Featured Pledger: Adriana (Adriprints)

Adriana was on her way to giving up mass-made clothing when she discovered the Seamless pledge. Since then, she’s cut down on her consumption and sewn some amazing garments, including her bombshell dress featured as one of 2011′s inspirational makes.

Name: Adriana

Website: http://adriprints.blogspot.co.uk/

Pledging until the end of 2012.

Why did you take the Seamless Pledge?

The Seamless Pledge made a lot of sense to me. I started sewing really young, and both my grandmothers sewed as a means to stay in fashion and still have tailored clothing at an economic price. So, I looked at sewing and making as a means to having unique items of clothing as well as self-expression. I took the Seamless Pledge because I was already a crafty do-it-yourself kind of gal, and the pledge solidified my choice to make things myself.

What impact has the pledge had on your day-to-day life?

The pledge has made me a more observant consumer. I really look at other people’s clothing both for inspiration, and for construction. After taking the pledge, I’ve definitely made more time to sew and I sew pieces that are practical and wearable as opposed to some of my crazier sewn-because-I-loved-that-print projects of the past.

Taking the pledge also meant that I really had to look critically at my wardrobe and come to terms with some of the excesses of t-shirts and cheaply made goods I had purchased in the past. It was an enlightening thing to do, and I haven’t bought anything except some specialty compression running socks and the running shirt that came with the price of enrollment into a 10k run in June.

 Any tips for someone wanting to give up mass-made clothing?

I was already on my way to giving up mass-made clothing and the biggest thing that led me to this decision was a need for better fitting garments. Start by looking critically at your wardrobe and looking at your favorite items as well as the items of clothing that look best on you. These may not be the same pieces.

If you’re looking to replicate favorite items through knitting or sewing, start simple with attainable projects. Break down the skills you’ll need to have to make that awesome whatever-it-is you want to make. Don’t skip the basics.

And, it’s great to have high expectations of oneself, but do it whilst also highlighting the skills you already have, and adding 1 or 2 new skills you’d like to attain per project.

Make sure you check out Adriana’s blog. She’s not just busy sewing clothes, she’s been making some amazing quilts lately. You can also follow her on Twitter!

Where do your clothes come from?

Do you know where your clothes come from?

Click on the image to see the interactive version

As sewers, generally the answer is a resounding yes. You’re not likely to forget after hours of stitching now are you? But if you’re anything like me, your wardrobe is probably mostly made up of mass-made and high-street clothing – and this is where the answer becomes less clear.

I tuned into new documentary Mary’s Bottom Line the other day, featuring high-street guru Mary Portas’s attempts to bring clothing manufacturing back to Britain. As you know, this isn’t the first time Portas has featured on this blog – this time, I wanted to see how my own wardrobe measured up to the issues she faces in her programme.

It was simple really, I just checked the labels to see where my clothes were made, jotting up the totals. I left out underwear, but counted garments I’d bought in charity shops. Obviously self-made garments came under their own category.

To be honest, the first thing which struck me was the sheer amount of clothing I own! I counted about 70 garments – who really needs 70 items of clothing?

As for where they came from – in terms of where I bought them, the vast majority come from high-street names like New Look, H&M and Topshop. With the exception of clothing I bought while living in Germany, the majority of it was bought here in the U.K.

But my clothes come from parts of the globe I’ve never even been to. Truth be told, I wasn’t overly surprised. After all, in the UK, 90% of our clothing is manufactured abroad. There just aren’t a great deal of British companies making clothing at home anymore.

When you actually break down the contents of my wardrobe, no less than 18 countries are represented. One blouse bought from New Look came from Bangladesh while another garment hailed from Turkey. The only British garments in my wardrobe came from small clothing labels Rare, Love Label and Quiz. Ironically, a dress I own from Lipsy London was made in China.

As I said, it’s not particularly surprising, yet it wasn’t anything I’d really considered before. Generally I don’t have a problem with buying something made abroad if it was made by people being paid a fair wage (and that’s a topic which deserves its own blog), but I didn’t quite realise how little I own is actually made in the U.K.

On the plus side, the self-made portion of my wardrobe is growing, slowly but surely. Progress!

What do you think? Does it matter if most of my clothes weren’t made in the U.K? Where do your clothes come from?