Just be cheaper?

I’ve written before about the high price of clothes in UK charity shops, as well as my dislike of wearing other people’s clothes, but that’s not the focus this morning — though I’ll pause briefly to wonder why shops continue to think they can charge so much in the face of shops like Primark. Clearly they charge what the market will bear but considering this stuff is free to them and it is in the main volunteers do the work of sorting the donations and serving customers in the shops they could charge less and move more. But, like I said, not flogging that one today.

The BBC ran a story at breakfast about the dearth of clothing going to charity shops because of the number of places opening where one can sell one’s clothes for a certain amount per pound (make that kilo — the price discussed was 50p per). Mention was also made of the ‘fake’ charity bags put through letter boxes and the number of people who use those for a clear out not knowing that only a ‘percentage’ (if that can even be proved) goes to a charity. It is a rare week when I do not get several of this sort and at least one legitimate bag through the letterbox at Case de IWOM. The charity shops were griping about the quantity of clothes decreasing so dramatically recently and the blame seems to be laid at the door of the rag trade and unscrupulous money makers operating under the guise of charity.

What struck me about the story was that it did not touch on the fact that the reduction in donations might be due to people keeping things longer or fixing/refashioning them to extend the life of the garment. I have greatly scaled back the amount of sewing I do for other people but a quick look at my workbook shows it has been a year and a half since making something from scratch for pay. Its been all alterations and repairs — and for people all across the financial spectrum. The boy doing the story is due back for more in a few minutes so we’ll see what he has to add to last hour’s segment. I’m not in the habit of commenting on other people’s blogs (and I don’t tweet or ‘book) but I think an email to the news program might be in order. If it gets read out on air I will let you know!

Not back in black

We won’t get in the actual physics of it, but I have discovered more time. Move over Einstein. I figured it out. How does one create time? By not doing things that take up your time in a way you do not want to spend it. My time at this time of year is my own again. More importantly, I have no reason to wear black any time soon.

Cryptic? Sorry. Suffice to say I have a LOT more time to sew, stitch, string pearls, read, sleep, etc. than I did last year at this time. I make no apologies for it. If you are not doing something for love, satisfaction, personal interest or money — and the people asking you to do it are taking serious advantage by hiding behind rules and regulations to deprive you of the tools you need to do the job right — tell me again why are you doing it?

I digress.

In celebration: a non-black project for today. No ‘before’ pix but it’s just a plain long sleeve Talbot T in a rather heavy knit

now with lots o’ lettuce. However, there’s a fine line between sexy and slutty, so

an inch and a quarter, stitched on the outside got it back to the right side of the line.

But, there’s also a line between stylish and sexy. THAT’S the line I go for -

Stylish is for wearing out: sexy is for your husband and the bedroom. At any rate, this goes in the wash first (to see what the edge is going to do) before I decide if it needs more taking in. Taking up. It might just be charity shop material now. Meh. It’s just a hand-me-over from Little Sis, who often gives me stuff to refashion.

While sorting through the stack of mending and repairs (which I’ve been ignoring for a little while now) I came across the dress I altered to wear to a summer wedding last year . I’d pinned the sleeves back in but hadn’t SEWN the sleeves back in.

I need something nice for later this month so popped a few leaves and stuffed circles along the neckline

and that’s why I am calling it a refashion for my post over on RFC. I do like this pattern. I’ve only made it once (REmade it twice) but the long lean look is a classic and I can go right to a sentimental journey fabric since it doesn’t need a mock.

 

In preparation for the six month nine month one year two year assignment in Hong Kong, I copied the covers of the patterns I liked best, recorded the fabric required and put them in an A4 zipped sleeve to bring round with me to markets near and far. When the assignment got extended and we got extra shipping I had my machine sent and that’s how the whole first blog got started. I mostly refashioned during that extra year and left the lovely fabric I bought all over for working on when we returned.

(Quick story about fabric shopping over the border in Shenzhen — the vendors, once I chose all my fabric lengths with said patterns, tried in vain to get me to go to the tailor shops with whom they had arrangements. Poor souls. They just couldn’t seem to deal with a gwielo who wanted to make her OWN stuff).

The pattern says V.C (the short sleeve version) needs 4.1m of wider length fabric. I’ve laid it out and it comes to just about three meters, which is just about what this piece from a sneaky trip last summer with Himself works out to be. Plenty there for binding for the neck, a pair of side seam pockets and the short sleeves too. I forget sometimes how pattern companies are in cahoots with the fabric industry…not unlike the vendors and tailors  of Shenzhen.

I ironed the fabric and pattern but then it was my pre-arranged time to stop to start our Superbowl party for two prep. It is going to be a long night for many reasons, not the least of which is us being so many hours ahead of Indy. The last time this exact SB matchup happened we were watching it live on Monday morning seeing how as we were on the opposite side of the planet from where it was happening! Himself was not a happy man at work that day.