People's Climate March

The People's Climate March took place across 166 countries during the weekend of 20th and 21st September 2014 ahead of the UN Climate Summit in New York City on 23rd September. People took to the streets together in pursuit of a shared goal -  energy for the world from 100% clean and renewable sources. This IS possible. And great things are happening now, but more needs to be done. Individuals can do so much on a practical level in their homes, places of work and education. That collective action will make a difference, but we need governments to set ambitious targets for renewable energy which require hard and fast work. We need our leaders to lead, to break out from existing in the control of fossil fuel corporations, not to be afraid of the politics of power. The People's Climate March was about forcing our leaders to see what the people want. That healthy ecology equals healthy economy. That destroying the planet for short term gain leaves our children and their children and their children disadvantaged as they clean up the mess of today. That it's unfair to subsidise massive fossil fuel corporations, let them pollute for free, and then use the people's tax money to repair the damage. THIS HAS TO STOP.

I volunteered for Avaaz in Melbourne and their hard work, global reach and determination is truly inspiring. It was also great to meet other volunteers and march alongside other organisations including Get Up, 350.org, and Greenpeace.

I bought three vest tops from my local Salvos store  to upcycle into a dress to wear for the march, inspired by three shades of green and the Avaaz hearts.

Check out #peoplesclimate and #worthsaving on social media for thousands of pictures, film footage and information from the summit. A couple of things to watch below that have really inspired me recently...

Get your own valid XHTML YouTube embed code

Get your own valid XHTML YouTube embed code

Get your own valid XHTML YouTube embed code

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

Rekindle, Christchurch

On 

Blue t-shirt dress

My friend Adam had two long sleeved t-shirts he had stopped wearing due to the size (too small) and a little wear and tear.

I wanted a new dress for the races at the weekend.

Only one thing to do, upcycle them!

Tie Dress

The Tie Dress, a popular upcycling challenge. This is mine.

The Upcycling Fashion Store, Berlin

Thanks to tweets from Livia Firth and From Somwhere, I'm very happy to hear about the first Upcycling Fashion Store in Berlin! Which I am excited by, even though I can't read German. Great to see fashion upcyclists in Berlin doing things like this...

Here is a blog post from someone who has been

And another

And another

Like it on Facebook!

Hooplayarn

I love knitting with upcycled Hooplayarn! The selvedges of cotton and jersey are saved from the bin and instead are wound around cardboard cones and sold as yarn to hand knit and crochet into new products. 

I bought my two favourite colours, blue and grey, from the wonderful Fabrications on Broadway Market and transformed the yarn into cushions to sell at the Knit Wits knitting group market stall in Brixton.

Hooplayarn before

Hooplayarn after

Patchwork Cushion

As a leaving present for a wonderful colleague, we collected squares of fabric from unwanted materials (which matched colours from Waste Watch branding) and I created a cushion which will now be loved and treasured.

Upcycled Meeting Room Chairs

I have been working with fellow colleagues at Waste Watch www.wastewatch.org.uk to use unwanted textiles and clothing to reupholster the boring meeting room chairs.We completed them last week. Here they are! Check out wastelesslivemore.com to learn more about the campaign. Tweet your examples @wastewatch #wastelesslivemore

From this....

To this!!

Antwerp - Pop Up Eco Shop

Red bag (front right) - Elvis and Kresse made from fire hose

Upcycling Chairs!

Old chair

Meeting room

The chairs in this meeting room are in desperate need of an update. We completed our first upcycled chair today and it looks awesome! One down - 7 to go! We are re-upholstering the chairs with pre-loved fabrics selected from our 4 themes, branded with 4 different colourways. 

Deconstructing, sanding and painting the frame.

Re-upholstering the seat and back panels with pre-loved materials.

Tools of the trade.

An upcycled 'Green Economy' colour themed chair.

 For more information about Waste Watch and the four themes please visit the website.

Youth Group Workshop

 This week I visited the White City community centre to run an Upcycle Fashion workshop with a youth group. With an introduction about upcycling followed by a sewing workshop, time was rather tight as we only had an hour. However, the group began quickly and really impressed me with their neat and straight stitching! The workshop was part of a series called White City/Green Planet at the community centre. This series is organised by Our Common Place, an initiative run by Waste Watch to encourage communities to work together to improve social and environmental wellbeing. For more information please visit the  Waste Watch website

An Upcycled Halloween Costume

Materials sourced from my local charity shop: 1x pair of red trousers, 1 x red skirt, sleeves from 1 x red jumper

Upcycled Jewellery

           Making jewellery with a year 3 class at a primary school

The props used in high street shop window displays are changed frequently and often discarded after use. The beads, bangles, ribbons, pom poms, lace and other such decorations I used in this jewellery workshop had been saved from Monsoon/Accessorize by my friend who works there. The company invest in many props frequently to decorate their visually enticing window displays. After the season ends however, these decorations become 'waste' and are thrown away unless staff or the public save them from landfill. Fortunately my friend could not let these wonderful gems and beads to go waste and took around 5 huge bags of decorations home. I was lucky enough to be able to take a couple of bags from her to use for a jewellery making workshop at  a primary school. The children loved the beads, bangles and gems and when I told them the story of the materials, and that they had been saved from landfill it raised many questions regarding other waste from shops, other things that are unnecessarily thrown away. This is such a waste of materials that have plenty of life left in them and so much potential to support creative projects!

Sample Loans

It's always interesting to loan the upcycle-fashion creations to photographers and stylists. I love doing it because the varied interpretations of the pieces and resulting images are always so fascinating to see. It just goes to show how everyone has their own unique style, opinion and view of a garment. Many thanks to stylist Paula Gayle for contacting me and photographer Mary Spencer for doing a great job with this dress I created for Oxjam last year.