Un bel po’ di tempo fa in uno dei miei favoriti ‘charity shops’ avevo trovato un maglione (forse anni 80s) di pura lana cashmere a soli £7. Il maglione di per se non era nulla di splendido, ma così soffice e caldo da darmi un’idea. Da maglione a cardigan! Semplicemente ho tagliato il ‘di fronte’ così da aprirlo, ho poi comprato un po’ più di un metro di nastro di raso blu. Un po’ di spilli, la macchina da cucire e un’oretta del mio tempo.

E` semplice, ma a me piace molto. Se ci avessi speso più tempo magari evitavo di fare dei piccoli, sciocchi errori, ma anche così si sta rivelando un capo che sto mettendo moltissimo, anche perché al momento fa un gran freddo (ma siamo in inverno dopotutto). Più giù qualche foto, ma non che ci sia bisogno di un vero e proprio ‘tutorial’.

Not long ago, in one of my favourite charity shops, I found a delightful, soft cashmere jumper. I think it may dates back to the 80s (perhaps?). Although in itself it was nothing fancy, at £7 and 100% cashmere I had to take it home. I thought I had nothing to lose if I tried to turn it into something more wearable, like a little casual cardi. I bought a bit more than a metre of blue satin ribbon, I cut right through the middle of the front of the jumper, careful to go as straight as possible. I then whipped out my sewing machine and with the help of few pins, one hour later I had my cardi.

It’s something really simple and low-tech, but I like it :) It’s so soft and warm, I have been wearing it a lot already in these cold wintry days. I find that I feel really good when I wear something I’ve put my hand to it and that it has been purchased in support of a charity shop. Long live the charity shops! Below are some photos of my endeavour. It doesn’t really need a ‘tutorial’ as such, but I hope it may inspire others to not fear taking the scissors to an item of your wardrobe, which may just be sitting there waiting for a new lease of life!

the original jumper

turn cardi wrong side out. Then sew first the ribbon to this side. Then turn right side out again, fold the ribbon and sew again (this way you'll see only one stitch line on the front)

a detail of the finished article

I will replace this with a much nicer example as soon as I can. But it gives you an idea.

{original source & download / found}

Creare, o  cercare di creare, un guardaroba che sia piu` etico e che ci faccia sentire sia bene che orgogliosi di ciò che si indossa non e` facile, come ho sperimentato (e continuo) io stessa. Nel leggere articoli e posts su internet ho trovato questi 12 ‘passi’ davvero utili e sopratutto positivi! Non c’e` bisogno di sentirsi (o di far sentire) in colpa quando si comincia a voler un guardaroba guilt-free, basta armarsi di creatività, positività e si anche di allegria, in fondo vestirsi e` un modo di esprimere la propria personalità. Trovate un ‘download’ di questi due poster in italiano cliccando qui.

I came across this great, simple and positive initiative of 12 steps to help moving towards an ethical wardrobe. They are so simple yet so effective and indeed positive and upbeat. Although the initial research of what fast/cheap fashion is made out of can make you positively depressed and overwhelmed (the infamous question ‘what can I do?’) it’s easy and uplifting to discover what easy steps can be taken to start making a difference in one’s own wardrobe. I have taken the habit now, when I talk to friends and family about my conscious decision to buy only organic and fair-trade (when buying new) with a smile and a positive attitude that wearing something I know is supporting a community (rather than hindering or worse destroying) makes me feel good and proud that I am doing my bit to change things.

Most of you dear readers and fellow bloggers are… Italian! :D :D

And so I have decided to write my blog primarily in italian (e care amiche mie sentitevi libere di correggere il mio italiano un po’ arruginito) with english translation below, in essence the opposite of what I have been doing so far.

Bloggers that do this and that I like a lot are Hello it’s Valentine (french) and Saidos da Concha (portuguese).

Hello 2012, I am so happy you have arrived!

Thank you all for having come to visit this little blog of mine during 2011… grazie grazie mille dal profondo del mio cuore!

While we were at home for xmas, we had a lovely day trip to Pisa, just the two of us.

I think I must have been not older than 6 last time I went, so I was able to see the city with new eyes myself. How I loved it!

The tower of course leans… best seen when in context with other more ‘ordinary’ buildings.

It is of course beautiful… but you know, the real gem is the old town itself! Its people, its streets, its markets and buildings…

 {The chiaroscuro of the narrow streets}

And what a delightful surprise (for me) to see so many people on bikes!

{making deliveries}

{Christmas shopping}

{crossing the bridge with incredible poise}

This is my last post for 2011, what an incredible year this has been for me. And what a tumultuous year it has been for the world. I would like to wish you all – and also our little planet that needs a serious dose of affection and looking after – a positive…

Happy New Year!

Welcome 2012 :)

]]> http://wheredorootsbelong.wordpress.com/2011/12/31/pisa/feed/ 2 LC DSC_0411 DSC_0437 DSC_0426 DSC_0429 DSC_0420 DSC_0418 DSC_0402 DSC_0413 http://wheredorootsbelong.wordpress.com/2011/12/28/festive-greetings/ http://wheredorootsbelong.wordpress.com/2011/12/28/festive-greetings/#comments Wed, 28 Dec 2011 18:14:27 +0000 LC http://wheredorootsbelong.wordpress.com/?p=1121 ]]>

Back from a lovely, relaxing Christmas in Italy with the family.

The views from our home will never chase to amaze me. Hope Christmas has been good to you all!

I have added a new page: “Conscientious Shopping” as a new, mini project.

“Conscientious” to highlight the wish to ask the right questions, to ponder about what we buy when we buy it.

Following my year of buying no new clothes, I have decided to collate in this new page all places (both physical in Manchester or virtual, online) where it’s possible to find and buy either new but ethically made clothes, or second hand/vintage clothes… as well as shoes and accessories.

It’ll be an ongoing project and I will add to it as and when I come across interesting places/links. If you know and want to suggest shops, craftsmen/women do let me know, I’ll add them to the list (with thanks and giving due credit to you!).

In brackets, for each link, you will find whether they are only UK based or also ship worldwide/international.

I will also try to list, where possible, which areas are proven ethical (i.e. end-trail of manufacturing, primary materials etc). Sometimes you can find out only where the items are made by, but not so much about the primary materials (i.e. where is the cottong from, who and how was it dyed etc). Again, if I get something wrong and you have more info than me, please let me know. I will always give due credit.

I hope you will find this new page a useful starting point if you are interested in finding out more where clothes come from and how to shop more ethically…

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Ho creato una nuova pagina “Conscientious Shopping”. E` un piccolo, nuovo progetto dove cercero` di elencare posti (sia negozi veri qui a Manchester che quelli virtuali, online) dove si possano trovare e comprare vestiti ed accessori “new” che siano stai fatti in modo equo.

Insieme ad una lista di posti dell’usato e vintage. 

Mettero` tra parentesi se questi ‘posti’ siano solo UK o anche per spedizione internazionale.

Spero vi possa essere d’interesse. Se aveste informazioni e suggerimenti, fatemi sapere. Vi daro` giusto credito! 

]]> http://wheredorootsbelong.wordpress.com/2011/12/18/a-new-mini-project/feed/ 1 LC http://wheredorootsbelong.wordpress.com/2011/12/07/review-1-year-of-no-new-clothes/ http://wheredorootsbelong.wordpress.com/2011/12/07/review-1-year-of-no-new-clothes/#comments Wed, 07 Dec 2011 17:29:52 +0000 LC http://wheredorootsbelong.wordpress.com/?p=1083 ]]> November saw the completion of my 1 year no-new clothes ‘challenge’. I had a fantastic year having a go at this.

I wanted to write a mini review for my own memory and for anyone who may be interested in this.

Last year I came across the blog of Ms Wanda, who was going through her own ‘no-new clothes for a year’ and it spurred me to have a go too. Why? You ask… Well…

Over the years I have become more aware, more involved and more interested in the environment and social justice. My interest met a lot of frustration and guilt, yes guilt. I wanted to do ‘my bit’ and felt like a real hypocrite… driving a car, buying things regularly, working stupidly long hours with no time for volunteering or simply being more involved with my community.

I have also always felt guilty that I was born in a good family, in a democratic country, with a great prospect/future ahead of me. I never had/have to worry about whether I had food on my plate, a roof over my head, receive the right medical help when needed and so forth.

This recession brought it home even more, while I and the rest of the country (and western countries) moaned at job losses and pay cuts (rightly so, I don’t deny that)… people around me felt more compelled and justified at buying as much cheap stuff as possible. While we moaned about our pay cuts, even though still able to live a decent life, there seemed (still now) to be little questioning of the unfairness of other people in developing countries being abused and exploited for miserable pay, non-existent health and safety, no pension, no medical care etc… working in awful conditions to satisfy our greed for cheap stuff.

Yes, I felt like an hypocrite… realising this to be an unfair system and yet doing very little about it. Although I stopped owning a car years ago, choosing a more environmentally friendly transport as much as possible, clothes wise I was still clueless (apart from coming across fashion names such as People Tree, for example). When I ‘discovered’ (I know, wasn’t smart enough to come to it by own conclusions, what can I say) the idea of ‘no new clothes for a year’ I didn’t hesitate to give it a go!

So from Nov 2010 to Nov 2011, my only options to buy clothes would be: second hand from charity shops/vintage shops or from that famous auction site or learn to sew my own.

What did I find a year on? That I loved browsing in charity shops, finding hidden gems, but more importantly with time I realised how very little ‘new’ (both new-new and/or new-second-hand) stuff is needed to live a good life and rediscovered the things that leave you feeling good for much longer than a day or two (as high street purchases would have done in the past).

Having left my job, gone freelance and embarked on a MSc full time, I didn’t have the disposable income I had before, but (please excuse me profoundly if this sounds cheesy, but I promise you it’s the truth) learning (instead of being ‘forced to’) to buy less has improved my quality of life no end.

I also learnt not to be scared of sewing patterns and so sewn my first top! I have altered few things and actually made use of all the clothes I have in my wardrobe already. Gone are the days of “I’ll save that dress/skirt/top for a special day”, we need to live more carpediem I think, every day should be and could be special.

My first sewn top

My deconstructed dress mini-project

My mum's shirt from the 80s, my aunties' belt from the '70s

The more I try to learn, ask myself hard questions, look for answers, the more I realise how difficult it is to really live an ethical life. You take, what you think is, an ethical step forward and you automatically take two steps backwards because you have uncovered something else that you oversaw or were ignorant about. I don’t deny that often I felt “what’s the point” because finding clothes and shoes, especially, that you can truly believe are ethically made is so damn hard! Why I say this? Because as I now read Lucy Siegle’s brilliantly written and researched “To Die For: Is Fashion Wearing Out the World?” I realise the plethora of so-thought ‘ethical trading’ which isn’t, because the audits are not carried out in the manner as they should have, because there are, often, so many ‘middle-men’ that trail of ethic manufacturing is lost and so on! Btw I cannot recommend this book enough!

But this year has taught me that it’s worth the extra work, less stuff makes you feel lighter! I am not just stating the obvious, honestly. Mentally you feel less heavy, less squashed by what you must wear, what lifestyle you must seem to have. Having less allows the real you to shine through.

I have kept a loose track of my second hand buys and in 12 months I spent approximately £50. But best of all I rediscovered the joy to mix and match and use creativity in creating new outfits with the things I already owned.

New outfit from existing wardrobe (jacket since 1996!)

I did fail miserably though under the shoes department. My attempts at buying second hand went pretty badly, shoes too large, too wide, oddly shaped by previous owners etc.

I got two new pair shoes, both as birthday presents. One pair of clogs from husband&wife Lotta From Stockholm which I came across thanks to Seeds and Stitches, and a pair of T-bar from Next. I thought that Next was one of the few high street shop you could ‘trust’ as part of ETI, but reading Siegle’s book now I am not so sure (Primark is part of ETI!), so until I can get some answers I will stay clear of that.

I have certainly changed my shopping habits, I learnt a lot! I learnt to appreciate buying very little,  of proven origin and of high quality so to last many many years. I thought to create a page sharing my findings of shops (online or actual) either second hand/vintage or where new clothes can be found that have been not made by exploiting others.

If you fancy the idea of giving the ‘no new clothes for a year’ a go, I’d highly recommend it!

If you have any question that I can help answer, please let me know. As I said this is my personal experience. I didn’t have a lot of spare cash anyway so going out and buying an expensive pair of shoes or dress or coat was not an option, but in the past year I truly realised and learnt that those things are really superfluous. I feel a lot happier by owning less, I have given more stuff away this year than ever before (when I used to have a decent amount of spare income).

We thoroughly enjoyed it. A city famous, unfortunately, for the troubles that has afflicted it for over 30 years; it remains a fascinating city, full of pride and energy. Not only that but a city determined to make a name for itself based on its great people, amazing architecture and rich history.

The famous, now international landmarks, Harland & Wollf cranes known as Samson and Goliath, mark the docks and the city’s former glory of ships master builders (think of Titanic).

The many, delightful, pedestrian streets in the city centre.

I geekly love the Transport House building and his mosaic mural.

St. Georges’ Market, full of life, food, people and local crafts.

Panoramic views over the city.

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Siamo stati a Belfast, una citta` affascinante, calda (umanamente) ed accogliente. Famosa sfortunatamente per le violenze sofferte oltre trentanni tra protestanti e cattoloci, la citta` e` ricca in storia ed orgoglio. 

Piena di energia, gli ultimi 10 anni l’anno vista rinascere, ma i problemi continuano ad esistere. Fortunatamente invece Belfast e` anche famosa per il grande passato della costruzione di grandi navi, il Titanic fu costruito qui nel porto dalla famosa ditta Harland and Wollf.

Una citta` davvero da visitare.

I have never liked conforming to the norm. The wedding preparations are coming along well, but are not as un-traditional as I would have liked them (my fault I know, but it’s not just about me)… but I think it’s going to be very ‘us’.

Something I did make my own though, was the engagement ring. My Mr so kindly asked me to become his wifey without the ring as he wanted us both to choose it together. We looked in so many shops and we found nothing that we both liked.

There’s also another matter, I have been researching and trying to learn more about how diamonds are sourced. I am always surprised at how far my ignorance stretches, the more I learn the more I realise how little I know!

You would be shocked if you read at what awful conditions workers are subjected to for the extraction of diamonds. You can visit the Wiki page for general information, but if you are interested I encourage you to do some further research of your own, do ask yourselves some questions.

So between not wanting to risk getting a blood diamond and not liking any of the rings we saw, I remembered about a pair of earrings that my late uncle and his family gave me as a graduation present, that I have hardly ever worn. I lost my uncle 4 years ago and he is dearly missed. I thought how best to remember him everyday than dusting off the previous stones and have them reset on a ring.

I sketched a design on the back of a napkin (true to stereotype I know!) and we went to the lovely jeweller designer at the Craft and Design Centre that made my first silver band that Mr gave me for our 3 years anniversary. It’s simple white gold and she used a japanese technique to give that matt and mottled effect.

I have a confession to make… although I got myself a bit clued up on blood diamonds, I bypassed (genuine ignorance again, not on purpose) the issue of fair traded gold! Argh! My plan is that for the wedding band, I will ask her to source fair traded gold. I will let you know the difference in price, if any.

But, with regard to the engagement ring I am over the moon with it, Mr loves it too which fills me with joy. Also, corny may be, I like the idea that the two stones represent me and him… a bit less selfish than the singular, lonely gem… don’t you think?

Talking about me and him, I always thought unfair that boys gets nothing to celebrate the engagement. When I saw this cute wooden-cube-turn-robot I couldn’t resist. It may be only a little something but now everytime we look at it, we know it has a very special meaning!

[ btw another idea we had was to look for a vintage engagement ring!]

I am sharing this here, because it’s all a learning curve for me. But while in the past I would have ignored things I didn’t know and looked the other way, now I try hard to ask myself questions and try to learn and make educated choices. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a minefield out there, when you take a step that you think it’s ‘greener’ or more ethical you probably make another mistake (see my faux pa regarding how gold is sourced!), but you can’t be faulted for trying and learning from your mistakes.

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Il mio anello di fidanzamento e` nato da un’idea disegnata su un tovagliolino e la voglia di ricordare mio zio riusando le pietre di un paio d’orecchini ricevuti come regalo di laurea.

I matrimoni, in generale, possono diventare una brutta bestia… costi esorbitanti, voli a destra e manca, e cosi` si puo` rompere facilmente tutti i buoni propositi di fare scelte etiche.

Piu` mi faccio domande, piu` imparo e piu` mi rendo conto di quanto ignorante sia (ignorante nel senso di ‘mancanza di conoscenza’, non come insulto!). L’idea dell’anello e` nata sopratutto dal non voler rischiare di comprare un diamante di conflitto… ma, cercando di fare la cosa giusta da una parte, ho bypassato (non con cattiveria) il problema dell’oro (!) e cosi` per fare ammenda per l’anello matrimoniale chiedero` sicuramente oro certificato (e non credete, ma anche i lavoratori dell’argento soffrono situazioni disumane, per fortuna si puo` trovare e comprare argento equo e solidale).

Il risultato dell’anello di fidanzamento ci e` piaciuto tantissimo in piu` rappresenta me e lui (non solo me) ed e` diventato un pezzo unico che un giorno spero di passare ai miei figli. Ma non volevo che la ‘proposal’ fosse concentrata solo su me stessa, cosi` quando il mio Mr mi ha chiesto la fatidica domanda mi sono ripromessa di  fare un regalo anche a lui per celebrare questo momento cosi` importante (i maschi non ricevono mai nulla!)… e giocoso com’e` lui, non potevo resistere questo robottino di legno, che magicamente appare da una forma cubo. Sara` una cosa semplice e chi viene a casa quando lo vede si chiede perche` ci sia un gioco di legno sulla libreria, ma non sanno quanto significato abbia!