Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

So a strange thing has happened to me lately — I've basically lost all interest in buying new clothes.

I still like acquiring clothes as much as ever, maybe more, and honesty, my wardrobe could probably use a little uplift, especially by this point of the winter. But getting new clothes, as in going to the mall or even a boutique shop — it's just not happening.

Instead, I've been getting my clothes off of Facebook Buy/Sell/Trade boards, or clothing exchanges. Gosh, I love me a clothing exchange. Put me in a room with a bunch of awesome women and a whole bunch of clothes, and I am in heaven. Seriously, one of my favorite things ever.

I've got a lot of work to do on the clothes I have; I used to be really good on keeping them up and mending them well, and I've slipped on that recently (maybe I need  little mending night in front of the Olympics or something). I'm especially interested in doing some up-cycling of clothes I have. I think that would be a really fun mix of practicality and creativity.

To that end, tonight Patrick and I had a mini-date night at a class called "Love Your Clothes Workshop (with Wine!)" hosted by Eureka Recycling at Birchwood Cafe. It was a great idea for an event — drinks, some snacks, and great advice about taking care of your clothes. Mobile Menders was there, with some great advice and also able to just do some repairs; Patrick got his jeans pocket fixed and I got a shirt taken in, plus some advice on leggings.

Maybe the best part of the night was Patric Richardson, owner of Mona Williams. His laundry advice, from ironing tips to aluminum foil balls in the dryer to reduce static and remove pet hair, was nothing short of brilliant.

I'm feeling textile-inspired....





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