the headbands: so happy with the way they turned out!!!

in person.

using the vintage buttons i found in the mission

this one's for katie.

first edition.

the project: turtleneck transformation

on a recent visit to ohio i found an old cashmere turtleneck. this is the softest sweater i own, but it 1. is too small for me 2. has alot of holes in it.

so here's what i'm doing. i strategically cut the sweater to make two pairs of mittens, three winter headbands and a pullover/cardigan for a little one.

the headbands

warm mittens to be!

the little sweater. i think i am going to make a cut down the center and sew in cute buttons to make it a cardigan. cant wait to get to work on these!

shedding light on clothing

last weekend was the holiday diwali, or deepavali as known in southern india. deepavali is the festival of lights celebrating the victory of good over evil, of knowledge over ignorance and light over darkness. in my family deepavali was very important: we got a new outfit every year. this was critical and my parents let us splurge a little so that we really selected something that we loved and that was useful and durable. i looked forward to this holiday very much. the night before deepavali we would put our clothes in our small home temple, rub the inside with a little vermillion and leave them with god overnight. in the morning we woke up, took showers and wore our clothes with pride and happiness. for my parents deepavali was the only time the entire year when they got new clothes. for the rest of the year they would just have to make do. when i was young i appreciated this holiday, especially because it holds my namesake, but i didn't quite get the meaning behind the clothes. now, i value the opportunity to buy 1 nice thing each year, and save and make do during the rest.

buttons

buttons! perfect for recreating your clothes. at a thrift store i found this vest that had no buttons and was hence sold for a very low price. i used a variety of buttons i've been collected to make a colorful display. it's so fun to wear this now. this brings me to one of the most basic tenents of make do and mend: clothes that you spend time with, caring for, adding too and making your own, will love you back and you will have a greater appreciation for them, you'll love them, you'll want to wear the same vest over and over because you have put your time and energy into it. this is why home cooked meals will always taste better than fast food.

back to buttons: buttons are a great place to start mending. it's simple to secure a button onto a shirt, pants, jackets, etc.. a few simple stitches will lock them into place. a surprising place to find buttons is out in the mission on a sunday. there are many folks who set up sidewalk sales and i have collected lots of buttons from these people. i love putting them in glass jars when i get home (save your jam, mustard, olive, and other food jars) and then displaying them throughout the house.

new again

as a project of the permacouture institute  we're starting this blog to share tips and inspiration for intelligent care of clothing and creative re-use of clothing. drawing from the world war II slogan "make do and mend," which came about during clothes rationing in 1941,  we hope to revive this ethos of recycling clothes, mending holes, darning socks and make old clothes new again.