It's Traid's #Secondhandfirst week!

I was invited to guest write on Traid’s blog this week, so thought I'd post up a copy with a few more pictures on my own blog as well! This week Traid has initiated the first hopefully of many  #Secondhandfirst week, jam packed with interesting activities encouraging us to take the #Secondhandfirst Pledge. It is a great great initiative which also highlights the ways we buy our clothes and a reminder of all the environmental and social problems in the textile and garment supply chain. We all have the capacity to affect these problems in positive ways as conscious consumers and citizens.

The volume of textile and clothing waste in the UK is quite staggering (Source WRAP: 350,000 tonnes of used clothing goes to landfill every year. 30% of our unwanted clothes goes to landfill. 60% of UK households have unwanted clothes & textiles at home) We are throwing away or just hoarding valuable resources!!

In the ‘Hierarchy of waste’; reduce and reuse are at the top of the pyramid. For me this way of thinking and being is very easy. I was brought up on a diet of second hand being careful. Hand me downs (or hand me ups!) was the norm without any shame or stigmas that today’s youngsters seem to feel. As a teenager (and continues to be so!) sourcing clothes from charity shops was fun, a great source of individuality, re styling possibilities and affordable! I still take advantage of Traid’s famous £2 sales!! As I enter my mid years I also appreciate the emotional durability of second hand, especially items from older relatives which hold memories, stories and history. Many vintage clothes were made to last too.

Care and repair is an important part of making our old clothes go further and re connecting with the joy in fixing and looking after items. Tired old clothes gives us an opportunity for re styling an item giving that buzz of wearing something completely different and you had a hand in making it happen! I have observed a skill shortage and lack of confidence in being able to do this. Back in the day these skills would have been passed on through the family or taught in school. This has motivated me to run regular classes in learning to sew and refreshing your wardrobe through simple alterations, mending, darning & embellishing and these classes are popular which is heartening!

Upcycling adds value through creativity and design. Items too damaged for re use present an opportunity for transformation. A few years ago I iinitiated ‘The Upcycling Academy’ to give young people the opportunity to experience a ‘Productive Line’ to re imagine a different approach to fashion, to create rather than consume. Partnering with Traid, War on Want & the Craftivist Collective, we each added ‘Values’ along the line.

Taking inspiration from ‘Cradle to Cradle’ thinking, imagine a garment circulating through many owners in its lifetime? (Truthfully many garments never reach their full potential in relation to resources, energy used to make and distribute the item)

I love the recent trend for Clothes Swapping or its older sister ‘Swishing’. Jo of Mrs Bears Clothes Swap tells me that that she has regulars who use her swaps to ‘rotate their wardrobe’ – brilliant!

Wonderfully TV programmes such as ‘The great British sewing Bee’ which added an upcycling / alteration challenge to the second series and ‘This old Thing’ (the vintage clothes show) have inspired the nation to look at old clothes and lost textile skills with a fresh passion. Even Coronation Street discussed the possibility of an ‘upcycled wedding’! It’s all good!

So now over to you dear reader! Get involved and feel inspired! There are a range of fun activities taking place during #Secondhandfirst week.

My next Fabrications craft club on Thursday 20^th November is a #Secondhandfirst themed evening with a clothes swap upstairs in the shop and revamp / mending session downstairs in the workshop. More information and Booking info.

P.S: All the featured projects in this post use clothing sourced from Traid!

Upcycling workshops at Vintage in pictures

As promised here are my snap shots (Not all workshops are covered - more on Fabrications Facebook page) of the upcycling workshop area at Vintage at the Southbank, which I recently co curated with Louise Kamara of the Eco Design Fair.

A big THANKYOU! to everyone involved, the Hemingways and their team, RFH staff, workshop hosts and of course all the lovely participants who made things with us, brought our wares, and looked so fabulous! It was a really enjoyable weekend.

My fascinator making from vintage silk scarves went down well, I even had a hen party on the Saturday! So great to see people wearing their creations around the Royal Festival Hall.

I shared my workshop station with Mollie Makes, who had 2 different workshops on offer. Eirlys Penn aka Scrapiana made strawberry pin cushions, read her highlights of the upcycled workshops on her Blog. On the Sunday Sara Sinaguglia taught crochet and then how to make an apple cosy.

Ahoy there! Seaside Sisters had sunny side offerings - making flower brooches and specially designed 'Vintage 2011' festival of Britain style pennants. you can see some of the creations from the weekend on their blog.

Meanwhile in the 'Refresh your wardrobe' station. Jessica Aldred passed on her 'stitchy goodness' in the form of lovely motifs to customise and breathe new life into an old garment or accessory. Read Jessica's experience on her blog!

Lisa of U Old Bag demonstrates how to make yarn from an old t-shirt and then how to crochet fashion accessories from it.

In the 'Fashion Rework' area, Fashion Antidote ran their 'Chop + Change' workshop where you could transform a couple of shirts and a t-shirt into a skirt, whilst TRAID revamped old woollens and taught finger knitting.

Out of the Dark kindly let us use their upcycled vintage furniture to display our wares in alongside the workshops. Their pieces created the perfect setting for the space.

Good work team! I look forward to working with you all again at another time or place!

Designer Vintage Scarves Collection

I've decided to sell my collection of collectable designer scarves through the ages at my stand at Vintage at Southbank this coming week.
Sorry my snaps don't really reflect how lovely they are - pure silk, hand rolled and stitched edges and in very good condition considering the age of some of them.



I've also got scarves by Chloe, Horrockses 'Imperial Muffler', Givenchy, Lanvin, Laua Ashley, Thomas Burberry, YSL...

Vintage at the Southbank

This year Wayne and Gerradine Hemingway's Vintage festival is at the Southbank, London.

I am co curating the Upcycling Workshop area (located inside the Royal Festival Hall) alongside the lovely Louise Kamara, organiser of the Eco Design Fair.

There will be 6 main workshop stations. Hosts will be rotating 2 1/2 hr classes 12 - 5.30pm and also selling their handmade wares, vintage clothing, accessories and haberdashery, kits, magazines and published books throughout the day.
You can book in at the workshop of your choice on arrival at 12 noon or just drop in if there's space! Here's a sneak preview of what we've got planned....

Sewing machines at the ready....get 'Reworking Fashion' or 'Chop + Change' with Fashion Antidote and revamp old woollens with TRAID. Horrockses will show you how to transform their printed bed linen into a vintage inspired dress. In celebration of the current Festival of Britain exhibition and celebrations at the Southbank, The Seaside Sisters have developed a special FOB inspired pennant making session. On the 'Refresh your Wardrobe' station discover styling and customising tips from Kustom Box, whilst author Jessica Alden from the Royal School of Needlework will demonstrate beautiful embellishment techniques.

Want to do a bit of DIY? Join Max McCurdo from Reestore who will be creating Bird boxes out of circuitry and hardware. Meanwhile U Old Bag (great business name!) will demonstrate how to make yarn out of an old t-shirt and then how to crochet it into simple accessories.
Last but not least I am sharing a station with the new craft magazine Molly Makes who will be making items from recent issues including strawberry pin cushions and crocheted apple protectors, whilst I'm doing my 'Create a fabulous fascinator' out of vintage silk scarves and haberdashery. Fun fun fun...hope to see you there!

What goes around comes around....

Even if there is a few tens of years between!

On Saturday I was going through Fabrications collection of knitting patterns through the ages available to buy at 50P, when I noticed with delight this 2-ply feather stitch twin set pattern. It felt like I had been reunited with a much loved friend.

Here I am with my hand knitted 2-ply jumper purchased from Paul Goby's fantastic vintage clothing stall on Broadway Market a couple of years ago! I wonder who made it? I love their own take on the pattern too with the introduction of an extra stripe and a slight change of colour!

Get Snappy! It's SALE time!

Starting this Saturday, please come on down to Fabrications, you never know what you might discover! We are loading up crates, suitcases, baskets with bags of inspiration!!
I'm on the last leg of clearing out my studio in preparation for temporarily closing down the shop for building works to create an eco classroom and events space (or Imaginerium!) on the back of the shop. More news on this to follow!

I've focused on sharing some of the vintage haberdashery finds as I love the packaging and wording! But I've been bagging up all kinds of textile wonders - fabric lengths, offcuts (great for patchwork) wool, fastenings and findings, all kinds of notions!

There will also be all kinds of one off, quirky items, display props and samples of my work and other Fabrications designers.

Hope to see you for a good root and rummage!