New American Dream

My sustainability class [geez, is this where I get all my information? I should start researching on my own haha] brought me to an online community called The Center for a New American Dream that basically espouses the idea of sustainability in all walks of life. I didn't check out all parts of the site, but I read their mission/vision and a few blogs about consumption.



Their idea goes a little like this: the American dream is one of hope for a better life and future for generations to come. However, this dream has recently transformed to a mentality of "more is better" and "out with the old, in with the new." Not everyone thinks this way, but a vast majority of companies market this idea with their fancy-shmancy advertising and/or cheap prices, and then we're hooked.

Regardless, communities like New American Dream show that people are starting to change. With the green movement becoming fashionable [and businesses profitting from making 'green' items] people are becoming aware of environmental impacts. However, lifestyle changes are not possible for some people and it's difficult to change on a large scale, especially if the infrastructure isn't there. With the economy as it is now, who knows when we will be able to reorganize government policies to accomodate environmentally friendly lifestyles. And, as unfortunate as it is, being eco-friendly isn't always cheap...I might write more on this later.

I'm not saying that we should all stop buying objects that are wants instead of needs. Go ahead and consume! BUT, even though it takes more time, we should try to investigate the origins of our items beforehand. Or invest in items that will not need to be replaced within the near future.

One blog post I read had a great take-away message that I felt needed to be shared:

"There are lots of ways to renew, while still making our lives more recognizable to ourselves. Maybe our culture is moving back in the direction of holding on to things. It’s good practice for creating a life full of texture and grasp-able things. Tellingly, when something is really worn it becomes well-worn. Worn the way it’s supposed to be. Here’s to the old, the renewed, and the new with the promise of becoming well-worn."

Shorter Shorts

To be honest, I'm not a big fan of really short shorts. They're a bit too revealing for my comfort, although that just might be my self-consciousness at work. Regardless, I like my shorts to be a bit longer...but bermudas can be a hit or miss. I bought a couple plaid bermuda shorts [when they were all the craze!] and then realized I didn't like how one pair got tight right above my knees.

I decided to shorten them to mid-thigh length. I pinned where I wanted it to be and cut a few inches below. Since they were still tight around my thighs, I decided to undo part of the side seams [which took FOREVER] to create slits.

Then, I folded under and sewed them up. Yay for better length and side slits!

Coincidentally, there was a boy in my class this morning with practically the same outfit sans purple jacket. I would've snapped a picture, but that would be kind of awkward as my stealth is lacking. Not all asians are bred ninja :(

Hearts Galore! [Part 2]

So, what did I do with the pink heart-filled tank I found in my closet? Well, the shirt was much too short on me so I found another shirt in my closet [donated by my friend Patrick] and fused them!

But, you see that giant hole in the front of the shirt? AHHH-inducing, I know. I wrung my hands and then got over it. :]

I was originally going to make a ruffled tank but failed miserably on the ruffle because I didn't measure the top half of the shirt [It was kind of impossible as my measuring tape has gone missing over a month ago!! *-.-] I cut the grey shirt across under the arm holes and the pink one around the middle after sewing the edges of the grey in an A-line so it would fit to the top portion. Then I sewed them together with the gaping hole at the back of the shirt.



In place of the ruffle, I decided to make something else to put on the front of the tank. I cut out several hearts from the leftover parts of the shirt and layered!

To cover up the rip, I cut out more hearts! I made it just large enough to cover the hole, but not too excessive. As I was pinning it into place, my sister walked into the room and said, "Whoa! That's so cool! Are you making a pocket?" Hm...not my original intention but sounds like an awesome idea. Thanks, kid sister :]

I volunteered tonight at a local hospice and it was still decorated for Valentine's day! Perfect :]

Slight Deviation from the Norm

Since this blog is for my thesis project concerning sustainability and the voluntary simplicity movement, I figured it'd be a good idea to start writing about it. I gave a very brief introduction to what these concepts are in A Little Background... but haven't mentioned it in any of my weekly project posts.

So, why not start today?

I am taking a class called Sustainable Consumption this semester. So far, we have covered the broad topics of consumerism, pollution, food and water, and starting this week, clothing. Today's class required us to read an article by Juliet B. Schor called "Cleaning the Closet: Toward a New Fashion Ethic" published in Sustainable Planet (2002.)

This article talks about how clothes came to be cheap and the consumer mindset fostered by advertisements which surround us. I fall into this trap at times too. The idea that we need to buy more clothes to add variety to our wardrobes, that we should follow fashion trends, that 'you can't wear the same dress twice,' that you can't pass up a bargain...these are pretty hard habits to break. However, if you think about how those cheap clothes are made [primarily sweat shops] and how workers are treated, you might think twice about buying that brand new pair of boots that would match perfectly with your brand new dress. It's like the Diderot effect-you buy one new item and feel compelled to revamp everything else in the process.

Fortunately, there are alternatives. Stop shopping is one, but might be a bit too drastic for many. If anything, spend more on good quality clothing that will stand the test of time instead of diving into bargain bins for anything. Spending is studied all the time and if certain trends are noticed, then businesses can adapt. Schor discusses several methods to clothing sustainability for a personal and global scale.

I found the article gave me a slightly new outlook on my project. I won't be changing things on a global scale, but I am raising awareness-for myself and some of the people around me. There are so many people who have adopted a DIY lifestyle and/or support local businesses and the numbers keep growing! It's amazing what awareness can do in affecting a person's decisions. My campus has hosted a few events that focused on supporting local businesses. There were so many unique restaurants and stores that I never even knew existed! I'm starting to go off on a tangent now, but it's pretty exciting to be part of a generation that promotes changes in terms of our sustainability.

Hearts Galore!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

There are so many DIY projects available for this lovey-dovey kind of day and I couldn't help but get lost looking through it all. My friend, Jessie, sent me a link for DIY website called design*sponge last week. As I was exploring the site, I saw a bunch of projects that caught my eye. The whole time I was thinking, too bad I don't have tons of fabric just laying about...but I DO have lots of yarn!

So, I decided to start with a couple crochet projects. The first was a heart garland. I'm a beginner at crocheting, so it took me a bit to figure out the instructions and, needless to say, I didn't really follow them very well resulting in variously sized crochet hearts. But, to be honest, I kind of like how some are thin and others are wide.



Now my room is all festive <3



As I finished making these hearts, I realized that I wanted to make a shirt for valentine's day. I came up with several ideas and the one that stuck was a racer back tank top, held together in the back with a crochet heart. However, I'd want it to be a big crochet heart. Looking up designs led me to find another tutorial!  However, the heart was still too small for my liking [sigh...no new shirt today] and I already made a garland.  So what to do with the extra heart? Make a necklace! :]

I was still feeling crafty after all that, so I looked through my closet and found...a pink tank top with silver hearts! PERFECT! But what to do...

[To be continued!!]

Cue Scissors!

As I was perusing some DIY books at Barnes & Nobles, I came across a book called 99 ways to cut, sew, trim & tie your T-shirt into something special. I flipped through quickly and saw one that I clearly remembered seeing somewhere. So I ran to my laptop [a good 5 hours later when I got home] and checked me bookmarks. Lo and behold, I found it online! I thought it was cute, but the design flashed by too quickly so I only had a slight idea of how to implement it. I also thought it to be a bit too scandalous for me, but I knew I had a busy week and wouldn't have as much time to sew something like last week's kimono top. I checked the weather and saw that it would be a beautiful high of 75 and decided to whip out my scissors and an old T-shirt from my pile of scraps.



This was an old orchestra shirt of mine. I liked the design, but I hardly wore it so i deemed it suitable for my scissors. I folded it in half and traced what I would cut, making sure to cut straps while removing the entire image from the back.





Since the straps were super long, I trimmed them and used the excess to make rosettes from a tutorial I found a while back and then sewed them onto the front of the tank. It's been a while since I've hand sewn anything so it was the most time-consuming portion of making this tank top, but definitely well worth it.

Oops...and Happy New Year!

The japanese club, along with chinese language and culture club, hosted an event last Saturday called A Night in Tokyo. I figured this would be the perfect time to make a kimono-style blouse. I've seen several that I've wanted to make and planned on how I would make them, only to realize that my remnant fabrics are, well, just that. Remnants. I didn't have enough fabric to make an entire shirt. Luckily, I stumbled across a half-kimono shirt and figured I'd give it a whirl.

I used scrap fabric from a bed sheet to make a mock-up to see if the remnant fabric would be enough to make this top. I forgot to take pics of this process since I was just sewing on a whim, but I took the remnant I wanted to use and cut out the same size using the bed sheet. I ended up cutting out extra strips for the bottom portion to make it tie in the back.

Didn't you love sesame street as a kid? I didn't watch much, but I do remember the theme song…

Sunny day, sweeping' the clouds away.
On my way to where the air is sweet.
Can you tell me how to get,
how to get to Sesame Street?

Anyway…