What a great month October was here in Central Florida. The weather finally cooled down and our local fall festivals started to happen. I visited our local "Oktoberfest" here in Sanford, which gave vendors a chance to show off some great hand-made crafts and clothing items. At the festival I met one nice lady who makes kids custom clothes from men's shirts. That's the great thing about custom sewing, you can start out with one item and end up producing a totally new purposed item. It was so great to see this example of repurposing clothing in action. It's like the custom pillows I produce from tee-shirts, a new use for an existing item that most likely has sentimental value (maybe a special holiday tee-shirt or a concert tee-shirt). I know these repurposed tee-shirts bring so much joy to the customers, and they are growing in popularity as word of them gets out there. I must watch out for more examples of this reuse & repurpose concept, and once I start to look I'm sure I will see examples everywhere.
The idea of repurposing fabric is something our parents and grandparents would have been well familiar with. Custom clothing and custom sewing were concepts that went well beyond making a custom made new suit or new dress. Custom sewing also meant resizing and repurposing. Large families, tight budgets and a shortage of supply called for local sewing skills, as clothes were passed on to siblings or to extended family members. I believe that repurposing still has a big role to play in order to get the most use out of expensive, exotic or sentimental items of fabric, and I get a great delight when I'm asked to take an existing piece of fabric and turn it into something new, one that will bring years of extended joy to the owner. So before you discard a lovely item of fabric, be it silk, linen, cotton or whatever, take a minute to consider how it might be repurposed. Taking the time to turn a nice piece of fabric into a custom made pillow case and maybe posting it to your friend in Ohio, or your daughter in Miami will make for a very unique and memorable gift, one they will value for years to come. How did I get on to all this anyway? Yes, the lady selling repurposed shirts at our local Oktoberfest. I took away a small but valuable lesson from her on the value of reusing what we hold dear - that's the real message of my blog.
I hope you are enjoying this sudden cold spell and here's looking forward to more cool weather and more local festivals in this part of Central Florida.
Have a great week.
Elaine.
The idea of repurposing fabric is something our parents and grandparents would have been well familiar with. Custom clothing and custom sewing were concepts that went well beyond making a custom made new suit or new dress. Custom sewing also meant resizing and repurposing. Large families, tight budgets and a shortage of supply called for local sewing skills, as clothes were passed on to siblings or to extended family members. I believe that repurposing still has a big role to play in order to get the most use out of expensive, exotic or sentimental items of fabric, and I get a great delight when I'm asked to take an existing piece of fabric and turn it into something new, one that will bring years of extended joy to the owner. So before you discard a lovely item of fabric, be it silk, linen, cotton or whatever, take a minute to consider how it might be repurposed. Taking the time to turn a nice piece of fabric into a custom made pillow case and maybe posting it to your friend in Ohio, or your daughter in Miami will make for a very unique and memorable gift, one they will value for years to come. How did I get on to all this anyway? Yes, the lady selling repurposed shirts at our local Oktoberfest. I took away a small but valuable lesson from her on the value of reusing what we hold dear - that's the real message of my blog.
I hope you are enjoying this sudden cold spell and here's looking forward to more cool weather and more local festivals in this part of Central Florida.
Have a great week.
Elaine.
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