Who Made Your Clothes?

Look! I made a lovely...inside out shirt! Ta-da!

While I'm more than pleased with those tidy seams (Jess you may have converted me to the enclosed seam cult), that's not why I'm showing you this view of my sewing. A blog I follow had posted about "Who Made Your Clothes?" with her own inside out garment and this quote:

 " The goal is for all of us to stand together for a united cause and help to show sewing (in all its forms) as an ethical and sustainable alternative to fast fashion and mass consumerism.  It’s one piece in a very large puzzle but by showcasing home sewn items we will help spread the word that in some cases the answer to ‘Who Made Your Clothes?’ can proudly be answered, “ME!” "

(For more information and the article this quote is from visit:  http://behind-the-hedgerow.com/2014/03/24/fashion-revolution-day-handmade-insideout/ )

I missed the actual day since I only heard of it while it was happening but I felt it was an important enough question to justify joining late. I also thought it was interesting timing since I was posting some more of what I'd made using the 3$ fabric. 

Here's what it actually looks like

It's impossible not to want to use the cute little kid prints on occasion, but that's not the sort of thing that turns up in my refashion pile very often. There are wonderful sites out there selling ethical and sustainable fabric, but they are well above my budget. Realistically, with the amount I'm saving on her wardrobe right now I could splurge on a bit of fabric here and there. I just don't think I could bring myself to let my kids out to play in a 30$ t-shirt!  

(The top button is different, I'm such a rebel!) I'm working on alternatives though. I played around with fabric markers on the reversible animal hoods. I compulsively horde any old clothes with cute prints. I save cute baby clothes that end up stained to use small pieces in other projects. I buy material second hand at thrift stores, garage sales or charity events and sometimes get lucky. I contemplate researching farmland when my husband says things like "You should sell things made from all natural materials someday!"  (Ok, maybe I only contemplate growing cotton for about 30 seconds at a time...)

So Sophie got her green bunny shirt and it's one of the few items of clothing she's been really excited about. I'm about as proud of this shirt as I could be, since when I first got this pattern book I saw this shirt and thought "Oh. that's cute but I could never do that." :)  There was some serious anxiety about those buttonholes though. Why do they have to be the last thing you do?

(This is also from Handmade for Children, the same book as these pajamas. It's the cover photo.)

A little apology to anyone waiting on the edge of their seat for the doll clothes pattern ;) I'll make sure they're the next post.