Out of the blue (and positively the last post about my Lent clothes fast)

It came as a total surprise, I had no idea, I really didn't.  I suppose because I came upon the idea of the Six Items Challenge very late in the day, just a couple of days before Ash Wednesday in fact.  So I was too busy deciding what would be my six items and trying to get the message out to notice anything else. 

But there was a prize offered by People Tree ( a clothing company with a strong ethical philosophy) to the participant in The Challenge with the most interesting and original blog and - do you know what?? I won.

The prize was a dress of my choice from the  The People Tree.  This is what I chose (the Olivia dress)

Isn't it fab?

Now if you have been reading my blog for any length of time you will know I don't have sponsors.  I only carry the tiny adsense ad in the right hand column here.  And just occasionally I am sent a crafty book (knitting or sewing usually) and asked to review, which I do if I like it, I send it back if I don't.  But that is all.  That's not to say I would refuse to advertise something crafty or reject a gift of some luscious yarn to knit up and review (indy dyers please take note !!) nor that I won't tell you about some lovely new project that a friend is up to, but this is not a commercial blog.

This is my blog about my likes and loves and I love my dress from The People Tree!  I had quite some difficulty choosing what to have.  I'm very tall (5'11") and a generous size 16UK.  That's not to say I'm not aiming to be a less generous size 16 but after three weeks of French food that is what I am.  I consider I'm OK proportion wise but my size does make me gravitate toward more muted shades and at first I was looking at the clothes in greys and navy, pretty much like my choice of clothes for The Challenge.  But I made a decision to look for more colour when I chose my dress

What do you think?

It is made of a beautiful organic cotton with just a smidgen of lycra so despite it's figure clinging style (I love that) it does not ride up and cut off the blood supply to my lower legs as I sit down (I'm a knitter, I do a lot of sitting)

The colour is very green, one of m favourite colours but  just slightly muted so it not too shouty

I'm so happy in it!  Thank you The People Tree

And Thank you to everyone who donated.  The fabulous final total was £558.11  for my efforts and a grand total of £1,994.57.  Actually donations are open for a few more days so perhaps we might get to over £2,000 wouldn't that be great?

xx

c

Six weeks and what have I learned?

Did you think when I began this clothes fast you might sponsor me?  If you have, thank you so very much, the total has reached £393.99 a fab amount. But it would be so wonderful to reach my target of £500. So if you thought you might sponsor but have just not got around to it yet IT"S NOT TOO LATE, just click on this link and it will take you to my donations page. I have promised to add another £10 for each £100 raised so only £4.01 to go and I will donate again.

Well, it's been a while. A while since I blogged and a while since I was somewhere on our travels around France (plus a little jaunt into Spain) with enough oomph in the so called free wifi to blog. 

I hope I'm forgiven and that if you were watching my progress on the Six Items Challenge you have been checking over on Instagram from time to time.  If you have been looking you will know that I have linked my photos to our travels. Today we woke up in Vézelay, a tiny hill town an hour or so's drive south of Paris where pilgrims in the 13th century gathered before setting off for Santiago de Compostello.

Day #44 I imagine the pilgrims began their journey in the stupendous basilica at the centre of the village on top of the hill

There were so many wonderful buildings but I could not resist (because this IS a knitting blog)  including this shop window full of hand-knitted mohair sweaters

So... It's day #45 and the last day of the challenge, I'm up and dressed in my black jeans and grey tee and I made it!!! But to be honest even if I had not many sponsors who had donated nearly £500 towards Labour Behind the Label I would have completed the whole six weeks. I've enjoyed it, in a reflective, Lentish sort of way. Not of giving up the thing you like entirely but living with less. 

On Thursday JTH took my photograph for the challenge outside a medieval building in the butchers' quarter of old Limoges (now a second hand book shop). 

Day #43

But later we visited the hauntingly sad village of Oradour where 642 men women and children were murdered on 10 June 1944 in one of the worst war crimes the people of France experienced during WW2. The village has remained untouched since the day after the murders when the SS troops set fire to all the houses. In the ruins of many houses there were twisted remains of metal items that survived the fires.  Bed frames, pram chassis, weighing scales and Singer sewing machines, a poignant reminder of all the women who sewed their own clothes. I lost count of the sewing machines, there were so many

Buy less, use less and waste less.  It's practically the mantra of the 21st century as we all consider ways in which the earth's resources can still be there for our descendants.  And then there's fairness, which of us, if we stopped to think would want other people, anywhere in the world to be exploited just so that we in the west can choose to consume so much? 

I have learned that I can more than survive with far fewer clothes, although I would need more than six items to cope with the seasons.  One concern I did have travelling was the changes in the weather.  Most of the time the weather has been cool and my winter clothes, including the thick cardigan were fine.  And then on the beach in Barcelona the silk shirt came into its own

Day #41 It was still quite windy

But the skies over the Sagrada Famiglia in Barcelona really were that blue on Tuesday

I'm not going to repeat the things I said about Labour Behind the Label in a much earlier post and in any case they explain their campaign much better themselves. So if you would like to know more you just have to visit their website by clicking one of the many links here and read about how they campaign for better worker safety and for a living wage for garment workers.  But I thought I would just highlight a couple of campaigns here to illustrate their work and the work of their associates around the world

Do you remember my reference to the Bangladeshi garment workers killed or injured when the factory where they were working in collapsed in April 2013?  Labour behind the Label is part of a coordinated campaign to raise $30m USD from the companies who had clothing made at Rana Plaza to compensate the victims, to date the fund is $9m short. The shortfall is mainly due to one or two companies who despite making all the right noises have not paid any money into the fund. Labour Behind the Label is planning a special day of action on 24 April.

Other campaigning organisations around the world are joining the fight. A brilliant campaign originated in Canada with the Fair-trade Network producing posters of clothing with labels that tell the true story behind a cheap sweater (or indeed pair of jeans)

I have also heard that people have actually sewn similar labels onto clothes on the rails in shops, although I can't find a link to this activity, it sounds like a great idea.

So what am I going to do in future?  Well I'm not going to stop buying clothes all together but I am going to make my clothes last longer. I will not salve my conscience by lobbing large bags of unwanted clothes in the direction of charity shops. Charities often have to sell on the clothes donated  they are bought by dealers who sell them back to third world countries which in turn depresses the internal clothing business and puts local workers out of a job.  I am going to wear out the clothes in my wardrobe and, perhaps more importantly for me, make clothes with the burgeoning stash I already have of both knitting yarn and dress fabric.  SO please keep on checking my blog to keep me in line - see if the things I am making (or making over) really live up to these principles I have learned over the last six weeks

xx

C

PS - here are the rest of my daily photos

Day #42

Day  #40

Day #39 

Day #38

Day #37

Day #36

Day #35

Day #34

Day #33

Day #32

More Catching up (including on the laundry)

It was when I came to get out of the car on our first day in the true south of France and it was raining that I realised I had forgotten to pack any sort of coat. I suppose this six items only thing had made me think packing would be too easy.  Just throw the six things in the case plus a sponge bag and done... NOT.  The other mistake I discovered en route.  I had packed a smaller case just for the over night stops. On day one I began to dress in our hotel room in Riems and realised all my socks were in the big bag in the car.  All except the pair I had on the needles, my travelling knitting.  There was nothing else for it but to sit on the bed, knit up the ribbing and cast off before I could get dressed.

casting off

But back to my need for a coat.  It was clear as we looked out of the window the first morning we woke up in our Gite in Viens (in the hills a little north and west of Arles) that borrowing a coat from JTH was not going to work, a coat each was required.

from the sitting room window

So we drove to Avignon for some shopping, where of course the sun shone

THE Bridge

But the Trench coat I bought has been very handy and I feel just a tiny bit French Chic in it

Beside the Med in March

But back to the other point in my title.  It occurred to me that if you have been following the six item challenge you may be wondering about the laundry side of things.  There is the guilt inducing issue of  putting on the washing machine too often with too small a load, the bother of it all and the possibility that so much washing is going to wear out the clothes before the challenge is up.  Well the skirt has not been washed yet, I don't wear it a much for one thing but before I made it I did wash the fabric in Soak so I know it would wash if need be.  The jeans are sturdy enough to go through many washes but the rest, the silk shirt, the jersey dress from Episode and the grey tee from Jigsaw?  Well this is where Soak is absolutely fabulous.  

Not a publicity shot - my bottle after FOUR washes

All is needed is to add a tiny amount to a bowl of warm water, immerse the clothes for 10 mins and spin and hang out to dry - done!  And it is far kinder to the clothes than a washing machine and conventional detergent (even so called special stuff for delicates) I use it at home for all my hand knits (including socks) and for soaking before blocking.  I sound like an advert but I am a real fan of this stuff and it smells lovely too.

I am off now, back to my books and knitting as we have nearly two more weeks of lazy holiday days to enjoy. But in case you are checking the blog for pics of my daily clothing 'choices' the catch up photgraphs are below my signature here (and every day on Instagram, just press the button in the right hand column)

My latest project Lumpy Space pattern design by Stephen West knitted in vintage style Excelana

xx

c

Day #26

Day #27

Day #28 (standing on our windowsill)

Day #29 (in the valley immediately below the gite, special pose for Blipfoto solidarity)

Day #30

Day #31 (on the promenade)

Day #32 (today is a stay at home day, blogging and reading)

Catching up...day 23, 24 25

Setting off for a long trip on Thursday I only had time to post one photo on instagram on day 23.  A night in Reims and another quick instagram of my day 24 outfit (the same as day 23) from the car as we headed for Dijon of lunch.   We were very glad we had time for a quick whizz around the old town and visit to the spectacular early gothic church of Notre Dame and made mental notes to spend more time here next visit

 After a lovely overnight stay with friends in Ferny-Voltaire just outside Geneva we had time to shop at the wonderful Sunday market before setting off again

Voltaire oversees the goings on in the market

Saucisson of every sort

I decided against the ugly fish

Wonderful salad, the pale yellow flecked with pink, my favourite

this cheese chosen from so many.

And so after a long drive down the Autoroute du soleil almost as far as Marseilles and then up into the mountains we arrive at the gite in Viens where we are staying for two weeks, to be spent, reading walking, painting,  knitting and sleeping (pictures tomorrow of the spectacular views from our window)

day 25, magenta skirt with some of my grey things

I do, however, have one little problem with my clothes - Somehow I forgot to pack a coat of any sort!!  I am keeping my fingers crossed that the weather will be warm and dry, otherwise I might have to go to Avignon, the nearest big town and buy something.  I don't really want to do this it doesn't feel in the spirit of things to me but I just may have to!  I feel so silly to have forgotten something so essential when going away in March (even to the south of France).

xx

c

Day 23 in grey tee, black jeans and headlight cardigan

Day 24 in the car (same clothes)

Busy busy day #22

Last day before our holiday (watch this space for pictures from foreign parts). Practical clothes are called for

Grey tee and black jeans.  I'm keeping my neck warm with citron, a scarf knitted in a silk and mohair mix.  I'm not packed yet but I have sorted out my holiday knitting

Three skeins of Sweet Georgia Yarns Tough Love Sock in the fuchsia colour way and a vintage pattern for a summer cardigan.

Tomorrow's post will be from 'somewhere in France'

xx

c

Halfway through and it's Day #21

Isn't it always the way when trying to choose the perfect capsule wardrobe?  Nothing quite matches up. In my case the capsule was of six items and each time I decided on a theme, around a pair of blue jeans, tailored grey trousers or a favourite cardigan, there was always something missing.  Even when I eventually decided on the set of six items the sixth item was a piece of fabric that had been waiting in my stash for nearly two years.  But put together with other stash items it became a skirt in  a day

Approximately 1.5m of boiled wool fabric and  an old waist slip. Zip and sewing thread left overs from a previous project

(Although the zip was the wrong colour it is the invisible type and the tape not destined to show in the finished article, the thread did match, the brighter colour is just a trick of the light)

First I washed the fabric.  It is unlikely that boiled wool would shrink but I wanted to make sure, I used a product called Soak Wash a fabulous no rince hand washing liquid that I not only use for all my hand knits but other hand wash items too.  Soak has been invaluable during the Six Items Challenge for quickly washing out clothes I need for the next day without putting on a full load in the washing machine.

Next I cut out two rectangles measuring my hip measurement plus 5 cm by my required skirt length plus 6 cm and laying it on my cutting table I cut both pieces into 5 using big curving lines

the waistband is at the bottom, the hem at the top of the picture

I then stitched the pieces back together using a twin needle,

I did consider using a contrast colour thread

but decided on keeping to one colour (I found matching silk thread in my leftovers collection)

I joined the pieces by overlapping and stitching with the twin needle, creating waist darts by increasing the overlap at the top of the skirt to 4 cm and tapering to 1 cm over 10 cm at the back and 6 cm at the front.  The measurements are approximate as I made the adjustment on my manequin. 

Once I had completed the overlapped sections I checked the measurements again, trimming the sides to  fit my measurements  and allow for a 1 cm seam.  There is no need to allow for neatening seams as boiled wool is felted sufficiently that it will not fray.  At this stage I cut a shaped waist facing (no waist band) about 15 cm deep freehand to match the shape of the top of the skirt,  before inserting the zip.  I finished by attaching the lining to the waist facing, the facing to the top of the skirt and hand sewing the hem and around the zip.

Ready to wear in a day!  And wearing it today with my grey tee

xx

C