The year I stopped buying clothes and sewed myself a new wardrobe

A year ago I publicly pledged to give up buying clothes for a year, a move prompted by finding this article in a newspaper left on a train and by the Rana Plaza clothing factory disaster. My rule was no new clothes, shoes, underwear, hosiery and no 'new' second hand or vintage purchases. Basically to STOP buying! If I wanted new stuff then I had to make it myself.

The clothes I made between 16th May 2013 and 16th May 2014

The first few weeks were strange. Like most people if I'm told I can't do something I want to do it even more so I positively craved the smell of clothing shops and the thrill and discovery of trying on new (or second hand/new) clothes.

When passing clothes shops in town I felt a pang of longing. So much so that I started completely avoiding them and this included going to cafés near clothing shops. Saturdays had often been my day for a bike ride to a destination where I could browse shops and drink coffee. To adjust to not-clothes-buying I changed my routine so that I was just doing the bike ride part with the destination being a museum or gallery, or a remote spot outdoors. Then the dressmaking bug really set in and Saturday mornings are now set aside solely for sewing for myself and my daughter while listening to Sounds of The Sixties - afternoons we're currently rehearsing for Worthing Community Play.

Five months into the challenge Gudrun Sjödén invited me to become an ambassador for the brand, a role which would involve no obligation on my part but would give me the opportunity to sometimes try out their products. I mulled this over and consulted friends for their opinion as I wasn't sure if it was a conflict of interest with my 'no buying new clothes' declaration. As a long-time Gudrun Sjödén fan and an erstwhile customer with several of her designs in my wardrobe already, I found it impossible to say no. However, when I have been lucky enough to chose one of Gudrun's garments to write about and wear I've picked things I couldn't make myself (due to lack of skills and equipment) like this raincoat.

I can happily report that the experiment has been thoroughly habit-changing for me. A year on, the smell of clothes shops repels me and now that I'm free to spend my birthday money have found that nothing fits as well or looks as good as handmade. I can't see myself ever going back to buying dresses from the high street and pledge to try to only buy new clothing when my own clothes (knickers, socks) are beyond repair, and then only if I can't make it myself. The days of scooping up three cheap tops from Primark for an instant fashion fix are over.

An unexpected development in my year of giving up clothes shopping is that my wardrobe has GROWN! It's now full of beautiful, bright handmade clothes in fabrics I've chosen in combinations of my own design. I wear at least one garment I've sewn myself every single day and feel this is the ultimate form of self expression.

Pottery Print dress: Colette Peony

You're only 45 once, so I thought the occasion merited a special birthday dress. The fabric came first, bought on holiday last month at Rainbows in Ventnor on the Isle of Wight. It's from Michael Miller's Jug or Not? range and this design is called Retro Kryptonite.
 

It's reminiscent of two iconic mid-century textile designs, Stig Lindberg's 1940s Pottery fabric (below left) and Sanderson's Hayward (below right). Hayward was originally designed in the 1950s but was reissued as part of Sanderson's Revival collection a few years ago. I made my first ever ukulele gig bag out of it! 

My fabulous fabric suggested a 1950s or 60s style dress and was therefore a good excuse to try out Colette's Peony sewing pattern.

Having Googled other people's Peony dress makes I wasn't sure how I'd get on with making the bodice which comprises four notorious darts. I sensibly made a toile of the top half of the dress and found the tight, darted bodice too stifling. Really I should have learnt my lesson from attempting Simplicity's 1800 Amazing Fit dress before choosing another fitted dress pattern. Realising that I'd be extremely unlikely to wear something so constricting (I burnt my bra decades ago), I minimised the front body darts to give myself room to breathe and slouch around. I found I could easily get into the bodice with the back seam sewn up, so cut the dress back in one piece (kinder to the fabric design) and dispensed with a zip. Finally I added a good five centimetres length to the skirt pattern piece, then cut into the precious Jug or Not? fabric.

The Peony was easy to sew and I loved making the matching belt. It feels comfortably soft with a bit of ease, so doesn't strain at the seams even after eating large pieces of lemon drizzle birthday cake.

Postcard from the Isle of Wight

This drizzly day in Worthing seems an apt time to post a few pictures from the Isle of Wight. We traveled to the largest island of England two weeks ago (though it already seems much longer) by train and ferry. 
 

The journey took two and a half hours in total and couldn't have been smoother. There's a direct train from Worthing to Portsmouth where the ferry terminal is reached by walking down a ramp inside the train station. The ferry ride was an all too brief 20 minutes and an absolute joy on a bright sunny day – we felt like we were going abroad! From Ryde Pier Head we hopped onto the Island Line railway (comprising old stock London Underground trains) for a scenic route down the eastern side of the island to the Victorian seaside resort of Shanklin - our destination. 

A few days on the island transported us back to a 1970s vision of England. We walked along the under cliff from Shanklin to Sandown – a sleepy resort in April – had an excellent cup of tea at Harrigan's seafront café and gift shop where my daughter was dazzled by the plethora of figurines and trinkets on sale (and I succumbed to a souvenir tea towel) then trekked on past boarded up buildings and neglected playgrounds to Dinosaur Isle. 

A trip into Ryde showed us glimpses of previous Victorian splendour in a town mostly in decline, a complete contrast to lovely Ventnor with its dozens of restaurants and cafés, wealth of excellent second hand clothing and book shops and the wonderful Rainbows fabric and craft shop – haberdashery heaven.

  
At Ventnor Haven we took a stunning coastal tour with Lucy and Sean Strevens of Cheetah Marine in a boat they'd impressively designed and built themselves. They kindly let my 9 year old drive the boat back at high speed – thrilling experience of a lifetime for her and a terrifying but amazing one for me! My favourite adventure of the holiday was a ramble up and around Shanklin Chine, resplendent with fabulous flora and waterfalls. We must return soon.

Telephones and Clocks: new lavender bags in the Ivy Arch shop!

These printed retro telephone and clock lavender bags are on sale in the Ivy Arch shop! They're made using fabric from Kokka's Ruby Star collection (designed by Melody Miller) featuring telephones in shades of blue, green and pink, and clocks in olive green and rust. Handmade by me, I've backed them with polka dot cotton fabric and stuffed them with highly fragrant dried lavender flowers from Provence.

To buy or for more information visit the Ivy Arch Etsy shop.