Friday, October 31, 2008

Wardrobe Refashion

I have taken the Wardrobe Refashion challenge for 2 months. I have pledged not to buy any new clothes (except underwear) for the next two months. I can buy clothes from the thrift store and refashion them, sew or knit new ones though. Of course, I picked the two holiday months, not sure what I was thinking but I've done it before so I can do it now.


What many people don't realize is that the fashion industry is NOT very environmentally friendly. The manufacturing process, dyeing yarn, threads and fabrics, fuel to ship clothes from overseas, etc are very damaging. Then factor in that most people wear their clothes for a season or two and then get rid of them creating a landfill issue. Using natural fibers is not any better usually because cotton is a crop that uses more pesticides than any other and those pesticides leak into our water supply.


By using materials that have been reclaimed (much of my yarn has been purchased at my local resale shop), repurposed (taking a garment that someone might have thrown out and refashioning it into something different) or recycled (such as unraveling a thrift store sweater and reusing the yarn so you can knit or crochet it into something else), you are actually being eco-friendly.


So for the next two months I am going to try to do my part. Here is my first item a sweater that I knit from a cotton/acrylic blend yarn that I got from a resale shop. I didn't follow any pattern, just used my own measurements.

1 comment:

princess papuli said...

Wow -- I didn't realize you were so knowledgeable about eco-friendly fabrics! The sweater looks great, and so does you Etsy shop. Best of luck to you, girlfriend. I'll be visiting your sites often to see what you're up to.

BTW: what was the name of the book you recommended to me last time we talked?