Binge and Purge

I’ve been going through my closet. I’m getting rid of everything that doesn’t fit, I don’t wear or I don’t like anymore. I may end up naked! What to do with the items I remove? I usually take everything to Goodwill (where I then sometimes end up buying replacements – which defeats the whole “reduce” idea.)

This time, however, I’m going to take some of the items and “reuse” them. I’ve checked out a book called “200 Sewing Tips, Techniques and Trade Secrets” by Lorna Knight which I’m hoping will help me do things like alter existing pieces or turn some flowered skirts into aprons . I’m going to perform some sweater surgery too and see what I can reconstruct . SEE LINKS BELOW

Aprons from Skirts

Subversive Sewing

Sweaters Refashioned

Altered Clothing

If all goes well, I may then tackle my daughter’s closet (where I am sure to find tons of sparkly things that she no longer wears). These can be turned into cute, little dresses for our sweet 3-year old neighbor or her new baby sister who will arrive in December. I’ve already got some patterns and this part should be fun.

Fix a V-neck blouse

Fix a sleeveless sweater and a long skirt

I have to confess that I have a Love/Hate relationship with sewing. I grew up in a rural area and time when girls sewed. I had sewing lessons in 4-H Club and also as part of (required) Home Economics classes in High School. I hated it. I wasn’t good at it.

I’ll tell you how bad I was; I sewed the sleeve of the blouse I was wearing to the hem of an A-line dress I was making in Miss Moody’s 9th grade class. Everyone laughed. Then all the girls came over in a giggling cluster to watch Miss Moody whip out her seam ripper and disentangle me. How humiliating!

Flash forward several years: I took a summer job at a garment factory where they sewed coats. (I know! What was I thinking?) Well, I guess I didn’t think they’d actually put me on a sewing machine – but they did. They sat me down and gave me a big bolt of corduroy which I was to hem in one long, continuous stitch – and a hook that you wore on your finger like a ring. When you came to the end of the bolt, you were supposed to use the hook to cut the thread.

I was young and had long hair that hung below my waist. Sometime during the sewing process, I reached back to flip my hair out of the way and damn near cut off my ear with that hook! It’s amazing how much blood a cut to the ear generates. Needless to say, they took me off the sewing machine and put me in the steam press room – where I had other adventures.

Since those days, I’ve had numerous occasions to sew. I’ve had some successes and some hilarious failures. (Such as the baby dress for my daughter where all the little red tractors were upside down because I turned the pattern the wrong way.)

I use as my inspiration for trying this “green” project a friend I had back in high school named Mary Ann Capelle, who took drama and theater classes. She could take something out of her closet, tear off the collar and sleeves, and turn it into something new and pretty. When she bought clothes off the rack it was with the idea of cannibalizing them for parts! She would take a plain blouse and embroider a little flower on the cuff, add lace to a V-neck dress, or dye her sneakers.

This is what I’d like to be able to do, but I’m not Mary Ann. I don’t expect perfection. I just hope I don’t end up looking like Blossom.

Library books to consider: 

SWEATER SURGERY  by Girard, Stephenie

Subversive Seamster:Transform thrift store threads into street culture" by Alvarado, Melissa

Alchemy Arts: Recycling Is Chic by MacKay, Kate

The Weekend Sewer's Guide To Dresses by Matthews, Kate

Make Your Own Clothes: 20 Custom Fit Patterns To Sew by Clayton, Marie

Sewing With Fabulous Vintage Fabrics by Franklin, Arden

Resistance is Fertile!

Today I actually got to do something I haven’t done in awhile (because of the heat, the rain and my hectic life). I sat out on my deck early in the morning, before the neighbors were up. (That would be the ones on the right with the kids and barking dog and the one on the left who loves to crank up his boat in the driveway and play Beach Boy music.)

I could hear the birds and feel the breeze and the grass was wet. My little dog was busy snuffling around exploring trails left by rude squirrels with his nose.


I’m usually pretty social – or at least I’m always surrounded by people. Mostly, I really like people. This morning though, I enjoyed the hushed, gentle sounds and the rare solitude. My happiness was to linger over a cup of coffee, breathe deeply and just BE.


It made me wonder what it would be like if there were no people at all. There would be nothing or no one around to make demands upon me. Would it be this peaceful? If it was, would I be able to appreciate it? Would it even matter?


Maybe that’s the only reason we are here; to appreciate it. Consider this thought. We’ve only got one Earth, so we should take the time to appreciate it. You don’t have to be standing on the rim of the Grand Canyon to know how majestic our world is.


Look around your neighborhood. Is it filled with noise, flashing signs and strip malls? Could it be improved? Has the beauty of the natural world disappeared completely? Does it reflect the way the world was intended? It doesn’t have to be that way. Even shop owners can plant a flower in a clay pot or hang a wind chime.


When my parents lived in New Mexico their town had an ordinance requiring all new construction to be made of adobe brick and landscapers could not plant grass. Why? Because of water restrictions to be sure, but also because locals wanted to preserve the integrity of their ecosystem …and their cultural heritage.


You see, a lot of folks from back East retire there because they’ve “always wanted to live out West” or because the dry desert air is good for their health.


Once they are there, however, they start planting grass – in a climate that does not have the water to support it. They start building Cape Cod houses and log cabins in an area that has never had enough trees for those types of dwellings to develop. Locals have always used mud bricks (adobe) to build their homes.


Pretty soon the scenery changes; the very reason people moved out West disappears. No more adobe homes with swept yards and cactus. Taco Bells spring up and restaurants serving authentic Mexican foods struggle. Quaint little shops go out of business because everyone shops at the Super Walmart down the road.


It’s not progress exactly, but it is a progression. The natural world and all the things that make one place unique from another, merge into a unified blend of vanilla monotony.

Even here in Chesapeake wooded areas are stripped of lovely, mature trees – the undulating ground graded flat and developers build ugly, squat “communities” and give them ironic names like “Green Tree Villas”. How sad!


I know there is still beauty in the world, but it is there in spite of us – not because of anything we’ve done. Usually.


There is an underground movement of people who call themselves “Guerilla Gardeners” who roam about the cities surreptitiously planting flowers, shrubs and trees in blighted areas.


LINKS
http://www.guerrillagardening.org/

http://www.greenguerillas.org/

http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/011420.html

This is the only kind of revolutionary group I’d actually like to join.


In fact, if anyone can help me locate one around here I’d be grateful. Together we could turn the city of Chesapeake into Emerald City. Maybe if I can’t find one, I could start one? Anyone interested?

VIDEO http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/video/2008/apr/25/guerrilla.gardening

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/video/2008/apr/25/seedbombing