Second Hand September is Oxfam’s campaign to encourage us all to shop second hand for this month and beyond. To donate, re-use, re-wear and restyle our clothes to support a healthier planet and combat climate change.
To quote the Oxfam website: ‘When a new pair of jeans is made, an estimated 16.2kg of CO2 is emitted – the equivalent of driving over 58 miles in a car.’ If you think about how many pairs of jeans are bought brand new each year, I dread to think how many miles that would be!
So it's important now more than ever to think about how we can reduce the amount of clothes being consumed and then thrown away into landfill. As dressmakers, we know how much time and effort goes into making just one garment. Obviously that time and effort is streamlined when the garment is made in a production line in a factory but all the same, I hate to think of any of those resources going to waste.
Making my own clothes means that I shop for new clothes in the shops, or shop for clothes second hand, much less than I used to before I started dressmaking. However, there are still ways to get involved making use of charity shops, vintage shops, market stalls selling vintage / second hand clothes or even car boot sales!
The obvious one! – Visit a charity shop and buy a lovely pre-loved outfit which fits you perfectly and give yourself a break from the sewing machine. You can often find some absolute gems like this pair of Ralph Lauren trousers my Mum picked up from a vintage clothes market stall!
Visit a charity shop and find something that you love but that isn’t quite in your size and then take it home to alter yourself. Or if the alteration is a bit beyond your skill level, then take it to a tailor.
Look for second hand fabric that has been donated that could be used for dressmaking. I have found some beautiful fabrics at charity shops over the years. (See this blog post for the dress I made with some gorgeous blue lace I bought from a Wood Green Charity shop in Ely)
Instead of buying new clothes, why not look for some pre-loved jewellery or accessories that you could pair with some of your existing clothes to give them a second life!
Instead of buying brand new calico for your dressmaking toiles, keep an eye out for old bed sheets that have been donated to charity shops – they are perfect for making practice garments out of before cutting into your shiny new fabric.
If you have been dressmaking for a while, you may have some handmade outfits that you sewed up a few years back but no longer fit you. Why not donate them to a charity shop? Just because they are handmade, doesn’t mean someone else can’t wear them!
Patchwork has been a big trend recently, so another option is to buy a few different garments from a charity shop, take them home, cut them into pieces and use those pieces to create a whole new patchwork garment. I have seen this done with denim from jeans and jackets; it looks amazing and I really want to try it at some point!
So there’s a few ideas on how to take part in Second Hand September if you are a dressmaker! For more information on the campaign from Oxfam visit their website here: https://www.oxfam.org.uk/get-involved/second-hand-september/
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