Spending $8 on clothes

Where do your clothes tend to come from? Large department stores? Smaller local boutiques? Thrift shops? Or do you make them yourself? I'm guessing that many crafty types would have a mix of all of these, as I do.

Lately I've been thinking a bit about the clothing industry and 'disposable fashion'. This was prompted by the recent tragic Bangladesh factory collapse. Prior to hearing about it I had been patting myself on the back for finding a pair of jeans that I loved in a large store for just $8 (they're the purple ones in my Me Made May pics). But then I heard the story and had to look on the tag to see where they were made... Bangladesh. And those cheap kids leggings? Bangladesh. Kids skivvies for school? Bangladesh. I know this is a complex topic, exploitation happens in many countries, and those countries need the source of income, it would just be a lot better if conditions were safe and fair. I'm no expert... but it did make me think that I'd like to be more mindful of where and how I acquire my clothing. Then I read this post that made me think, loved the ideas & pledge behind the Handmakers Factory and participated in Me Made May. All food for thought.


Jeans Flares from Sass & Bide. Fix broken back belt loop and wear as they are.
Skirt Gorgeous double layer voile in green and pink poppy print. Repurpose into top.
Dress Silk overlay and cotton voile under-dress. Repurpose into Wiksten tank.
T-shirt Monster print Mambo t-shirt. Repurpose into a Skinny Tee for my son.

The purple jeans were a bit of a rarity, I almost always buy my jeans second hand at my favourite thrift shop, which I've written about several times. They charge by weight, 1 kg is $8. So the other day, after I'd had to throw out a pair of threadbare jeans I dropped in to see if I could find a 'new' pair. And not only did I find a pair but also 3 other gems, and it came in at 1 kg. So again I spent $8 but this time I got 4 things! That's not always the case - sometimes I go and find nothing. But when I do I leave feeling good... now that feels like money well spent.

I'm not saying that I'll only buy second-hand or make my own clothes from now on but I think a mix of those with just the basics from stores (underwear, socks & shoes) should be achievable for me. I have already re-purposed that green skirt above. Show you later this week ;-)

Refashioned skirt

A while ago a friend gave me a bag of clothes she no longer needed (gotta love a bit of clothes passing around!). In it was the skirt below, an A-line in a stretchy cotton blend fabric.

I wasn't sure if I could do anything with it, as I'm feeling a bit over my A-line skirts at the moment. Also the print and colours are not really me so it would have to be a great cut to redeem it, if you know what I mean. But then I spied Kate's gathered twirly skirts, loved her idea and thought this skirt might be a good one to try out a refashion (thanks for the inspiration Kate!).



So I cut it into 3, then set aside the middle section for later (that's the hoarder in me... maybe I can make a fabric belt or tissue holder or zip purse...). Then I sewed a row of long machine stitching into the top of the bottom section and gathered it to the size of the hem of the top section (simple tutorial here on gathering fabric). After sewing them together and overlocking the seam I topstitched the seam down to top layer to make it sit flat. And that's it. As the bottom section was already hemmed I didn't need to do that. Yay!



This is a really simple project but I thought someone out there may find it useful. I get so much inspiration from the great craft blogs that I like to try to pass ideas on. If you try it I'd love to hear. Have a lovely weekend!