Me Made May 2021: Day 5

 

Today, is the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. It is also known as REDress Day. It began over a decade ago when Jamie Black, a Metis artist, created an installation art project to draw attention to the over 1 200 Indigenous women and girls who have lost their lives and to spread awareness of this issue. You can read and watch a documentary on this issue here.   

So today, I wore red hoping that it would spark a conversation / discussion.  The red and black plaid shirt, circa 2021, made with The Assembly Line's Oversized Shirt pattern was worn over a RTW t-shirt dress. A spring coat for the afternoon recess duty, circa 2019, Vogue 9367. Sleepwear consisted of my old flannel pajamas:  top, circa 2019, Butterick 6296 and bottoms, circa 2018, OOP Vogue 9217.   

Stay Safe and Happy Sewing!

Fashion Revolution Week: Eight, really? It's Been Eight Years Ago...

I don't know what to write today, on the anniversary of the building collapse in Bangladesh that killed over a thousand innocent people and injured another twenty-five hundred. I don't know what to write because when I reflect back, I fear that very little has changed.  This is what I wrote back then

I've been [...] watching the news channel talk about the sewing factory collapse in India. It is heart breaking to say the least. Words can not explain how painful it is to watch the news coverage, again. Is it me or does it seem that there are a lot of fires or building collapses in that part of the world's garment industry?

Some people in the media are blaming the shopping attitudes of North America for the tragedies that have been occurring in the East surrounding the billion dollar garment industry. North Americans, they argue, want cheap fashions forcing India and China to compete with cheap labour. Then there is another segment that blames the owners of the factory that ordered the workers back to work even though the building was deemed unsafe. Everyone is blaming everyone! But no one is offering any solutions. Some people want to boycott Joe Fresh one of the Canadian garment lines whose labels were found at the collapse building site. Where others are pleading with North American shoppers to not boycott the garment manufactures because they bring much needed work to the region.

Tonight on the local news station they asked a poll question and when I went to check the result, it made me even more sad.

CTV Winnipeg Web Poll - April 26, 2013

Would you pay extra to buy clothes made in fair trade factories?

Yes		177	(53 %)
No		154	(47 %)

Total number of votes: 331

I would have thought that the "yes" response would have been much higher considering the heart-breaking images that have been on the news. But I don't know why I am surprised. As a person who sews, I am often asked to sew for others who are ignorant of the time and work that goes into sewing something because they have been conditioned to paying such low prices. Of course consumers are often getting low quality as many fast fashions are simplified in style and technique.

{Source}

I am often saddened when "home economics" classes were taken to a new direction since I was in junior and high school.

It seems that if a school offers home economics now-a-days the sewing component of home economic classes is pushed to the sidelines as cooking and finances take centre stage. I don't feel that one component is more important than the other rather they are equally important.

I often wonder if there was a greater focus on the sewing component of home economics maybe, just maybe we could educate a future consumer that has an appreciation for the work and skill that goes into creating a garment. Sewing a garment is not just about making something, it is also involves math and communication skills and lessons on aesthetics and ethics.

Even if a student does not continue onto a career that involves sewing or sews their own wardrobe, they would develop skills to help them make more ethical and informed consumer decisions about quality fashion and the work involved in creating such items.

I wonder if the lack of sewing skills currently taught in school contribute to the callous way we think about fashion. This is such a complicated issue. What can we as consumers do? How can consumers be sure that the products they purchase are ethically made in safe working conditions? There are so many questions that arise in yet another tragedy. I pray for those who have lost their lives and who are exploited in horrified working conditions and that cultural attitudes towards fast-fashion change. There has been way too many deaths and injuries in the name of cheap fashion, way too many.

The Fire and Building Safety Accord in Bangladesh, signed after the building collapse, is set to expire at the end of next month. Not one clothing brand that had signed the accord has stepped up to re-sign the agreement. Although, Canadian clothing purchasing habits declined and changed during the pandemic, overseas garment workers continue to pay the price. 

Clothing brands are not stepping up and honoring their purchase orders and someone along the line will have to pay for it.  

When global brands do not honor their purchase agreements, it is the garment workers who are once again punished.  Someone always pays when it comes to cheap fast-fashion. This hasn't changed in the eight years since the Rana Plaza tragedy.  

The pandemic has monopolized  media coverage on the local news this year. If it weren't for the social media coverage from #FahionRevolution this issue would have quietly faded to the background this year.  

#FashionRevolution still has an important role in bringing awareness to issues that are still relevant today as it was eight years ago. And perhaps the pandemic might just shed some more awareness on social justice issues that remain in the fashion industry.   

Fashion Revolution Week: Sustainable Sewing Tips

What does sustainable sewing mean to you? Does it mean being a conscious consumer? Or do you go further and realize that even though you're a conscious consumer you're still consuming. How and what we consume has an impact on our communities, human rights and the environment.    

I've been sewing my own clothes consuming textile products for a long time. It all started restarted as a quest for clothing that fit. It evolved over the years as I learned about the impact of fast-fashion on human rights and the environment. And it is an awakening of sorts to the impact that deforestation and water diversion in the name of fashion has in other aspects of our lives. 

There are big steps (education) and small steps (how we sew) that we can take in order to have a positive impact no matter how small they might seem.  

1.  Sew the Stash!  

Okay, I realize that fabric shopping and sewing with fabric are two completely different hobbies for some of us. 

Sure, it's fun a distraction during the pandemic to scroll the online fabric collections now that the pandemic has striped away the ability to walk into a fabric store and touch textile products like we once did in the past. If anything, lockdowns provide the time to shop the stash and rediscover pieces that might otherwise be overlooked or forgotten. Along with searching for the last bits of elastic during the great elastic shortage of 2020.  Oy!

Can't find the right colour of fabric in your stash or want to jump on the tie-dye trend? Consider dying fabric that is already in your stash. You don't even need to run out to the craft or fabric store for store-bought dyes. You might have all the materials needed in your pantry or garden. Added bonus, natural dyes are kind to the environment. It will feel like you have a new fabric that you pulled out of the stash.   

2.  Wear What You Make, Make What You and Your Community Needs

In a few short days we'll be in the midst of Me Made May festivities. It's an annual online celebration of what has been created and worn.  You don't even have to document the process if you don't want to, it's just a time to be mindful of the clothing items that are waiting to get out of the closet and be worn. 

Lately, most of my sewing projects have not been photo shoot material. There hasn't been much fancy pretty things coming off the sewing machine. Instead, my sewing projects have been highly worn needed items. Face masks, undergarments, and scrub caps are not the most glamorous projects but they are the most appreciated.  

And on a sustainability note, these prized and highly sought after items are small enough to use up small remnants of fabric left over from other projects. There are many groups (hospital / health care workers, homeless shelters, community groups) that would benefit from any left over face masks, undergarments and scrub caps that could be send their way.  If it's possible to do, it's a great way to care for our communities.

3.  Care for Your Clothes

"Loved clothes last," is the catch phrase but it's also true.  We all invest a lot of time into creating our me-made wardrobes. Doesn't it make sense to care for them after they leave the sewing machine? 

 

Let me tell you a tale about this white shirt. Back in 2019, I was so thrilled that I finally managed to sew a white shirt that was comfortable and fit. It's all about sleeves that hit my wrist area and enough ease around the mid-section.  And then in my joy over finally having a white shirt that fits, I wore it out in the public sphere and while at work a blue ink stain appeared on the front band.  

I know, I was shocked as well.  I have no idea how it happened, I'm usually very careful except for this time.  I tried every commercial product stain remover I could get my hands on, from a Tide™ stain remover stick to Shout™ spray stain remover, but nothing worked. In matter of fact the ink stain spread.  Sadness quickly followed when I realized that the there was no more white cotton with stretch in my fabric stash.  

The once loved shirt sat in my mending pile for months waiting for me to recycle those buttons and cut it up for rags. It sat there for that long because I just couldn't do it. And during that time, I started to wonder about that urban legend out there that says, hair spray can remove ink stains. Could it be that it might actually be true? What did I have to lose?  Well, besides a stack of new rags.  

It did work despite all the online posts that hair spray contains less alcohol as it did back-in-the-day. The current advice seems to be to use a bottle of alcohol instead but with the pandemic making alcohol supplies at the drug store a rare find, I'm glad I gave the hair spray trick a try. I invested in a non-aerosol bottle of extra hold hair spray and it worked, much to my relief. The moral of the story, sometimes it's worth the risk. And if it doesn't work, there is a source for rags oh let's not go there. 

4.  Learn to Mend and Love the Process  

Mending is the greatest sewing technique that you can bring to your sewing process. Yeah, I can hardly believe that my fingers hit those keystrokes to spell that out. I've come a long way in my view on mending. There has really been a mind shift over the pandemic. 

The above ready-to-wear shirt has ended up on the mending pile once again. I'm thinking about how I want to repair the small hole developing on the upper back of this top. And I'm thinking about doing some visible mending with this one. I've been intrigued by Sashiko, the Japanese technique of visible mending. I think it could look quite pretty, maybe try it out with some silk thread so not to compete with the light-weight fabric.  

5.  Use Old Clothing as Your Fabric Source

According to a report by the United States Environment Protection Agency, many of the previously desired clothing that we donate to charity and second hand shops still end up in landfills and contribute to greenhouse gases.  

Have you considered using your old clothing as a fabric source instead of donating them? It couldn't be a better time to consider it as the patchwork trend is sticking around for 2021.  

How about using big people clothing pieces to recreate little people clothing? The above dress was created with a much loved piece of cloth from a me-made skirt that no longer fit. Fabrics have certainly changed over the decades as manufacturers blend natural and man-made fibres in order to save money. Those quality natural fibre fabrics are becoming harder to find in fabric store shelves replaced by polyester options. But those gems might still be sitting in your mending or donate piles waiting to be recreated into something new.  

Stay Safe and Happy Sustainable Sewing!

Fashion Revolution Day

Today, I'm showing my outfit inside out to show that sewing is an ethical and sustainable alternative to fast-fashion and mass consumerism. It is the sewist's version of Fashion Revolution events being held today.  

Refashioned skirt and Vogue 1306 Top

My top is a me-made item and the skirt used to be a pair of pants that I made into a skirt after reading Erica B's article in Vogue magazine. The skirt still has a label. The pants (the original item) were purchased at a local shop called Candies and Dolls that carries lines from many local designers. The pants were made here in Canada.

A rare find, considering how much ready-to-wear clothing is made overseas where they are out of reach of labour laws that we have here.

I have to admit, I feel a bit like a fraud.  

I have so much more to do and research to truly feel that my own sewing is an ethical and sustainable alternative to fast-fashion. I have to admit that I do not know the origins of my own fabric stash other than the fabric store that they were purchased. Most fabric labels (if there is one) contain fibre content and yardage information. Rarely can you find country of origin information.  

I do have some fair trade cotton knit in my fabric stash.  I feel good about this and to be completely honest it wasn't any more expensive from the other knits on the fabric store shelves. And the quality is wonderful.  

As a consumer, I realize that I have to ask questions of the shop owners and let it be known that I care about social justice issues surrounding the ethical sources of the materials I use and purchase. I just can't stand here and snap a picture because I feel that there is more work to do. This is about the journey, not a destination.

But this moment, this snapshot is a way to pause and think of all those who died and were injured a year ago at Rana Plaza. They died sewing fast-fashion in horrid conditions that still exist today in many parts of the world. Today is a day of remembrance, awareness and the journey to make the world a better place.

It always seems impossible until it's done. 

~Nelson Mandela

Well, I have to run to work (clothes are only inside out for the photo). It is also Pay It Forward Day here.

Off to do random unselfish acts of kindness and think about what this day means on so many levels.

Would You Wear Your Clothes Inside Out?

You may have noticed a new button and link on the blog. Fashion Revolution Day is coming up on April 24th. Participants are asked to wear their clothes inside out to show the labels on instagram. 

Celina who blogs over at Petit a Petit and Family and Abby who blogs over at Things for Boys is asking the sewing community to get involved. Their take on this global awareness campaign is to

get the online sewing community involved with this initiative by creating the first

Virtual FLASH MOB

of sewists wearing something handmade inside out.  The goal is for all of us to stand together for a united cause and help to show sewing (in all its forms) as an ethical and sustainable alternative to fast fashion and mass consumerism.  It’s one piece in a very large puzzle but by showcasing home sewn items we will help spread the word that in some cases the answer to ‘Who Made Your Clothes?’ can proudly be answered, “ME!”

Why?  

April 24, 2014 will mark the first anniversary of a horrific and tragic event. One thousand one hundred twenty-nine people died when the unsafe building they were working in collapsed. Over two thousand people were injured. Many lost limbs.

The building that collapsed housed garment factories that catered to the fast-fashion appetite of western countries. Although the building also housed a bank and other shops, these business closed and left the building as soon as cracks were discovered. This was not the case for the garment factories where workers were ordered back to work in this unsafe environment in order to meet shipping deadlines.

This tragedy brought to light the horrific working conditions and little pay that the workers must endure to support their families. It shocked many in the west who were oblivious to these conditions when they picked up that bargain garment.

So, on April 24 we're asked to think about the people who have passed away, those who survived, and those that continue to work in unthinkable working conditions and ask ourselves "who made your clothes?"

I have thought of this social justice issue and how it relates to my sewing. I wrote about it back in February when Debi ask those participating in Sew Grateful Week to reflect on what sewing means to them.

The straw that broke the camel's back were the heart-wrenching reports about the sewing factories overseas. "Made in the U.S.A." or "Made in Canada" disappeared from our western landscape in the past decades as our heads were filled with the promises of globalization. I am no saint when it comes to some of my shopping decisions in the past. I have clothing produced by Joe Fresh and that have "Made in China" and "Made in Bangladesh" and yes, it makes me ill every time another garment factory fire occurs and innocent garment workers are killed. It is not cheap fashion when the high human cost comes to light. 

This past year, I try to think of those who sew our clothes not because it is a hobby rather they are trying to feed their families. I am trying to be more mindful in my decisions and change my shopping behaviour of the past. I have learned to appreciate my sewing skills more than I did in the past. I now think of my sewing skills as more than a hobby. Sewing has become a form of social activism. I know how much I hate it when people take advantage of my sewing abilities and try to get work done for cheap or worse free. Yet when I buy fast-fashion am I not doing the same thing? It is one of the reasons that I joined Sarah's RTW Fast this year. I'm grateful for the community of fasters that have been supportive and inspiring in this journey.

This is an opportunity to stand up and think about where we place value, in people or products. On April 24th, would you wear your clothes inside out and snap a photo? If sew, spread the word.