After setting up BrawHem earlier this year, it felt appropriate that my New Year’s Resolution would involve sewing, and more specifically, upcycling. So this is my challenge – a whole year of making my own clothes, using only upcycled materials. And you can come along for the (likely rather bumpy) ride. I’ll be sharing my makes, tips for recycling and donating, some easy no-sew upcycling projects you can do at home, and information about reducing the 350,000 tonnes of clothing waste we produce each year.
You can get full details of the challenge and my reasons behind it here, but in brief the rules are:
- No buying clothes from high-street stores.
- I’m allowing myself to buy clothes from a charity shop, only if they’ll be drastically, structurally altered, or turned into something new entirely.
- Anything I can’t sew (I’m thinking knitted things – I can’t knit, at all) I will buy handmade from small businesses.
- No buying fabric from the roll. I will continue to source my fabric from pre-loved items – bedsheets, curtains, tablecloths, old clothes etc.
- If my other New Year’s resolution of getting healthy works as well, then perhaps I’ll have a lot of clothes that don’t fit. I’ll alter these clothes so they do fit.
It’s all kicking off in a few days, in the meantime you can see what BrawHem is all about here, and while you’re at it why not give BrawHem a like on Facebook, and/or click the follow button at the bottom of the page to receive email updates. I’d love to hear about your New Year’s resolutions too, or ideas for reducing clothing waste.
Stay in touch, stay braw!
BrawHem : Upcycling My Year 
Ooooo! Sounds intriguing. Good luck! I’m looking forward to seeing your upcycled creations 😀
LikeLiked by 2 people
So am I, as I have no idea what most of them will be yet! Thank you 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Bravo Helen! I love to upcycle too. We certainly need to get back to a more ‘slow fashion’ attitude. Best wishes for your endeavour ~cheers Mona (thanks for the follow too)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi Mona, thanks for the well-wishes! Agreed, slow-fashion is the way to go…it’s better for us, better for the environment, those employed in the garment industry etc etc. Thanks also for the follow!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Good luck! If you live anywhere near Lewisham in London there is a fabric stall that sells finished with fabric samples from all the major chain stores for like £3 a meter. Don’t know whether you’d count that as upcycling or cheating? 😀 it’s where I get most of my stuff from.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sorry for double posting, WordPress was being weird!
LikeLike
London seems to have the best fabric stalls! (I’m in Scotland though). I think I’d possibly count that as cheating as far as upcycling goes, because the idea is that the fabric once lived a life as something else. But, it is a good way of reducing waste because presumably otherwise it would just end up going to landfill.
I have in the past had leftover fabric from family member’s projects given to me – I felt like I was doing a good thing by using it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Good luck!
Don’t know if you’d consider it cheating or not, but the fabric stall I get all my stuff from in Lewisham (London uk) gets all their stock as discarded/finished with samples from a load of the big high street chains design offices & sells it on for £3 a meter. Not sure whether that’d count as new or upcycled 😀
LikeLike
Reblogged this on growing evergreen and commented:
The year of upcycling sounds like a great idea! I think I might hop onboard with that… Especially as I don’t shop at high street stores anyway: going into them always makes me feel a little sick and ill inside: I’m really not a fan of mass “stamped out” consumerism without a heart or soul.
LikeLike
That’s great to hear Theta, and I’m with you on mass consumerism!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Good luck! And I’d give knitting or even crochet a shot! I’ve taught myself how to do both in an evening or two. There’s some really great tutorials out there.
LikeLike
It is on my to-learn list, so I don’t see why 2016 shouldn’t be the year!
LikeLike
How exciting. I’m big on upcycling! I’ve done it all my life. Comes from having to when I was growing up. Now I want to because it just makes sense. Looking forward to seeing all of your creations. Happy New Year! Koko:)
LikeLike
It certainly does make sense! Thanks for reading and Happy New Year to you too 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I should be doing this as I won’t be able to work for the next year and a half but I’ll take the chance to use the vouchers I’ve already earned from some online shops so once I’m done with that, I’ll go back to my usual swapping and thrifting. I’m house bound for the most part so no swapping for me for the moment
LikeLike
I don’t do much swapping either, so thrifting and upcycling it is! I think it’s important to remember that upcycling and repurposing isn’t just something for when you’re struggling financially, it’s something we can all do, all of the time. It’s tempting to slip back into old habits once your financial situation improves (still waiting for mine to improve! I too can’t work) but upcycling makes sense regardless of income.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ve been swapping and thrifting for nearly 10 years now which has changed my life significantly
LikeLike
That’s great. It really does change the way you think about clothes and waste and the high street, doesn’t it?
LikeLike
Absolutely. I rarely buy anything when going out sopping with my friends and I take the time to really think about purchases now. I’m spoilt because I pay very little for clothes so I don’t want to pay high street prices unless I love the item. I am a big clothes consumer but as long as it’s mainly in those ways and I wear everything in my wardrobe several times over, I feel ok about being a second hand consumer and when I do buy something brand new, it doesn’t happen often and I’ve really thought about it
LikeLike
Absolutely! I know what you mean about being spoilt by buying cheaper clothes and not wanting to pay high street prices.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sounds very interesting. I’m looking forward to seeing what you create. Maybe it will inspire the rest of us to do the same. Would also be interesting to see how much money you save in a year.
LikeLike
Yes definitely! I don’t spend a great deal on clothing as I buy a lot from charity shops anyway, but I imagine someone that regularly shopped in chain stores would save a lot!
LikeLike
WOW! I’m not good enough to sew all clothes I need. I wouldnt have brilliant ideas how to upcycle the clothes I have. So I’m following you from now on just to see how you realize your plan. Maybe it will be an inspiration for me not only to take a look but to copy your plan one day 🙂
LikeLike
I’m not sure I’m good enough yet either, but I’ll have to be! I hope you do get some inspiration along the way 🙂 Thanks for reading!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Love this! Good on you! & good luck to you xxx
LikeLike
Thank you!
LikeLike