DIY clothing
By Karina | September 12, 2007
As the seasons start to change and as kids rush back to school, I’m faced full on with one of the tiny choices I’ve been practicing for the last couple of years: to make as many of my clothes as possible.
it sounds really punk rock and crafty, right? but in actuality, I got fed up. I got really tired of shopping for clothes that were of poor quality. Also, I’m a fairly tall woman, and it’s really hard to find clothing that fits me well. I also realized that in order to create a typical and versatile wardrobe in the True American Fashion, I was really expected to spend at least an hour every week browsing shops for clothing. There’s just no other way to build up the kind of all-occasions closet full of quality work horse staples with a healthy sprinkle of fun trendy items that Every Woman is supposed to have unless you’ve got thousands of dollars waiting around for a What Not To Wear style shopping spree. And I really hate shopping. (Stories I won’t tell you: how shoe shoe shopping when I was in 5th Grade made me burst into tears, and the amazing 6 malls in 6 hours marathon trip to find a suitable dress for my 8th Grade Formal Dance.)
So I thought about it, and I decided that I would much rather not spend money on things that didn’t fit me anyway, and I would also much rather not spend the time required to really go out and bargain hunt like a good consumer. I won’t even get into the falling quality of most affordable clothing, or the whole sweatshop issue. But sewing my own clothing seemed so incredibly hard… so much planning, and so much TIME.
But then I started thinking. Until fairly recently in American Consumerist Culture, women only had a few outfits for daily wear. They had a couple more dresses for special occasions, and I bet they didn’t have more shoes than there are days in the week. And if they could get away with it, why couldn’t I? Why did I need to have so many skirts, shirts, and pants? I could only wear one outfit at a time, after all. And that was the push I needed.
For the last two years or so, I have purchased a minimum of clothing. Don’t get me wrong - I still buy things that I judge to be too complicated or time consuming to make (like underpants, bathing suits, and socks). I haven’t tackled pants or button down shirts yet, but I would like to sometime soon. What I DO sew are all of my dresses and skirts (except for a charming wrap skirt recently purchased from a fair trade shop). I’ve made a couple of tops, too. And I do buy charming indie graphic tshirts. I’m totally into charming.
What I’ve realized over the last couple of years, though, is that this tiny choice became less about sewing my own clothing, and more about getting by with less clothing. I came to this conclusion after it became apparent that I was just unable to prioritize making clothes over fun things like reading mass-market paperbacks, or having dinner with friends. So for the last couple of years I’ve made clothes for special occasions, but I haven’t been replenishing my wardrobe at the same rate as I would be if I were shopping. Actually, I joke with my receptionist (as she staples my fallen hems back up for me) that one day I’ll call into work b/c my clothes will have all fallen apart and I have to make some new ones stat. Needless to say, making some new clothes is a high priority for fall.
More tips for making your clothing last longer, be better suited for you, and as environmental friendly as possible:
- I am excited to follow the Green Clothes series at Confessions of a Closet Environmentalist. Part I is titled “A long lasting wardrobe” and discusses all the ways that we shorten the life of our clothing by wearing and caring for them. Part II will address green shopping for quality, and be sure to check the comments - there are a lot of great ideas from the readers.
- I’ll admit it: I’m excited to watch Tim Gunn’s Guide to Style - where he teaches people what outfits work best for their body shape, and how to dress best with what they’ve got. Right now I’m feeling particularly dowdy, and I know it’s because some of the clothes I made for myself a year or two ago aren’t what’s best suited for my physice right now. I don’t have cable but I’m hoping bravo will make the shows available for purchase online soon! There is a sweet interview with Tim Gunn at salon.com.
- Treehugger has an ecotip discussing how to pick the most green clothes - they start off by specifying that the greenest threads are those you already own, and that can be washed in cold water and air dried.
- The pattern company Burda has launched BurdaStyle for open source sewing. Download patterns for free and post your creations and variations on the pattern for everyone to see!
- Follow Wardrobe Refashion - a dynamic community of people who pledge to make their clothes and avoid buying new for a period of 2, 4, or 6 months. The group blog has lots of great ideas and amazing inspirations!
How do you solve the clothing problem? Is sewing terrifying, or your very best friend?
Related posts:
- Good Clothing Intentions
- Performance “Technical” Clothing
- Easy Peasy Tip: Host A Clothing Swap!
- A Sheep In Wool’s Clothing - Part II!
- Easy Peasy Tips: Learn to Sew!
- A Sheep In Wool’s Clothing
- Update on my clothing choices
Topics: Crafts/DIY |
I’ll tell you, you are an inspiration to me. Your skirts are so cute, and not in that “oh thanks, I bought it for $8,00000000 at Anthropologie” way, which is the best part. One day I will learn how to insert zippers and thus be able to jump on the handmade clothes bandwagon! I love sewing so much, but I seem to be stuck at the pillows-and-curtains level…
shoot! you are so kind to say so. we should have a zipper workshop soon.
PS, the more I think about it the more I appreciate this comment. I don’t want to look homespun! there’s something to be said for the street cred of making your own clothes, but you don’t really want people to be able to tell!
Great post, and the link to “A long lasting wardrobe” is great. I’m lucky in that I only work out of the house 2 days a week, and I wear the work-at-home comfy clothes multiple times before they go in the wash. I make a lot less laundry than my 9-5 BF. I don’t sew, although I know how to, because I don’t have a machine (I hope to inherit my mom’s old table-set, all-metal Singer at some point). I’ve just stopped buying new clothes, really. There are great resale shops and inexpensive tailoring in my area, so if we need or get the urge for something “new,” we buy secondhand (of course, there are exceptions, like underthings), and if something needs repairing, we spend a few bucks on that. I’m so happy to see others doing likewise.
that’s really great, I love to hear about other people and their non-buying as well!
i’m with you–i mostly sew my own clothes except for some basics/tees and then splurge on a few really nice things (the last thing i bought was a ridiculously priced sweater from anthropologie, but it was the only thing i’d purchased in months and a piece i’ll wear for years— and that’s the kind of purchase i want to be making). i even TRY to buy new clothes but they are all crap when i try them on so i end up putting them back and realizing i don’t need them. i think new york especially made me feel like i had to keep up with trends, but then once i did wardrobe refashion i realized no one cared but me. plus, i was able to make lasting garments that i like despite what is “trendy”….which you sometimes can’t even find in stores.
I loved seeing what you came up with on wardrobe refashion, Linda!
It’s funny, the house I grew up in was built in the 1920s and the closets are so small. They were built for a time when a man would have one suit and his wife one, maybe two dresses. I went through a phase where I was agonizing over whether to get more storage for clothes, then I realized that the problem was not lack of storgage capacity, rather, it was too much crap to store! I took an inventory and I realized that I had a month’s supply of undershirts, and about as much of a supply of skivvies - excluding zombie invasion, I can envision few scenarios where I would not be doing laundry for so long. As I replace stuff my rule is to toss two items in the goodwill or rag pile as appropriate for every one item I acquire. Sadly I’m not too good at the DIY part of DIY clothing.
I would hope that in the event of a zombie invasion clean underpants is the last think on your mind!
Great post! I think about this a lot. I haven’t graduated to sewing my own clothing - but I’m knitting stuff from slippers to sweaters. The amount of time it takes to make a wearable garment really gives me pause - I look at a pattern and think, is this a classic style? Are my materials high-quality and long-lasting? How will I need to care for this to extend its life? Is it flattering? Can the size be adjusted?
I haven’t bought new clothes in ages. It might be over a year, except for dresses I am compelled to get for other people’s weddings. I just keep getting rid of more and more stuff, and it’s a lot easier to get dressed when I only have nice things I really like in my closet.
I can’t wait until I only have nice things that I really like! it’s a slow process to get there, though. and lady, seriously: making sweaters? something I haven’t even seriously thought about tackling yet. one of the reasons I like to sew is it’s near-instant gratification.
i made a pledge earlier this year to only buy secondhand, handmade, or fair trade items. i think that was back in april or may. anyway, i’ve only broken a couple times (but once was a huge back to school shopping spree at banana republic- i still feel guilty about that).
i am a horrible sewer, so i just leave the work to someone else.
that is a great pledge! it’s really hard to do - I really respect people who are able to.
That’s pretty much where I am, although I’m considering knitting myself a skirt, now that I’ve made stuff for all the babies my loved ones are having. I may sew a skirt instead, but first, a handbag. Also, also, I’m going to look at reconstructing some t-shirts.
Anyhow, other than underwear, yoga clothes, shoes and suits - though I do try with the suits - my clothes are pertty much purchased second hand. With of course, the exception of the mass produced Shawn Green t-shirt that dad bought me. C’mon, all the good Jewish girls are sporting them.
I love hitting large thrift stores, spending less than $100 and leaving with a big bag of clothes for work and play. Now though, I walk to a nearby thrift store and usually find about two pieces at a time. I also love dropping stuff off and then buying more.
This article put clothing on my brain! Fortunately I’ve slimmed down over the past year, but unfortunately it means that nothing fits. Tonight I stopped in at Macy’s and picked up a shirt and a sweater. I suppose it’s less hazardous for my financial health to do it in dribs and drabs than in one fell swoop. Typically I get 3 years out of most clothing, longer for more expensive items like suits and outerwear. Going forward my goal is to reduce the items in my closet which are not in regular use, and make sure I get mileage out of what I have.
i’m still trying to stay on my wardrobe refashion pledge even though it was over months ago. i would say that i have bought about four new pieces of clothing in the last year (and most of it when i am freelancing at anthro).
i really like the built by wendy patterns and i want to start trying some of the burdastyle patterns too!
I stayed up with the pledge, but only b/c I didn’t buy anything new. I didn’t make anything either! and that was BAD.
I LOVE burdastyle! I haven’t tried any of their patterns yet but some of them are so nice!
[…] posted before that I don’t really like to shop for clothes. I try to make my own stuff because 1. I hate shopping, 2., I’m kind of a hard size to fit, […]
I can’t sew, too much measuring! But I have recently scaled back my wardrobe and am keeping only what I wear most often and those items that don’t see the outside world but are sooo comfy to wear in the house. Now my closet can hold many more things! I donated my clothes directly to people in need. Some weren’t worth donating so my daughter and I cut up the material and she’s having “sales” of fabric pieces (she’s 7, so cute). My mom taught my daughter to sew and some doll outfits have been made. I want to make pillows and quilts…can you do that w/o sewing? I won’t iron so don’t point me toward fuse tape ;-) ANYWAY, great article!
[…] buying new for a period of 2, 4, or 6 months. I had joined in the past - I wrote about it on the DIY clothing post a bit ago - but in all actuality, I didn’t make many clothes at all. I didn’t buy […]