Musings

Well the study floor is now clear and I found some gift vouchers from Christmas which is a nice little bonus to spend.

I like to read sewing boards and sewing blogs. There are a couple of areas which I noticed are VERY popular but I've not really got into that much so far.

One is Vintage. I've not really got into vintage although I have some vintage patterns both original (60s/70s) and reprints. I think there are a few reasons why. One is the styles - there are a lot of dresses, and those style don't fit my personality or lifestyle. The other is that for me certain styles which epitomise an era also have for me negative connotations about the bad things of that period, particularly to do with how women were treated. So for instance why would I want to go to work in a 1950s dress? This was a period when women could be made to leave work if they got married, where it was perfectly legal to pay a woman less for the same job, etc etc. I have no desire to encourage those things again. I expect to work as hard as a male colleague and get paid the same.

The other is refashioning. This I quite like from the creative and recycling side, but some of the end results people share online are very low quality which puts me off, plus I do like to shop :-)
I've considered a few times taking the Pledge, and as long as it lets you buy shoes and fabric, I can probably live with it TBH.

The Pledge

I __________________ pledge that I shall abstain from the purchase of "new" manufactured items of clothing, for the period of 2 / 4 / 6 months. I pledge that i shall refashion, renovate, recycle preloved items for myself with my own hands in fabric, yarn or other medium for the term of my contract. I pledge that I will share the love and post a photo of my refashioned, renovoted, recycled, crafted or created item of clothing on the Wardrobe Refashion blog, so that others may share the joy that thy thriftiness brings! Signed__________________.

Wardrobe Refashion seems to be a victim of its own success having grown so large its too big for TypePad now. Anyway I think I might have a go on my own terms for the rest of May and see how I get on.

Here goes

RuthieK's Handmade May Pledge

During the month of May I shall make clothing, jewellery and household items solely from existing supplies or recycling existing items. I may buy fabric and appropriate notions where I do not have anything suitable to complete the project on hand. My target for May is 10 garments, 4 items of costume jewellery and 4 household projects (bags, cushions etc)

For the purpose of this the last few days of April are part of the Handmade May timeframe, and so I'm including the tee, waistcoat, trousers and cardiwrap which I made or started at the end of April.