Back in Business

I’m back! In case you haven’t noticed, I haven’t blogged in a while. I know, I know, you all missed me…but the reality is I missed this more. I didn’t realize how much of a burst I got by writing about sustainability until I didn’t do it for a while. It truly is my passion.

Another hobby of mine. Above,
pillow with hand printed and embroidered tapestry. 

Why hadn’t I blogged in a while? Well, I can give many lame excuses like, it started to take over all my waking hours, or I could do this instead of work, but it wouldn’t fly for too long. However the main and most painful truth is that I got overwhelmed. I found that in this quest of becoming sustainable and transparent in your purchasing one is going against the grain of pretty much the status quo. The project started to become bigger than what I felt I could handle, especially while I chronicled it along the way. So in true form to my past experiences, the best thing to do when bogged down: put your head in the sand. NOT! Yes, I’m afraid that’s what I felt like doing, so the result was: no blog.

That doesn’t mean that I gave up on my sustainability motto, I just couldn’t write about it at the same time. In this past year I have learned a few things and moved closer towards my goal.  In my past posts, I mentioned I wanted to practice 10 ways to becoming more sustainable in 10 months. Well, even though I didn’t follow each in order I can say I have covered quite a few in the past year.  For starters, I abstained from buying fast-fashion, I have resisted the urge to shop for clothes at the grocery store! Second, I’ve shopped more at consignment stores. Third, I’ve shopped less, investing in pieces that were maybe more expensive but I knew would last longer. Fourth, I’m still learning about corporations and their practices and other options. This by far is the hardest hurdle in the whole thing. I still don’t have answers as to where or who is better to buy from if everything is still made overseas, but I am getting closer to finding solutions. Fifth, I’ve actually started to make more clothes again! It is truly awesome to be able to receive a compliment on something you’re wearing and say ‘why thank you, I made it’. It’s so funny that when people hear that, they immediately start to stare closer at it, as if in disbelief that something that looks store bought could be hand sewn (that’s essentially what the operators in factories are doing, remember, clothing is and always will be a man-made product)!

I haven’t had much luck with the upcycled stuff, I had a very sad outcome with one attempt I made that resulted in what I now call ‘the ugliest dress I’ve ever made’; which proves to me that upcycling is actually a lot harder than it looks.

So in hindsight it seems like I’m right on track in my journey. I’ve decided this is how I’m going to move forward. As I start up this new chapter of ‘In good fashion’, I am not going to follow a timeline. I’ll just write about what I find when I find it, I promise I’ll make the posts shorter too!  And as I start documenting it again, I hope to be able to bring more insight and concrete solutions to these challenges. As well as provide resources and tips for any of you who might feel inspired to follow this road with me!