Let's Talk About Clothes

One of the things that I love about damp, grey winter days


is that they afford me time to spend in my sewing room.


This really is one of my happy places.


It's a room filled with potential projects...
where my imagination can run wild.


I mentioned a few days ago that I am giving a lot of thought
to the Slow Fashion Movement.

I love clothes just as much as anyone.
I like my clothes to reflect my personality, to be comfortable, and functional.

We don't always consider that when we buy seasonal, trendy clothing...
(fast fashion)
 that it has often been mass-produced overseas
by humans beings who are forced to work in unsafe conditions for slave wages.


There is also an ecological impact from the production of these clothes
(energy used, chemicals used, waste, etc.)


The Slow Fashion Movement emphasizes only buying well-made items
that will stand the test of time,
and decreasing our consumption through the principles 
of hand-made, mended, recycled, up-cycled, and second-hand garments.

It takes a change of perspective...
viewing our wardrobe as non-disposable but rather
worth mending as needed and keeping through the years.

Personally, I am in the process of sewing and knitting a few wardrobe basics.


I have found that using just a few basic sewing patterns that work
with different fabric choices can create a simple, interchangeable wardrobe
that can transition from season to season.


Sleeveless dresses with simple lines can be worn alone or over a tee shirt in the summer,
 or layered over a longer skirt and leggings in the winter.
I often wear these dresses over jeans and boots and top them with a sweater.
Basic pieces can be worn in many different combinations.


This particular skirt is a pattern called The Wedgewood Skirt
by Straight Stitch Designs.
The above reversible dress pattern is The Metamorphic Dress
from Sew Liberated.

And although my daily uniform here on the farm is jeans,
I love to dress femininely when I can.
I have often felt like my style is that of sometime in the 1700's...
a long dress with a pinafore would suit me just fine on any day!
I often feel like perhaps I was born in the wrong era.
Perhaps I should have been a pioneer, forging a new life in a new world...
but then, again, my life might have been shortened by dysentery, or the pox!!!

Regardless, I have decided to stick with a few basic, classic essentials...
adding some "fluff" with a few home-sewn items;
and mending and up-cycling when I can.


Here is a book that I am going to add to my sewing library...


(ways to turn your mended items into art-to-wear!)

PS...on the subject of our 3 black kitties.  We have been routinely taking them out of their pen and
holding them several times daily.
Although it seems a little sad to keep them in a pen when we are not with them,
it is the only way that I have to contain them and keep them safe until they are big
enough to be left out in a stall (we have a large stall reinforced with chicken wire).
I don't want them to escape before we have a chance to neuter them,
and they are still small enough to fit under a stall door.
And to make matters worse, they are excellent climbers!

Comments

colleen said…
I love this post!! I tell people all the time I was born in the wrong era. I love the style of clothing you make and would love to have a few basic pieces. Is there a place you would recommend buying clothes like this from? I would love to be able to sew but afraid I would never get something made. I know buying isn't what this post is about but I would have for YEARS to come. TFS. xoxox
The JR said…
It's not hurting the kitties in any way to be in a cage or pen. We have cats that we caught on our place (feral) - had them spayed and neutered - and are in large pen.

I know where they are. I know when they are sick. They are safe. And, they seem pretty happy to me.

They get heated beds in the winter. Big fans in the summer. Lots of food and as much love as they want.

I have a friend who told me it was cruel to keep a cat in a pen one time. Then when she was complaining about one of her's being missing.........I said, if you had her in a pen........well, you would still have her.

Fast fashion is a very real envionmental and human rights threat. Thanks for drawing attention to it!
daisy g said…
Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I usually buy thrifted clothes, but didn't realize there was an entire movement going on out there! Alas, I don't have the sewing talent you have, but at least I can buy used clothes instead of buying new.

I think a lot of us feel that we were born in the wrong era, or have lived before and are struggling with modern times.

Enjoy your weekend!
Unknown said…
THANK you, for highlighting the Slow Fashion Movement. LOVE the styling of the clothes you've sewn. People can 'google' "Lagenstyle" to find similar style clothing. My hope is more people will see the numbers and are willing to change their thinking about buying clothes. Me, I'm a "bad" American. I hate shopping (food, clothes, gifts, etc) and the consumer mentality so prevalent in our country. I have found you will not be able to buy "Lagenstyle" in big box stores. Patience is key in finding the 'right' pieces of clothing. I know what second-hand stores to shop and, to further complicate the shopping experience, I bypass all synthetic materials. So much of today's cheap garments are made from petroleum, made to be affordable (so you can keep up with the ever-changing fashion market), disposable and with each washing, could release more than 700K microscopic plastic fibres (don't even get me going on the plastics in our drinking water!) and will not decompose for 20 yrs, at best (polyester). Sorry for the long post. I'll step down from my soap box.
Thank you, again for bring forward the reality of our consumer society.
Grandma Zee said…
Thanks so much for alerting us to the Slow Fashion Movement. I do shop thrift stores and garage sales a lot. But I see I can do a lot more.
I too sometimes feel like I should have lived in the 1800's without the dysentery and pox!.....So I just, like you do incorporate a lot of skills from that era into my everyday life. My grandmothers both grew up in the depression along with my parents, so as a child I learned a lot of skills from them. I have always canned, sewn my children's clothes, etc. Now I have a favorite pair of winter socks and they have a hole in the heel, so I am going to try darning. I have my Aunts darning egg and she was a master at it. I am going to share some of this on my face book page....maybe, just maybe I can influence my grandchildren a little.
This N That said…
I'm With you... I love pinafores and jumpers..layers.. Even though I don't have any! I rarely buy clothes anymore. Pretty much wear the same thing all the time. Comfort is key. Glad Hiissy, Pissy and Sisssy are coming along!! enjoy your weekend..
Jennifer B. said…
I adore that skirt you posted. I buy nearly all of my clothes from thrift stores and donate our old or don't-fit-anymore clothes to Goodwill, etc. I like the idea that clothes can have a longer life than maybe they do with other people.

I wish I were better at sewing clothing. I can sew pretty basic stuff, but I have never had the time or patience to go slow enough to experiment on clothes.

I think you've said you don't watch much TV, but if you by chance have Amazon Prime, check out Pioneer Quest. It was a documentary show where 2 couples were sent out into the wilderness to live the pioneer life for a year. As a longtime admirer of that life (thanks to growing up on Little House on the Prairie books), it made me think twice. It would've been such a hard life.
C-ingspots said…
Love this message! I've heard some about this movement, and am intrigued enough to give it a try. I need to stop wasting money on throw-away, disposable products that don't last. I don't have the talent for sewing like you do, but maybe in years to come when I retire, I might like to learn and become better.
Interesting that you believe you should have lived in earlier times because I have often daydreamed about that too. We have so many conveniences that weren't around then, but that isn't always a bad thing. We would all likely benefit by more physical activities through work and growing our own foods. The slower, simpler times sound so nice to me, and their clothing styles are pretty cool too. Think you've converted me!
You are so talented! If I weren't such a tee shirts and jeans tomboy kinda girl, I'd buy one or two of your creations, they're beautiful with an old world charm.

Lynne said…
Enjoyed this post Beverly . . .
Although “my look” is not quite yours
and I am not a seamstress like you are . . .

I am living in some kind of Slow Fashion Movement as well . . .
I wear the same things again and again.
Mixing those things up that I have in my closet, I can come up
with a “new outfit” for most events.
Saves money for sure!

I ordered a bunch of things for the holiday and returned them just as fast.
And reminded myself, not to do THAT again.

Scarves, Cowls, Belts, are my staples . . . they change things up in a snap.