Did you know:
•Australian households on average spend about $50 a week on clothing, footwear and accessories, or $2600 a year. This can be a lot more sustainable – See more on our 1MW Wear fact file. Our sustainable fashion advisor Bronwyn Darlington explains you can easily save – $600 or more a year by making more sustainable fashion choices.
Welcome to the third post in our susta style journey, Repair & Rebirth.
The Susta-Style journey |
|---|
| Recycle, Share & Swap |
| Care & Cleaning |
| Repair & Rebirth |
| Knowledge & Research |
| Return on Investment |
Those of you who frequent this blog may remember that our very first susta-style post was in this very theme. Check out some of our past tips for revamping pre-loved fashion here.
So many simple repairs don’t get done because we are not organised enough to take care of them when we need to.
It is worth investing in a small sewing kit and learning these very basic clothing repair essentials.
1. How to sew a button.
All you need are a button, needle, and thread, and a couple of minutes of time, and your shirt, jacket, or pants will be as good as new.
2. How to hem.
It’s amazing how long an outfit can last when you learn this skill.
You can learn the basics here
3. How to patch jeans.
Rather than tossing jeans with bare knees, you can patch them quite easily giving them a new life.
Learn the basics here
4. How to fix a ripped seam.
This is another very common repair. It seems that most often, the underarm seam on a shirt or the crotch seam in pants are what fail. These are very simple repairs to make, and require nothing more than a needle and thread.
Learn the basics here.
5. How to take in a pair of pants.
Another amazing trick to have up you sleeve, (get it?? – up your sleeve.. because it’s about sewing.. ah, forget it.)
Learn the basics here.
Did you know:
Unwanted clothing and textiles make up 4-5% of waste being dumped in landfills in Australia – See more at our 1MW Wear fact file.
For some amazing inspiration on how to breathe new life into your old outfits, or any you may pick up second hand – check out our interview with Marisa Lynch from New Dress a Day. Marisa’s lives by the saying ‘one person’s trash is another persons treasure!’. She explains: “I love finding vintage goodies that may not fit me perfectly or translate well with the current state of fashion and then make them work on me. (Thank you Tim Gunn – “make it work” has become my mantra)”
A before shot
and an after
We would absolutely love you to share your own DIY projects with us in our 1MW photo a day challenge
–click here to learn how to play.
Check in next week for our next installment, knowledge and research.
For more information on how to transform the way you live check out our website: we are daughters, mothers, sisters and grandmothers getting on with practical climate action to live better for us and the planet. Join the movement at www.1millionwomen.com.au
- Susta-Style Wednesdays is a weekly post on sustainable fashion, shopping and design.
1 Million Women 
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Thanks for the great advice! It amazes me how some people will throw their clothes rather than fix them. I think it’s also super important to have your leather shoes, in particular, repaired rather than wasting the leather and buying a new pair. It certainly doesn’t cost much to resole your boots and it means you won’t be tempted to purchase more animal based products!
In relation to sustainable style, I have written a post on my blog about the importance of establishing a wardrobe based on quality basics: http://selfhealthenvironment.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/wardrobe-basics.html
Thanks again for the tips!
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