It’s been a doozy of a month, eh? By word of warning, if you haven’t figured out that I am a empath(etic), heartfelt, caring person who believes everyone should get – and pay – their fair share (and you don’t like that idea), go ahead, skeddaddle. If you’re on board with saving our planet Earth, and maybe having some fun with thrifted fashion and sewing – which is our joy – stick around.
Sewing through the resistance. I have no doubt I’ve done it before (lived through the resistance, at least, although sewing, probably.) I’m a big believer in reincarnation – and I’m 100% sure I’ve done this before. So that end, I’m sporting what my hair stylist calls a “French bixie” (bob+pixie) with my ACTUAL hair (see alopecia areata) and I’ve got a love for striped shirts and red lipstick, so here we go again!
What, exactly is sewing through the resistance. First thing, we need to keep our joy and sanity, and second, we need to stop feeding the coffers of billionaire CEOs. Straight up, we need to start using less, caring more. And sewing is a huge part of that mission. If you can sew even 20% of your wardrobe, if you cut your consumption of new clothes by half and supplement with thrifting, you will have reduced your impact on the world. Yes, I know, fossil fuels (gas heat, but solar panels, gas stove, but solar panels.) It’s not all or nothing, it’s doing a little bit at a time.
Sewing as solace
The most obvious reason to be sewing, learning to sew, and creating right now is purely selfish – it’s good for you, mentally, emotionally. The act of creating, of being immersed in your craft, is powerful. There is documented evidence that sewing, knitting, crochet and other hand crafts reduce our stress levels, boost dopamine and you get a new garment out of the deal! A win-win.
Sewing as resistance
We’re gonna need to stop feeding the billionaires. WE control that. It seems like they do, but honestly, if you stop shopping, we all win on two levels – you have more $$ in your bank account, and the CEO billionaires don’t have as much money (and power.) Sewing is a powerful resistance of joy too. And if we maintain, we can do this. If you’re sipping a fair-trade-coffee at an indie coffee shop (not S*bux) in your town, on a sunny morning, wearing wide leg linen palazzo pants you sewed, and a pieced-upcycled-fun top you also sewed, wearing jewelry your friend made, reading a book you got out of the library up the street, YOU, my friend, have saved (your) world. Every time we choose local, handmade we make a statement about the world we want to live in. That we value each other, our craft, our time, our mutual aid and collaboration and local commerce.
What clothes do we need for the resistance?
Everything should have pockets. That’s a given. I would also suggest comfortable shoes. But beyond that, what you love to wear, what brings you joy, is what you should sew. For myself? I would like to use a lot of my stash fabrics, and I would also like to support my local fabric store. To that end, I did a Make Nine early in January, and my plans have not changed (even if our world certainly has.)
I originally intended this post to be a little bit satire, but as it turns out, I’m not good at satire, but I am a practical person (with a huge empathetic lean) and I want to solve problems, so that’s how this post came about. If you’re going for a big-pocket, comfortable shoes look, here are some of my favorites:
Big pockets. Loose clothing. Salty graphic tee shirts. Upcycled/pieced garments. Comfortable shoes. These are the clothes of the resistance. See you out there, friends!
Top row: inspiration found on Pinterest. I especially love the pieced knit fabric sweater top. Use the HotPatterns Serape Lounging Sweater, piece together some wool sweater / fabric that you’ve felted for this. Great use of wool rummage sale sweaters. For a pleated skirt, try pre-pleated fabric OR you can pleat fabric yourself, and stitch the pleats down all along their pressed length so they stay in place and then attach to a waistband. I upcycled a too-small pleated skirt in a wool gauze, which had a fixed “hard” waistband. I cut that off, stabilized the pleats, folded them over, and made a casing out of bias tape.
Middle top row: Marcia jacket/vest convertible from Fibre Mood, Peppermint skirt from Peppermint Magazine
Middle bottom row: Nova coat from Papercut patterns, Agustina Top and Cass pants, both Fabric-store.com free patterns
Bottom Row: Hovea Jacket from Megan Nielsen and Emerson pants from True Bias