Handing on skills – Fiona Saunders

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Fiona Saunders’ life has always included handmade, recycled and repurposed clothes. From a very early age her Mum taught Fiona to sew, sitting at the table with her, cutting out dolls clothes from scraps, using a needle and thread to sew them up. “When I was about eight, Mum she started to teach me how to use her new Pfaff machine with its decorative stitches. I have now started teaching my granddaughter to sew. She is only three but loves sitting next to me at the machine, passing me pins and sewing small scraps with a needle and thread into lovely lumps!,” Fiona said.

Fiona Saunders wears upcycled silk and lace garment she created for The Slow Clothing Project

Fiona Saunders wears upcycled silk and lace garment she created for The Slow Clothing Project

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Artful clothing – Libby Woodhams

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Dr Libby Woodhams began making clothes because she couldn’t buy anything she found sufficiently colourful and different. She doesn’t consider herself a dressmaker because she mostly sews straight lines and lacks patience for tailoring. Libby buys patterns with simple shapes and finds Kwik Sew patterns suit her skills and provide a good canvas for appliqué or fabric painting.

Textile artist Dr Libby Woodhams created this reversible wrap skirt for The Slow Clothing Project.

Dr Libby Woodhams created this reversible wrap skirt for The Slow Clothing Project

Some of Libby’s staple ‘makes’ are a patchwork skirt with elastic waistband and patchwork coats. “I like making them because coats cover a multitude of sins and the clothes underneath can be very simple and timeless. I try to wear as much merino as possible because I think wool is the best fabric for sub-tropical climates. I buy them as manufactured garments when I see something different that I like. These merino garments are a ‘walking teaching aide’ for the promotion of wool. At least 80% of my wardrobe is merino tops and skirts bought over the years. The fabric is so long-lasting that I don’t need to buy more but sometimes I just feel like something ‘new’ – whether I buy it new new or in an op shop,“ Libby said.  Continue Reading →

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Creative lifestyle – Annabelle Brayley

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Classic elegance is never out of fashion and Annabelle Brayley loves the idea of well-constructed clothes made out of natural fibres that last and last. In reality though, she is rarely out of jeans and polo shirts (which she doesn’t make) living in outback Queensland and writing books like Nurses of the Outback, Outback Vets and her new one, Our Vietnam Nurses, to be published by Penguin in May.

Annabelle Brayley renovated a handmade favourite linen jacket for The Slow Clothing Project

Annabelle Brayley renovated a handmade favourite linen jacket for The Slow Clothing Project

Outback storyteller and author Annabelle makes or remakes most of her own ‘good clothes’ and for The Slow Clothing Project, she has chosen to renovate a linen jacket she made 15 years ago because she doesn’t like throwing things out, especially beautiful old clothes that have life in them yet. “It’s so easy to repair and/or remodel well-made clothes and most vintage garments are made out of beautiful, good quality, natural-fibre fabric. I love seeing them rejuvenated and given a new lease of life. I love that saying, ‘In a world of Kardashians, be Audrey’,” she said. Continue Reading →

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A family of makers – Neroli Roocke

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Neroli Roocke knows the satisfaction of wearing or using something that she’s put thought, time and physical effort into. She believes the story behind the garment or item adds to its value and that being surrounded by a richness of stories brings wellbeing and connectedness.

Maker Neroli Roocke wears a skirt she created from vintage curtains

Maker Neroli Roocke wears a skirt she created from vintage curtains for The Slow Clothing Project

Neroli lives in Brisbane Australia in a household of makers and doers. “My husband and both of my boys are willing to take on projects to build or make something that they want – researching techniques online and using the workshop and tools and sewing machine to achieve what they set out to do. We have made bows and replica medieval arrow bags, detailed and accurate Star Wars and anime cosplay costumes, mock weapons, helmets and armour,” she said.

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Ministry of Handmade – Julie Hillier

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Julie Hillier finds such pleasure in making things that she has turned it into her life’s work – creating the Ministry of Handmade as a family business to share skills and the joy of making.

Julie Hillier in Audrey dress horizontalShe has sewn just about everything … jeans, pants, dresses, tops, coats, children’s clothes, bow ties, men’s shirts, men’s trousers, quilts, curtains, doona covers, pillows, tents, hats, bags. She’s recovered lounge chairs, dining chairs and worked on other upholstery projects.

“As a sewing teacher I am very one-eyed about sewing! I view it as a basic life skill like cooking, knowing how to hang a picture on a wall, how to grow things in the garden and make simple repairs to household items that are broken. As someone who has never followed fads and trends, I have always set my own style with my clothing and tried to minimise what I spend on my wardrobe by being a maker,” said Julie, who is based in Brisbane Queensland.  Continue Reading →

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Our clothing stories – Jane Milburn

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Jane Milburn

Jane Milburn in eco-dyed t-shirt dress. Photo by Darcy Milburn at South Mossman River in north Queensland

Clothing is as essential as food for our health and wellbeing because clothes do for us on the outside what food does inside – they nourish, warm, and engage body and soul. What we choose to wear impacts how we feel and how we present to the world.

As conscious eaters are now aware of sourcing fresh whole food and returning to the kitchen – conscious dressers are engaging in the process of learning where and how their clothes are made. Our choices have profound influence – yet sometimes we are too busy to think much about them.

Fast, processed food has had a dramatic impact on health across the population in recent decades and similarly the transformational shift to fast, manufactured clothing is having impacts we are only now coming to understand.

Without doubt there are thousands of wonderful designers and billions of beautiful clothes available for purchase through the trillion dollar global garment industry.  Yet this industry flourishes through the hard work of garment workers in developing countries who may, or may not, be paid appropriately for their efforts. Read about the global garment industry here from Clean Clothes Campaign.

Meanwhile in Australia and other developed nations, two generations have largely missed the opportunity to learn to sew and 70% of millennials don’t even know how to sew on a button.  Continue Reading →

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The Slow Clothing Project 2016

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Jane MilburnAfter more than a decade of ‘disposable’ fast fashion, there’s growing interest in ethical and sustainable clothing with a good story to tell.

The Slow Clothing Project is about people choosing to make or upcycle their own clothes – read our maker stories here.

The Slow Clothing Project aims to spark a national conversation about clothing use and reuse by creating a digital collection of stories and garments handmade by local makers. The focus is on natural fibres, textile reuse and making our own, where possible. The garments – made between February to November – each tell a different story about mindful and sustainable resource. These stories reflect 10 actions to enable us to thrive in a material world. Continue Reading →

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20 things Jane did in 2015

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Reflecting on how I spent my time in 2015 (in chronological order) and planning for 2016

  1. Was interviewed by the entertaining Tim Cox on 612ABC local radio about #sewitagain
  2. Enjoyed a card-making day with Baked Relief team for #lovetothewest campaign
  3. Hosted an engagement party for my son Max and his lovely fiancée Steph
  4. Applied for a Churchill Fellowship and was unsuccessful
  5. Developed a pattern for my history shift/pinny and made a few from rescued clothing
  6. Presented a WOW Bite (on slow fashion) with my friends Keelen Mailman and Helen Hill
  7. Enjoyed a beautiful wedding at Gabbinbar as son Casey married his sweetheart Jenna
  8. Became the cover story of Australia’s iconic sustainability magazine Grass Roots
  9. Told Ag Minister Barnaby Joyce I upcycled natural fibres, he said why would you do that?
  10. Published paper in Home Economics Institute of Australia Journal (Vol 22, No1, 2015)
  11. Ran a weekend upcycling workshop with the lovely ladies from Biloela Arts Council
  12. Celebrated with friends as my beautiful baby daughter Lily turned 21
  13. Was named slow fashion expert in TV and newspaper stories at Fairholme Fashion Week
  14. Climbed St Vitus Cathedral tower at Prague in the Czech Republic with my friend Kay
  15. Foraged for wild apples in Brno CZ and stewed them to then eat with yoghurt
  16. Guest speaker at a national Keep Australia Beautiful awards dinner in Brisbane City Hall
  17. The adjective inspirational was used alongside my name by more than one person
  18. Addressed Brisbane City Council about developing a more sustainable clothing culture
  19. Put on weight as I ate too much sweet stuff and wasn’t active enough in between times
  20. Sat on interview panel for potential candidates in the Australian Rural Leadership Program
  21. and PS – I bought no new clothes (but did buy new shoes and underwear)     By Jane Milburn

 

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