Category Archives: buy vs. make

I’m so excited to follow kayte‘s lead!

I, karinajean, pledge that I shall abstain from the purchase of “new” manufactured items of clothing, for the period of 4 months. I pledge that i shall refashion, renovate, recycle preloved items for myself with my own hands in fabric, yarn or other medium for the term of my contract. I pledge that I will share the love and post a photo of my refashioned, renovoated, recylcled, crafted or created item of clothing on the Wardrobe Refashion blog, so that others may share the joy that thy thriftyness brings!
Signed KARINAJEAN.

the rules are:

1. No buying new! (handmade is excepted; So this allows for Etsy purchases etc!!) All clothing must be Recycled, Renovated, Preloved or Thrifted, or Handmade only for the term. Employment related and special needs clothing (ie sports, school), shoes and undies are excepted from the rules, although you are encouraged to have a go at making these.
2. In extreme circumstances, maybe a special event, or the worlds greatest and most amazing never to be repeated sale that you simply can not pass up, you may use the Get out of Refashionista Jail Free card. You are able to use this card once during the 2 month part of your contract; ie 1 for 2 months, 2 for 4 months etc. Of course you need to fess up on the blog and display the button!
3. You must post on the blog at least once a week to let the community know what you’ve been up to. This will not only give you brag points, but inspire and encorouge others! Of course you need to display the button on your blog and have copied the pledge in at least one post, and provide a link to your pledge under the button.
4. You need to be honest and admit when you’ve fallen off the Refashionista Wagon! Go directly to Refashionista Jail, do not pass GO and do not collect $200! Apply for parole once there.

and the exemptions are:

• underwears
• bras
• socks
• pantyhose, stockings, and tights
• shoes

I’m so excited to not have any excuse *not* to make really cool things. I’ve been getting by on very little in the new clothing arena for a long long time, but not buying anything for (at least) 4 months will force me to really work on my spring wardrobe. my goals are to do more repurposing of clothes and fabric, and to develop more fully my own sense of style. stay tuned! sign up, while you still can! and expect to see lots of cross posting of things I actually make!

since the last buy vs. make inventory,

I’ve made a bunch of skirts:

* I redid my pink upholstry skirt so it isn’t falling apart.
* I made two pleated skirts: one short for my bday, one long for every day.
* I made a purple skirt as practice for my silk skirt which I will now wear to almost every holiday occasion I have this winter.

on the buying: I purchased 10 pairs of socks. exciting! but I will wear them all winter long: I bought

* 2 pairs of long chevrons (which I absolutely LOVE)
* 1 pair of ankle chevrons
* 3 pairs of the N40 (the only bad thing about these is that they are nylon)
* 2 pairs of the M40
* 1 pair of M43s
* 2 pairs of plain flat knit over the knee socks
* and some dorky socks: thigh high crochet net and little booties.

I also went to the outlets in maryland and bought

* a jean jacket
* a cotton jacket
* a red short sleeved sweater
* a pair of jeans
* a pair of trousers

I hadn’t bought pants in at least 4 years! So I was probably due some. and jackets, now, they are hard to make.

I’ve accumulated/purchased 6 or 7 tshirts over the summer, primarily from threadless, though a couple were from a craft fair or the 5K I ran.

Of course, on the other hand, I thought about going to target last night to get more long sleeved shirts and underpants (which I do need, badly), but the act of going to target seemed so horrifying that I just went home.

so, net buy vs. make over the last 7 months? heavier on the buy than the make, but at least I didn’t have any duplication. I’d rather buy trousers and jackets and I really didn’t have any fun graphics tees – so I think it’s a wash in all directions. and shoot! I just counted: I made 5 skirts in 7 months, and they all came out really really well. I should NOT lose track of that.

anyway: speaking of tshirts, I’m planning to get out all my old tshirts and start cutting them up for makeup removal pads. I saw these, but they are in the UK and also terrycloth (which is kind of rough). I asked my internet friends about it, and they pointed me to someone who makes them from flannel and then someone suggested using old sweatshirts, and then I thought hey! old tshirts! they are soft, kind of absorbant, and I can cut them into squares and zigzag stitch several layers together to get a small structured square for wiping my eye make up off of my face. and it reuses things that I don’t need or want, and that might otherwise be sold in africa with a net effect of undermining local textiles producers.

I’m adding a new category called ‘buy vs. make.’ one of my resolutions for my 30 goals list was to “sew 1/4 of clothes – start with 1/4 by purchase, move towards 1/4 of wardrobe. Keep JOURNAL to show it.” obviously, I haven’t been keeping a journal to date. But now that I have so many GALLONS of lovely upholstery fabric to turn into luscious skirts, well, I’d better get started.

To start, I think I’ll measure the percent-made in terms of NUMBER OF ITEMS made+bought. And there are things that I’m not going to include in that count, for example, SOCKS. I will keep track of buying socks but I know I will never be able to make the diversity of socks that I can (and want badly to) buy. so, categories:

dresses
skirts
tops
sweaters *this one will be super hard, b/c I haven’t knit a sweater to date.
winter accessories

and I’d like to get better at sewing so I can add

pants
tailored jackets

things that don’t count include underwear, socks, shoes, and coats. I’m sure I could make these things, but that’s REALLY where I draw the efficiency vs. economy vs. reality line.

Now, if I really wanted to get technical, I might look back at what clothing I’ve bought since I started my 30 goals list (which was the end of september). Judging from my credit cards and bank statements and the best of my recollection:

* In March I bought a corset style top at target, some shoes, and about 3 or 4 plain tshirts.
* I bought $130 of socks in January and February. To my credit, I’ve worn them every day since.
* In November I bought 2 pairs of stretchy velour pants for knee surgery convalescence, a green wool sweater, and a cream wool cardigan from Old Navy.
* And at some point, I must have bought 3 or 4 long sleeved plain shirts from Target.

Truth be told, that’s not really so bad. (Now you all know how infrequently I buy undergarments! horrors!) Though to balance that out I’ve got… well… nothing. I didn’t even knit anything for me! so I have some work to do on the 1/4. The last thing I sewed was the silvery dress for the wedding I attended in September. But I’ve been thinking and buying stuff to make other things! I guess my first step (after making my New! Green! Skirt!) will be to document the raw materials I have and match fabric and yarn with patterns. Won’t THAT be fun for you, gentle reader? Not as much fun as it will be for me, I have the heart and soul of a photodocumentarian!