Make do and Mend

Make do and mend was one of the slogans of wartime England since clothing and fabric was rationed for the war effort.  It seems these times, of a kind, are back again in that we are fighting an economic war of sorts.  We have redundancies, people worried if they are going to lose their job at the drop of a hat which is making people reluctant to spend their very hard earned cash.

I believe this is the main reason there is a resurgence in crafting. Learning to sew, knit, crochet, and make jewellery has become trendy.  The trend has been bubbling under for a while with certain groups like the Queens of Vintage.  Making things is not only for people that are interested in the past, many young want to be fashionistas, are making their own interpretation of designer items.  Who can blame them when the price of a designer item has same cost as a couple of months rent.  One of these fashionistas is Outi Pyy, who calls what she does Trashion and is profiled here. I love her view on finding and reworking garments.

There are many people out there that are fed up with disposable fashion that is cluttering up our wardrobes and landfills, as well as looking like everyone else.  For us sad souls (like myself) that did not learn to work with our hands, there are many classes, and crafting groups that are offering to help.  To look for classes go to your local college, sewing or knitting store. There is The Make Lounge in London that will teach you what you need to know in a semi social environment.  They teach survival sewing, the basic how to use a sew machine, jewellery making just to name a few classes.

There seems to be quite a few of these type places cropping up or at least there should be.  Please drop me a line if you find anymore as I am going to put together a little list for The Lean Times readers.

I am hoping that the Credit Crisis will bring more to us than strife; perhaps we will learn to make more than just dinner reservations. I am hoping that we will not be as celebrity, status bag driven and start to want to be individuals with our own sense of style.