Slow Fashion October: Loved

October 16, 2015 thecraftsessions

With my good friends and the other organisers at this year's retreat. I'm wearing the Wiksten Tank under my James sweater. Claire is wearing the cardy.

I've had a really hard time posting this week, and I think it's because I've had too much going on in my head. Too much that I'm struggling to uncurl; too many thoughts about slow fashion, what it means, and why it means something. Actually that isn't entirely true. I've written the posts but they just aren't readable. They are like looking into someone's head.... Slow fashion is such an interesting topic.

This week's theme though is easy for me. Loved. I've written in the past about both the things I'm going to show you today. But in essence it is the outfit below. I've worn it over and over again. They both makes me feel good. And that's what I really want out of clothing - things that make me feel good. Things that make me feel like me.

The outfit I love! Wacky iPhone photo colouring...

They are both really simple - simple patterns made with beautiful quality materials. Materials that in both cases have lasted and on a per wear basis would now be tiny. And both of them were altered by me to give me a fit that suited my style and shape.

The cardigan pattern is Vitamin D by Heidi Kiirmaier and all my alterations can be found on Ravelry here. Simple alterations that made it more Me-like, so flap-less. And I can't talk about this cardy without talking about the yarn. This is by far my favourite yarn in terms of longevity and wear. And it feels beautiful. Silky and Soft. It is called Old Maiden Aunt Alpaca Silk and is a blend of 80% alpaca and 20% silk. It's a handpainted, semi-solid that looks as good today as it did when I made it. Crazy but true. And it cost me about $75 AUD.

The dress pattern is the Wiksten Tank Dress by Jenny Gordy made from a seasonal Liberty print. Based on the fact that I used just over a metre then it cost me about $40AUD. It's per wear cost would be minuscule. I used the arse adjustment alteration I mention in the Simple Sewing 101 post here. I wear it over jeans generally which you can see in the photo at the top with my women.

What is pretty random about this outfit (that means that I actually know how long I've had it for) is that I was wearing it when my partner asked me to marry him four-ish years ago*. A totally out of the blue event, as we had been together for ten years already (and three kids :)), so to me it was just an everyday evening at the park with the kids. This lovely fact means unlike most things in my wardrobe I know that I've owned them for at least that long as there is a photo!

I can't wait to read all your stories. I have the feeling this week will be a little sentimental.

Felicia x

*It was our sometime around our ten year anniversary.

Slow Fashion October : Small

October 9, 2015 thecraftsessions

So I tried to write this post earlier this week. And I wrote a whole other post about my plans for my frocks - but it didn't sit right and so I didn't post. I talked about my goals for Slow Fashion October last week on the blog and they remain the same. Focus and frocks. But how they fit into the bigger picture .....well I needed to give it some thought.

So from Karen's setup post - this weeks theme is Small.

“...we’re talking handmade / living with less / quality over quantity / the capsule wardrobe / indie fashion / small-batch makers / sustainability in every sense. ”

— Karen from Fringe Association

The more I thought about it the more I wanted to spend this month focused on the bigger picture. Not just making frocks at a frantic rate (I'm sewing faaaassst this week!) but sewing frocks that fit into the bigger picture of a quality wardrobe that will last over time.

Before embarking on this process of making my wardrobe a few years ago, I often used to go to the cupboard and find nothing to wear. This is no longer my reality. I've slowly created my larger-than-necessary capsule wardrobe, in complimentary colours, and it works really well. I fell good about it. So now it's just a process of filling in the gaps. Which means not making lots of frocks but making frocks the right frocks.

That said I think part of the problem of desiring more and more is that I don’t think I’ve ever felt that good about my wardrobe. I’ve looked into it and many/most of the clothes haven’t made me feel that good. I haven't put that much thought into them. I've impulse purchased and not planned. I've had that "I don't have anything to wear feeling" often. Moving to a place where most of my clothing “sparks joy” Konmari style, and throwing out those things that don’t, has me feeling more grateful and less needy. Which means that I’m less focused on acquiring more (from a place of not-having-enough) and more focused on being joyful for what is there (from a place of gratitude).

I’ve talked a bit about my changing relationship with the idea of “enough”. A tricky concept to be sure. So while I’ve been meaning to make frocks for forever, when I’m finally about to make, I find myself wondering if I actually already have enough clothes. Eek!! So I want to be careful. Careful that I am making things that I really want to wear, will wear often, will be part of my everyday and that won’t date.

I read this line in Women In Clothes this week when one of the editors/writers talks about how she believes that each person has a “deep style”, even if they don’t know it. I’m thinking a bit about what mine might be, so that I can make sure the things I’m making fill the gaps, and then last me. I’m hoping the formula leads to something like this.

Less + better* = Satisfied for longer and grateful

*Where better is something that fits me, my lifestyle and makes me feel joyful. Because joyful clothing is where it is at - non?

There is this other line in Women in Clothes (I can’t find where ) where one of the women says that her purchasing line is “will I like this in five years?” Isn’t that an ace yardstick with which to measure a purchase?

So I have a revised plan for my wardrobe - to fill gaps with deep style items I will like in five years.

And the thing I was at risk of doing at the start of the week was planning on making a lot of things. Four frocks was my plan. And in time four might be a good amount - I already have a few. But after a few days of thought about enough/capsule/style/consumerism/responsibility/desire I am scaling the plan back to include the two that I most want and am most avoiding because I'm a little scared. Scared they won't turn out as beautifully as I want them to. I've been dreaming about them both for so long that making them into a reality comes with the risk that I'll screw them up..... Slow Fashion October to the rescue! Let's focus on the things that will make us happiest in the long term in order to kick the fear to the curb.

Without further ado, they are...

The everday boxy tunic - in a gorgeous fabric

Over jeans, over tights. Loose box tunic with a stylish shape in a gorgeous fabric. Lou Box again – but altered to be more Georgia like. So a bit wider and with the cuff on the sleeves. I can’t remember how I came across Elizabeth Suzann originally but like many others before me I'm a little obsessed with her style. Timeless, fashionless, forever clothing that suits my everyday*. I want to make a long tunic kinda knee length frock in my favourite ever linen that I have been saving like the hoarder I am. It’s going to be simple and smashing. I've cut it out already and am very nervous that I made the neckline too big. "It's only fabric, it's only fabric, it's only fabric" is the mantra of the day.

my favourite daywear-to-dinner frock style - in a gorgeous fabric I made

Anna by By Hand London is the base pattern of the top of this frock! Again I’ve been wanting to do Anna for-ever. This dress shape is one of my favourites - but it needs a lightly gathered skirt like you see in the examples here that pair it with the Emery skirt. I plan on doing a slightly gathered skirt as per my favourite ever Gorman frock and will lower the neckline a little. And the fabric.....well I can't wait to show you but I have plans for a masterpiece…..that is where the slow fashion comes in. It may not work but I'm going to finally give it a shot.

And then there is the dress that I don't get to make yet but may make before the summer.

the summer perfect summer frock - in Nani Iro

Lisa by Tessuti. Frocks like Lisa would be my everday summer uniform if I had one. I have a jersey fushia number (I can see your shocked faces) that I’ve worn quite a bit. But I've worn it not because I like it, OR because it fills me with joy, but rather because it's there. Lisa will be joyful. She will be made from that gorgeous Nani Iro in the photo above, with a lower scooped neckline and possibly no buttons. I need to lower the neckline as I think Lisa suffers a little bit from Waist Boob on me. I tried the sample on in Tessuti's Melbourne shop. If only we could do that with all sewing patterns!

Can't wait to see what you have all been up to this week.

Felicia x

*In time I plan on purchasing some of her sensational Clyde pants.

Why I love "Slow Fashion October": Focus!

October 2, 2015 thecraftsessions

One of my favourite intentional pieces of clothing. This is Hawser in progress. She gets worn 3 times a week at present.

I want to live a life I can be proud of. One where I can think back over the choices that I've made and know that they enriched my life. One where I didn't get so distracted by the buzz of the connected world that I spent so much time in my virtual life at the expense of my real life. And by virtual life I include time spent in my imagination. I want to be mindful of the life that is right in front of me. I want to make sure that I am prioritising what will make me feel fulfilled in the long term. And not get caught up in the quick fix.

I want to consciously build that life I'm proud of. Construct it. A construction that is a work in progress over the next fifty years. Making sure my values are at the core of it, and they enrich both my life, and the lives of the people around me. Especially my partner and my kids. My local community. And my environment.

I want my kids to understand my values and watch me walk my talk. I have no choice. Smart cookies that they are - they will see through me if I don't.

And all this is why I love Slow Fashion October.

Over the last year I've been writing about my journey in a project I called Stash Less. It's initial aim was to talk about my consumption around craft but it's scope also included ideas around what I was making, how and why. It's changed my making and furthermore it's changed me. I've learnt so much about myself and what I value - and yesterday on October 1st Stash Less was a year old! The very same day that Karen launched Slow Fashion October - such a lovely coincidence!

In a very lovely and supportive way, Karen and I have been on a bit of a parallel journey around our wardrobes over the last year. It's something we both talk about in the Woolful episode we were featured in early this year. Ashley titled the episode "Handmade wardrobes, Intentional making, stashes and talent". And I think her title was perfect!! In it we both talk a bit about our evolving thoughts around concious wardrobe creation. I've found Karen's journey so inspiring! And I'm so glad she came up with the idea to create and host Slow Fashion October. It feels really timely to me.

Late last year, I wrote a Stash Less post called Selling Discontent. In it, I talked about how I felt that even though I was hand making, sometimes my approach towards making was more akin to fast fashion than slow. That my crafting wasn't necessarily connected to my values. And how I was letting the time poverty of early parenting act as an excuse (a good one but an excuse none the less) to make at a frantic pace. Churning things out without putting as much thought as I would like to into whether I was creating a body of work (read: wardrobe) that I would be proud of and that suited my needs.

Me Made May this year showed me clearly that actually it probably isn't as bad as I thought. Over the last few years I've created wardrobe that is versatile and coordinated. There are a million outfit options open to me that mean that I'm not getting bored and I'm able to look like I want. However one thing I did identify in that post was that most of what i had made fell into the category of Simple Sewing 101. This is great, as that is mainly what I wear, simple clothes. However, when I look at my visual diary via Pinterest, I can clearly see there is a disconnect. The pinterest page shows I really, truly, love frocks. And yet my frock making tally consists of two frocks in total, one of which I don't wear.

Frocks are my white whale (terrible analogy but go with it, I'm a little tired). They are the thing I never get to making even though they are the thing I really want to make, and really want to wear. I never get to them due to the hum of distraction and instant gratification. I prioritise all the easy stuff. The kids clothes, the sweaters, the cushion covers as I know I will get the result I want. I am yet to make a frock I love - I avoid the frock making as it is a bit harder. I will have to work on getting them to fit. And they might not work. The perfectionist in me is in full avoidance mode.

And so I live in avoidance land. In anticipatory hum of when I will get to the frock pile of fabrics and patterns. Oh the joy that will be had when I get there. And yet I don't. Get there. Because I prioritise all the easy stuff at the expense of the thing I really want.

My commitment to Slow Fashion October!

I plan on using Slow Fashion October as a way to focus. I think the loose structure that Karen has provided gives a lovely framework within which focus can be found and intention set.

Put simply, my focus is to do the hard stuff and to make the frocks that have been sitting on my wish list forever.

One caveat to my plan is that Slow Fashion October will not be a slow crafting month for me. October is a seasonal transition month in Australia. It is the month where each year I remake the kids wardrobes with the things they need for the summer. And there is a birthday which means special sewing. So as well as making frocks for me I need to make four pairs of small boy shorts, two pairs of small girl shorts and two small girl dresses - one of which is a birthday dress. That said, birthday dresses take time and are all about intention so that fits well.

Lucky for me I love a bit of a deadline and I love me a bit of focused making. Also lucky for me the definition of Slow Fashion October is up to the individual (thanks Karen!) and may or may not include speed making. As long as that making is done with intention.

Cause that's point is really.... to think about what is meaningful!

My commitment to Slow Fashion October is to think about the intention behind the things I make and ensure that my making sits comfortably with my values.

If anyone else feels like joining me in a bit of frock sewing I'm hashtagging it #slowfashionoctoberfrocks. A wordy hashtag to be sure but one I'm chuffed to be participating in.

Felicia x

Stash Less - Let's talk about desire.

September 29, 2015 thecraftsessions

The series where we talk about having a thoughtful stash. You can find all previous Stash Less posts here.

Stash Less is nearly a year old - October 7th will be the year anniversary since I began this challenge! And while I haven't written about it for a little while, I'm still working hard at changing my habits around purchasing, and around using my materials. Change has been a process that I am plugging away at. While progress has been made (which is pleasing of course) it turns out, there's a kicker. Even though I've done nearly a year's work, I haven't really felt like I've cracked it yet.

Recently I think I've come closer to understanding why. It's not pretty. Nor is it necessarily an easy fix.

Why? Why - even though I have enough materials, enough finished objects, a plan of what I want to make and limited time, AND a project called Stash Less on the go - why would I still get struck with desire? Stuck in desire, at the sight of some pretty yarn, sitting on the shelf at a pretty store. And why would it happen over again, straight after I've just purchased some other pretty thing that was sitting on a shelf, at a different pretty store. Why, after all this work to examine my purchasing triggers and change my purchasing habits, would I still be struggling sometimes to not push the purchase button on my internet shopping cart. Why would I even bloody well have things sitting in my internet cart in the first place.

I've talked about desire a bit as I've been writing my Stash Less posts - most notably in Stash Less - Selling Discontent and then Stash Less - I think I may have found the key. But as I'm still battling with it I went looking for some psychology around it to see if I could find some ideas to help me understand it better.

I've found you a couple of useful articles from a US (?) website called Psychology Today. They aren't necessarily the best articles on the topic - they are however two that popped up when I went wandering around the interweb. The first is called How Desire Fools Us: The Benefits and Dangers of The Chase and the another called The Problem of Desire. I would suggest that you go and read them if you're interested, but I'm going to sum up what I've learned from them (and articles like them) because I think that understanding desire may be the most helpful thing I can do to change my habits. You see, it turns out that there are reasons why this thing is so difficult. It turns out evolution is not on my side.

So, we need desire.

We wouldn't do anything without it. It is essential in order for us to get out of bed in the morning and go do anything. It gives you motivation. On the other end of the scale, depression is characterised by an absence of desire.

Anticipatory Joy

Desire gives us many things but one of the most important, when thinking in a Stash Less context, is anticipatory joy.

“Anticipatory joy also helps us complete more complex and challenging goals by providing us with the determination, excitement, and grit needed to complete marathons, college or graduate school degrees, or fluency in a foreign language.””

— How Desire Fools Us by Emma M. Seppala Ph.D.

The anticipatory joy we get from desire gives us the ability to do more in our lives than things that are just immediately gratifying. And the joy itself, feels good. Crafting and all the daydreaming around it means we get to sit in desire, sit in the sparkle of longing. We get to think about what we might make, and how we might make it, and what the possibilities are. There is so much joy to be found in anticipation, especially when we are time poor, and distraction rich.

Getting the thing we desire doesn't cure the itch.

Desiring something, and then getting it, doesn't necessarily make us happy. Go watch this youtube video of Dan Gilbert talking about The Science of Happiness where he talks about the fact that we are terrible at predicting what will make us happy and that we often get it wrong.

You know that feeling when you purchase something you really thought you wanted, you enjoy it on the way home and then you get home and put it next to all that you already have and it becomes just another thing.....

““Moreover, as soon as a desire is fulfilled, people stop taking pleasure in its fulfilment and instead formulate new desires, because, in the course of evolution, contentedness and complacency did not tend to promote survival and reproduction.””

— The Problem of Desire - Neel Burton M.D.

So we move straight on to desiring the next thing. Owning the thing doesn't fill us up.

And then there is greed.

Desire when done to excess is greed. And the feeling of being overwhelmed by visually being shocked by the amount of stuff I had purchased (read: greed) was what started Stash Less in the first place.

I really am not enjoying thinking of myself as greedy but in reality that is what it is/was. It's wanting things and then wanting some more. And some more even, though I have more materials than I need, and more materials that I can reasonably use.

It seems that we haven't evolved enough to get the concept of enough. How cool would that be - that when we had enough, our desires just switched off.

““Another problem of greed is that it is all-consuming, reducing life in all its richness and complexity to nothing but an endless quest for more.””

— The Problem of Desire - Neel Burton M.D.

Not aware of most desires

The Problem of Desire then goes to to say that we are only really conscious of our desires (because we have so many) when they are really strong OR they compete with other desires we might hold.

This is where I am at. I have two competing desires.
1. To buy more/to own the pretty/to not feel like I am denying myself of something I want/to do what I please.
2. To purchase/own/hoard less and to instead to purchase meaningfully and with intention. To have a reasonable amount and to be happy with "enough". To not be in a state of desire. To be conscious.

We trick ourselves and make excuses

The Problem of Desire then went on to say that it gets even trickier as we are very good at using our intellect to disguise, justify or rationalise the desire. Our minds are a one-way desire fulfilling machines without a good feedback mechanism.

Doing Stash Less over the last year has changed me. When I'm slipping up these days, it's when I'm not paying enough attention or I'm when I'm using my intellect to reframe the purchasing into something valid, something reasonable.

I think this is the biggest problem I now face in changing my ways. Maybe you do too?

I/you care about the impact we have on the planet. I/you care about being thoughtful conscious consumers who aren't caught up in a spiral of never-ending desire.

And yet faced with something pretty, I justify with a "well this is really consciously produced, or small batch, or naturally dyed or blah blah..... special." But if I already have enough, if I have something that I could use for what I'm making that is good enough, then really all I am doing is making excuses. I am using my intellect against myself, and against the competing desire I have, which is to be conscious.

I'm worried this post is sounding a little negative. It isn't meant to be - it is meant to be a honest post about understanding some of the harder-to-change behaviours around purchasing. And to me understanding it is the key to not being a slave to the never-ending desire spiral.

Using Desire for Good

The first article I mention goes on to talk about how we can use some of the "negatives" of desire to our advantage. If I translate her ideas for our purpose then you would;

Use the anticipatory joy to get things done - to create rather than purchase.
Keep it real about why you are purchasing and try to find balance
Remember the real circumstances/reasons for why people happy. Yarn is not on the list. Nor are things.

Point 2 has been critical for me. The biggest thing I've done is simply to get really conscious. And I think this will be an ongoing and long term project. I'll talk some more about this soon....

“Remember that happiness researchers agree that the key to happiness—after having adequate food and shelter—lies in personal relationships and social connection..... Most importantly, recent research shows that some of the deepest feelings of fulfillment don’t actually come from buying, purchasing, acquiring or succeeding at all, but that they actually come from giving. ”

— How Desire Fools Us by Emma M. Seppala Ph.D

Love your thoughts on this one.

Felicia x

P.S. Karen's Slow Fashion October is the perfect antidote to the desire spiral. I'm excited to be joining in and will start posting about it later this week.

Previously: Stash Less - Not just for the holidays.

The Craft Sessions 2015 - Part 2.

September 25, 2015 thecraftsessions

My purchase from our mini-market was a handful of Kate's (aka @valley_maker) handspun alpaca. Obsessed would be an understatement when talking about how much I love this yarn.

Geez! That took a while. I have only just finished editing the photos, and while my SIL wisely suggested yesterday that I needed to cull some, I still ended up with over 500! So much beauty and so many good photos. But I got stuck totally reliving the joy - I love the fact that the photos convey the feeling.

You can find the first lot of photos here if you missed them. I'll share one more round of photos next week sometime, mainly so I can show you some of the beautiful work they finished on the Sunday. And everyone's smiling faces in our group photo.

I'll be back next week with normal blogging which I'm really excited about. It feels like it's been a while between drinks. In the mean time without further ado here are some more pictures of the beauty they made....

Felicia x