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

 

Posted in: lifestyle

Grow a sustainable clothing culture

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Jane Milburn outside Brisbane City HallJane Milburn spoke on a matter of public importance at the November 24 meeting of Brisbane City Council: (download Minutes or read speech and response_24_nov_2015)

“In the same way we’ve become aware of our food – we are becoming more conscious of our clothing.

Today you are either wearing natural-fibres – or synthetic fibres derived from petroleum. I’m wearing a shift created with rescued wool suits that were one step away from becoming landfill. As a natural-fibre champion with a background in issues-based communication, I am seeking to help create a more sustainable clothing culture.

Thank you for this opportunity to raise the matter at this Brisbane City Council meeting.The past decade has seen a transformational shift in where and how our clothing is made – which raises ethical issues such as:

  1. Consumption increase – in two decades, individual annual fibre use across the globe has doubled from 7 to 13 kg each
  1. Fibre change – a decade ago, half of new clothes were natural fibres and half synthetics. Now 2/3 of new clothing are synthetic – and research shows they shed microplastic particles with every wash.

Continue Reading →

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Towards a sustainable clothing story

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People use double the clothing they did two decades ago, with average global apparel fibre consumption* rising from 7 kilograms each in 1992 to 13 kilograms per person in 2013.

This has occurred as part of a transformational shift in the way we source clothing and the substance from which those clothes are made. Most clothing is now produced in factories for global supply chains and two-thirds of it is made using synthetic fibres derived from petroleum, according to Jane Milburn of Textile Beat.

During this National Recycling Week (9-15 November), Ms Milburn will discuss our clothing story as guest speaker at the Keep Australia Beautiful Australian Sustainable Cities 2015 Awards in Brisbane on November 13. The awards are running in tandem with the Recreate handmade market and Paper Fashion Parade in King George Square.

Global apparel fibre consumption vs population growth Continue Reading →

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Two-thirds of new clothing is plastic

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Did you know that synthetic fibres derived from petroleum now dominate the clothing market at a time when research finds these plastic clothes each shed 1900 microplastic particles into the ecosystem with every wash?

The trend towards cheaper synthetic materials accelerated during the past two decades with biodegradable natural fibres making up half of global fibre apparel consumption in 1992 then declining to about one-third by 2013.

A troubling consequence of the rise of synthetics is 2011 shoreline research at 18 sites across the planet led by ecologist Dr Mark Browne which found the majority of accumulated plastic pollution was microplastic fibres that matched the materials found in synthetic clothing.

Clothing consumption figures collated from the Food and Agriculture Organisation and the World Fibre Report (see graph below) show in 1992 natural fibre consumption of 22 million tonnes from a global apparel fibre total of 39 million tonnes – compared with 2013 and 32 million tonnes of natural fibres from the global total consumption of 92 million tonnes. These figures reflect in increasingly bulging wardrobes, with average individual consumption rising from 7kg/person in 1992 compared with 13kg/person in 2013.

world apparel fibre consumption graph web

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Making a material difference

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Milburn, Jane FINAL Making a material difference_Page_1Dressing is an everyday action that defines us. Clothes envelop our body to provide protection and privacy. They do for us on the outside what food does on the inside—nourish, warm, engage body and soul. Preferred garments vary with our age, stage, work and wallet—they impact how we feel and how we present to the world.

Clothing changes over time as new designs, techniques and materials become available. We expect a modicum of change in the product itself: that is fashion. Yet in recent decades, the transformational shift in the process of sourcing and shedding clothing has brought changes to substance as well as style.

Most clothing is now made in factories in developing nations where supply chain transparency is limited and workers can be exploited. Fast, cheap food influenced dining in the same way that fast, cheap fashion has changed dressing. As there is rising interest in home cooking and food growing for health and wellbeing, there are pressing ethical and ecological reasons for rethinking our approach to textiles and fashion. It is time to look more closely at where our clothes are coming from, question why they are so cheap, and consider what actions we can take to dress with good conscience. Read more in the Journal of the Home Economics Institute of Australia Journal Vol. 22, No. 1, 2015 Milburn, Jane FINAL Making a material difference

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Slow Clothing Manifesto

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At Textile Beat, we love natural, simple, handmade things that don’t cost the Earth. We are endlessly refining the message about mindful, thoughtful ways of dressing that align with our values of authenticity and individuality. In the same way we endlessly upcycle our clothes, here’s the latest version of our slow clothing manifesto!

Slow Clothing Manifesto

Posted in: leadership, slow fashion

WOW Brisbane does slow fashion

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Textile Beat founder Jane Milburn was invited to present a WOW Bite session at the recent Women of the World Festival in Brisbane. Below is an extract from her speech.

Today you are either wearing natural-fibre clothes – or more likely plastic clothes derived from petroleum or coal. Only 1/3 of new clothing is natural and 2/3 is synthetic, according to Food and Agriculture Organisation figures. It’s changed from half and half two decades ago. I’m wearing natural fibres that I’ve refashioned – turning a $4 wool blanket from the opshop into a poncho. This is my style of slow fashion – there are many other ways.

Jane Milburn of Textile Beat Continue Reading →

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