchie at Mt Coot-tha Botanic Gardens) is silk from five garments that I recreated into two squares and a rectangle, with two small rectangles for sleeves. I used subtraction-cutting techniques pioneered by Julian Roberts to transform these pieces into a dress. The wooden beads were reclaimed from what was a family fruit bowl, silk head scarf from opshop and crochet earrings made at a recent workshop with Jenny King at Braiding in the Wildwood. Creative, disruptive, natural, indie style. That is how I choose to make a difference in the world and I explained why in my book Slow Clothing: finding meaning in what we wear.

As part of our recent fabulous three-day Fashion Revolution Brisbane event, one of several activities I ran was an upcycling masterclass with designer Darin Rose and 15 fabulous participants in the Fabrication Lab at The Edge, where we were sewing outside the lines. Here’s a video which Robin McConchie produced from the workshop.

Posted in: Fashion Revolution, leadership, slow clothing, workshop \ Tagged: , , , ,

On the Textile Beat April enews

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Here’s the link to our On the Textile Beat April enews.  Big shifts are happening as we have lived experience of climate change. Businesses and communities are responding by adapting approaches and behaviours. We are part of the Fashion Revolution and excited about our upcoming three-day event in Brisbane. See below for profiles of my colleagues Julie Hillier and Elizabeth Kingston who will be joining the discussion about localism on Sunday April 28. Also at bottom is the overall program – come join the conversation, workshops and markets from April 26-28.

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Posted in: Fashion Revolution, leadership, slow clothing \ Tagged: ,

Bold steps needed at this time

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There are incredible changes happening in this period of time that will be important for the history of the human race, Queensland Government Minister Leeanne Enoch told The Circular Economy: it’s our future forum in Brisbane yesterday.

As Minister for Environment and the Great Barrier Reef, Minister for Science and Minister for the Arts, Ms Enoch said there are certain actions we have to take right now in the way we utilise materials, how we tackle climate change, and use energy and resources in everyday life.

“When I visited Wujal Wujal community in far north Queensland after recent weather events, the elders said there are no stories passed down the generations who have lived there to deal with rapid change in climate,” Ms Enoch said.

“We are a speck in time. There have been 3000 generations of people in this place, which is home to great natural gifts like the Great Barrier Reef and Daintree rainforests. But what is happening to our climate is new.

Minister Leeanne Enoch (top left), Uli Becker (bottom left), at The Circular Economy forum and (bottom right) Textile Beat’s Jane Milburn with Blocktexx co-founder Graham Ross.

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Posted in: consumption issues, leadership, reuse \ Tagged: , , ,

Synthetic fibres do not break down

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An Australian backyard science experiment confirms synthetic clothing fibres do not breakdown in soil whereas within a year most natural fibres are returning to organic matter.

On 26 January, 2018, Textile Beat buried synthetic and natural fibre material swatches glued to cardboard by digging a shallow hole in relatively poor soil near a mango tree in a suburban garden in Brisbane. These were covered them with dirt and leaf litter, and occasionally watered (twice a month) until January 2019 when they were retrieved.

Range of synthetic and natural fibre swatches as buried in a Brisbane garden January 2018.

The material swatches were mostly remnants from Jane Milburn’s studio or from discarded clothing.

We were curious to confirm that synthetics are plastic-like and remain forever, while natural fibres return to nutrients and organic matter when broken down by microbes and insects in the soil.

We dug them up on January 15, 2019, and this is what we found.

Swatches of synthetic clothing materials before, left, and after being buried for one year in 2018.

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Rural Press Club life member profile

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In 1972, when 23 people paid $3 for lunch at the Pelican Restaurant in Fortitude Valley and listened to a veterinarian criticise the Queensland Government’s policy on restricting artificial insemination centres, the Rural Press Club of Queensland was born.

Almost half a century on, the Club’s events now attract hundreds of guests who still come to hear what’s happening in the bush and network with the people who matter in rural Australia.

While so many have voluntarily contributed countless hours to make the Rural Press Club the success it is today, past-president and Life Member Jane Milburn is one that we owe a debt of gratitude.

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Slow Clothing in libraries

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I found my book Slow Clothing on the shelf at @brisbanelibraries Kenmore this week.  I was curious to know how it is categorised and pleased to find it under Social Science, Economics.
Economist Richard Denniss, author of Curing Affluenza, and the ABC’s War on Waste warrior Craig Reucassel earlier launched the book in Canberra and Sydney respectively, which affirms this library classification.
I have been doing values-based action research since 2013 as a response to fast fashion culture, textile waste and pollution. My goal was to make a difference, to influence and inspire change. Slow Clothing was self-published in late 2017. It is a holistic narrative around dressing for health and wellbeing, living lightly through the everyday practice of how we choose, wear and care for clothes.
There’s a lot more awareness and talk about sustainability in fashion now than when I started this work. That’s a good thing. It may, or may not, translate into substantial and sustained change. Keeping a watching brief on that and charting my next body of work.
#slowclothing #libraries #economics #culture #bethechange #livelightly #sustainableliving #climatechange #curingaffluenza #waronwasteau #sustainablefashion #fashionrevolution #leadership #naturalfibres #nomicroplastic
Posted in: clothing waste, consumption issues, leadership, lifestyle, slow clothing

Peak stuff is here

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Consumer culture is overwhelming us. New stuff arrives with Christmas gift traditions and Boxing Day sales, then we seek to shed old stuff and declutter for the New Year ahead. We take wisdom from the Minimalists and Marie Kondo and aim to move on stuff that isn’t bringing us joy. But there’s nowhere for it to go because almost everyone’s got too much stuff.

ABC News revealed shocking images of stuff dumped outside charity shops which are so overwhelmed by offerings that many have called time on donations for now. On top of that, there’s nowhere for our recycled stuff either.

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Posted in: consumption issues, leadership, lifestyle, slow clothing \ Tagged: , , ,

Return to natural fibres

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Growing concern about plastic in our environment sees natural-fibre industries poised for resurgence if they demonstrate eco-credentials to increasingly discerning customers.

Natural fibres like cotton and wool have been losing market share to synthetics for some time but the tide is turning, courtesy of the plastic legacy of main alternatives which are petroleum-derived fibres polyester and acrylic.

Currently two-thirds of new clothing is made from synthetic fibres and washing these clothes is significantly contributing to plastic pollution in oceans, with each polyester garment shedding thousands of microplastic particles adding up to tonnes of ocean plastic pollution over time.

Microplastic is showing up in seafood we eat, water we drink and air we breathe. The human health effects are still under study, although it is known these fibres carry chemical endocrine disruptors that influence hormone functions and chronic disease.

A recent report from the International Union of Concern for Nature confirmed primary microplastics in the oceans predominantly come from machine-washed synthetic textiles.  Continue Reading →

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