Tuesday 20 November 2012

The ‘Love What You Wear’ Project ~ I’m in!

In a change to the scheduled Flower Garden block post, I’d like to talk about something else this Tuesday. Something new that I’ve signed up to this month.

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The ‘Love What Your Wear’ Project is the brainchild of Morwhenna Woolcock, a Bristol based artist, designer and maker. She has pledged not to buy any new clothes (apart from shoes and underwear) for a whole year, from 1st November 2012 until 1st November 2013. I’ve decided to join her, along with 20 odd others….so far.

It doesn’t mean that we can’t add any new clothes to our wardrobes during that time, just that they cannot be bought brand new from a shop. They can be thrifted from charity shops and jumble sales, bought pre-loved from dress agencies or ebay, swapped with friends, or even sewn for ourselves.

I’ve made my own clothes before and quite a few dresses for my daughter, when she was younger, as well as all the usual fancy dress that is required at school for performances and book days. I haven’t made an actual item of clothing for myself, from scratch, since I sewed my wedding outfit. That was a while ago now.

I discovered the project on Twitter. I’m a recent convert. I joined a couple of years ago, but didn’t really ‘get it’ and I’m not saying I totally do now, but I love it! I was already following Jen from My Make Do and Mend Year and Louise who co-ordinates Dress a Girl Around the World in the UK, that’s how I found Morwhenna.

I’m so looking forward to what this year will bring. I hope to rediscover and brush up on my dress making skills, meet like minded folk and have fun along the way. My first project is to make an A line skirt like the blue one (second from the end on the washing line) that I love and am gradually wearing to death. I’ll keep you posted.

13 comments:

Sian said...

Fi, I can't wait to see more posts on this! It's an idea I have toyed with..not sure if I could see it through, but i have a book of lovely patterns for skirts and dresses that I highly recommend. It's called Sew serendipity by Kay Whitt.

This is such a cool project

Lynn said...

Interesting project. I used to make lots of my ow clothes when I was younger and made all my ball gowns as a student. Hope you keep us updated how you get on.

Lynn said...

Interesting project. I used to make lots of my ow clothes when I was younger and made all my ball gowns as a student. Hope you keep us updated how you get on.

Jaki Morris said...

I could easily join in with this as I very rarely buy new clothes!
Let's see how it goes. I'm also an avid charity shop browser and today I bought 9 books for £4.50 and most of them are for Christmas presents!

Looking forward to seeing this challenge

Jakixx

Deb @ PaperTurtle said...

Wow, this sounds cool, Fiona. I'll enjoy seeing how you cope with this challenge, and I'll admire your sucess, I'm sure. Can't wait to see what you come up with on your sewing machine. :o)

alexa said...

This sounds like it's going to be both fun and possibly taxing at times. But learning new skills is always a bonus and I'll be looking forward to seeing how the year goes!

KraftyKaren said...

Really interesting - looking forward to seeing how you get along with this.

Alison said...

I have to say that with working in the Charity Shop in our village, I have found lots of bargains!....Good Luck with your project!
Alison xx

Anonymous said...

Welcome aboard! It's going to be great fun, and hopefully we will all learn some new skills!

VivJM said...

Yay! Glad you are joining in with the challenge. Look forward to seeing what you make

Mrsjobee said...

Looks like a fab idea. I dislike clothes shopping as I can never find anything I like - mainly because I'm not happy with my weight. Back to fat club tonight so maybe my pledge should be that I can only buy an item of clothing if it is a smaller size than the ones I am wearing today.

Lisa-Jane said...

I rarely buy anything for myself and I would love to join in but I can't sew!

Jo said...

This is a great idea and I look forward to seeing your clothes. I would find this quite easy because I haven't bought any new clothes for 18 months but that's because I hate clothes shopping! :) x