Full Circle Scarves

Earlier this year I was contacted by Barry and Eva, the brains and hands behind upcycled scarf enterprise Full Circle Scarves, who told me about their business and story so far. I always love hearing about and seeing upcycled products, and the people who make them.

As I was in Melbourne, scarfless, with winter fast approaching, I popped along to Etsy to commission Full Circle Scarves to create a scarf in my favourite colour combo, blue and grey. As they are made by Barry and Eva in New Zealand the postage did not increase the price too drastically and, a week later my scarf arrived on my doorstep with a lovely hand written note.
                              

 I have worn it daily and nightly in Melbourne. I have been working on a farm in New South Wales for three weeks and it is rarely detached from my body. So, thank you Barry and Eva for making me my favourite scarf. Your dedication and enthusiasm is really inspiring and I wish you the best of luck for the future!

Buy Full Circle Scarves at their Etsy store

Looptworks Love

Before I began my travelling adventures last year I bought a backpack.

My Kasum backpack, July 2014, Sydney, Australia

I wanted to find one that had been upcycled from discarded materials and looked good. With help from an Ecouterre search I quickly found the Kasum backpack by Looptworks which I bought online.

I have waited to share my love of this Looptworks bag because I wanted to make sure that it would stand the test of time and travelling. So, a year later I can happily report that THIS BAG IS AWESOME!

In sturdy backpack form it has survived being stuffed full, squashed down, sat on, slept on and has also performed successfully as a foot rest on many flights. It has perfectly sized pockets, seems to stretch to hold as much as I have needed to pack, and is REALLY comfortable to carry. Despite the frequent use and abuse it is not even showing any signs of wear and tear.

So, thank you Looptworks for spreading the upcycling love through your well designed and durable products.

Me and my Kasum backpack, November 2013, Wellington, New Zealand

TRAID: Primary School Workshops

Working in primary schools with the Recycle Fashion workshops with TRAID, I have been volunteering to help young people gain hands on experience with textiles and learning techniques to change the shape of the garments. I have included some photographs of the drawings from the workshops here as I find them appealing and quite funny sketches of clothing seen from a  childs point of view.

  

Junk: Sustainable Fashion in Manchester

A visit over the Chrismas holiday to Manchester led to the fantastic shop that is Junk: Sustainable Fashion Made in Manchester. Junk sells vintage clothing and small collections made or upcycled by local designers. The shop layout was quirky and inviting, with lots of unusual and interesting objects and garments to see and buy. My friend bought a leather jacket that, with a few adjustments by the machine technician at Manchester University, would become a perfect fit for only £35.

'Junk is more than just a retail space, it's a place to imagine and create' (www.junkshopuk.com)

'It ain't refuse if you re-use'

Another great aspect of the Junk shop concept is that they offer workshops and sewing classes to encourage the community to make, remake or alter their own clothing. The Fashion Courses at 'School of Junk' can be found on their website Junk Website and up to date info can also be found on their twitter account. In my opinion they are 100% worthy of their recent title of 'Best Independent Shop in Manchester' - next time you're in the centre of Manchester Junk is definately worth a visit!

Euro News: London College of Fashion

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08oNWdnTjuI

Kilburn OxJam: Fashion Show

Oxfam's music and fashion fundraiser, OxJam, organise events throughout the country, and on Friday 8th October I submitted an upcycled outfit to be shown as part of the fashion show.

The design brief was to select garments from an Oxfam store (spending a maximum of £15) and upcycle them into a fabulous outfit to be shown at the OxJam event.  I visited the Camden Oxfam DIY store and, inspired by the promotion of pink products from Wednesday's Breast Cancer Care Show, I selected a pink outfit: Leggings (Diesel) and Hoody (H&M) to create my October Breast Cancer Awareness upcycled outfit.

I deconstructed the hoody and leggings and used design features of both garments to inspire the upcycle outfit. I used the zip and the ribbing from the hoody in the dress and turned the hood inside out before reattaching it to the jacket. Modelled here by the lovely Georgia who did a great job at making it look even better than I had imagined on the catwalk!

As well as the fashion show, music was performed by Hawa Power and I Love Zagreb - both talented acts that provided a great accompaniment to the fashion show. Also showing an outfit at the OxJam show: Francesca Warren (whose garment is the black dress above) who is a graduate from the CSM Textile Futures MA. Her work and new label UnButton focuses on reuse and zero waste and you can find more information about her great ideas  HERE!

The Yellow Dress

Colin and Livia Firth at the BAFTAS 2010

Me wearing the dress August 2010

After falling in love with the yellow Leila Hafzi dress on Livia Firth's Green Carpet Challenge blog on the Vogue website, finding it on the Oxfam E-Bay site, placing my bids, eagerly awaiting the deadline, becoming the successful bidder and making slight alterations, I finally wore it to Laura and Duncan's wedding!

I thoroughly enjoyed wearing it, it is such a comfortable yet beautiful dress - and I greatly enjoyed telling people the story of how I aquired it.

Having a story to tell about a garment you love is something really special. Whether it is associated with a previous owner, an unusual shopping experience or has been created or customised by the wearer or loved ones, the story of a garment is something that has the potential to connect people more to the clothing they wear. It would be so great to hear more stories of clothing when I enquire in the future about someone's outfit of choice.

Heidi and Seek

This cute Australian business have now relaunched their etsy site!

Click here to be taken to the site

and to see their blog