A Year Of Sewing

Hand Embroidered Portrait by Daniel Kornrumpf

A year of sewing costs €719.68 at CarmencitaB's.

This includes all the fabric, notions, patterns and machine maintenance. I should add to this a portion of the electricity, Internet, cell data and gas bills as they are intertwined in the "production" costs.

With this money, I made all my Christmas gifts, every birthday gifts for the girls, teachers, friends, some for the boys, a vest for Mr C, a coat, a jacket, some skirts, some bags, some dresses for me (I still don't make pants!). I refashioned, reused, recycled, but not always. 

Have I saved any money? - Probably, I don't know. It was never the prime objective.

Is it ecological? - Not really, having fabric and patterns shipped from elsewhere in the world has a high carbon footprint. I also made stuff I don't need, which is not ecological either. I made a much better use of my scraps, a small step. 

Ethical? - It didn't start this way, but it sure looks like it : I have bought, 3 t-shirts, 2 cardigans and 2 pairs of shoes this year. As I don't make boys pants and clothes, my record is not so great about cutting down on fast fashion. But I have a great record of buying and sewing fabrics from secondhand stores another small step.

Will I save the planet? - No.

Some people are much better and articulate about this subject than I am. Zoe at So, Zoe has written extensively on the subject of sustainability and ethics. I like her point of view, it made me think.

But I also dig Jacki's Modern Twist post on Why Do You Sew in which she says "sewing not as a hobby but as a skill that I am slowly cultivating".

So where do I stand exactly? - Right in the middle. I am cultivating a skill and as a corollary, I hardly buy anything.

Will I keep it up? - Definitely.