The Ethical Christmas Jumper

It's that time of year again - the festive season is well and truly upon us and the shops have gone predictably crazy! A quick jaunt through town this week saw shops full to the rafters with Christmas decorations, Christmas cards, Christmas food and of course, the fast fashion favourite: the Christmas jumper.

An item that has done a complete 180 from "wouldn't be caught dead in one" to  "must have must have must have!". It's easy to see why the big fashion retailers have jumped on the trend, and while they're offering affordable fashion it's worth remembering that it's also possible to get an ethically sourced Christmas jumper too! :) 

Save the Children have teamed up with Wool & The Gang and 12 amazing designers to create "Christmas Jumper Day" on the 13th of December 2013. Each designer has put their own stamp on a Wool & The Gang handmade jumper, and you can bid on your favourite :) The lowest unique bid wins so take a look and pick your favourites (we really like the Paul Smith one)! The auction closes on the 29th December so be quick :)

In the spirit of Christmas Jumper Day we thought we'd do a roundup of our favourite ethical Christmas jumpers available online this year.

First up we love this super cute skier jumper (£98) - an investment piece made from a soft blend of wool and man-made fibres by ethical fashion retailer Lowie.

Did you know you can now buy clothes from Oxfam online as well as in their charity shops? This festive jumper (£50) is a little more subtle - don't the beads look a little like snowflakes? Oxfam are always updating their stock so it's worth keeping an eye on it :) (they also have a ton of party dresses in stock too if you still need one for your Christmas do!)

This Not For Ponies Christmas jumper (£35) from Not on the High Street combines two of the biggest trends from the last couple of years - Christmas jumpers and moustaches! Good work, guys. They also have a great range of kids and men's Christmas jumpers and all of their stock is handmade in their studio in Manchester. Great stuff!

Of course you can always go for a vintage jumper (try eBay, ASOS Marketplace or our very own Hubbard's Cupboard for some real gems). We especially love this uber tacky 1990s Christmas sweatshirt (£18).

Last but not least, if you're in more of a crafty mood (especially if you have some old jumpers lying around already) Oxfam have posted a fantastic Create your own Christmas jumper tutorial! Christmas Jumper Craft Party, anyone? (If you decide to hold one of these please invite the Ears & Whiskers team!)

We hope we've inspired you with your Christmas shopping selection - remember, a Christmas jumper is for life, not just for Christmas ;)

Love

Sarah 

A Round Up of Ethical Fashion Blogs

Hola Ears & Whiskers readers! :) It's Sarah here, the newest member to the E&W blog. For my first post I thought I'd start simple and do a round up of the sewing and ethical fashion blogs that I like to read - after all, everyone loves to find new blogs to read, right? :)

First up: Ms Wanda's Wardrobe. Billed as 'the home of sustainable and ethical fashion', Ms Wanda's Wardrobe also has a directory of ethical brands and blogs, which is really helpful when trying to find ethical brands to shop from :)

Second we have What Katie Sews. Katie originally blogged her sewing explorations on her main blog, What Katie Does but started to enjoy it so much (sew much? Ha) that she started a new blog just for her projects. Her progress is amazing - it's so fun to see what she's going to tackle next :)

Next up is Style Is... (who also wrote a post on ethical fashion inspiration, I'll be checking out those other links pronto!). This blog is super varied and always has something interesting to read on it :)

Emma writes Adore, reflect, sustain. She actually ran some ethical fashion workshops this year, which is pretty cool. Emma doesn't just write about ethical fashion, she covered the whole spectrum of ethical living. She has an ethical brand directory as well - useful!

Jana writes Clothes, Camera & Coffee - a fashion blog mostly focused on second hand and vintage clothing - my kind of blog! :)

E&W is based in Cardiff (you can pop it and see Sophie at Hubbard's Cupboard in the Castle Arcade if you're ever in town, just don't blame me if you end up buying something, the shop is full of irresistible bargains!) and so is our next blogger, Elena from Seamless. Not just a seamstress, Elena has gone one step further and pledged not to buy any new clothes this year - eek!

& finally we can't really mention ethical clothing without talking about Who Made Your Pants - an ethical duo making the world better, one ethical pair of pants at  a time. While they don't have a blog (yet! Fancy starting one, girls?) they do have a Twitter account so follow them there if you fancy :)

I'm always keen to follow new blogs (especially fashion blogs!) so if you have any favourites then pop them in the comments and I'll take a look! :) Who have I missed?

Love

Sarah x

Oxfam. Being humankind for 70 years.

As ethical fashion supporters we love all sorts of charity shops. They are the ideal businesses because everyone ends up winning - clients get great deals, and great causes get support. Brilliant!

One of these organizations, and perhaps the one that has done most to elevate the status of second hand fashion, is Oxfam. They've been organizing relief campaigns to fight poverty and famine since the early forties and this year they are celebrating their 70th anniversary.

Here at Cardiff they stand proudly inside the beautiful Morgan Arcade. As you step into the shop there is no clutter or randomness. They manage to get different styles, colours and decades to work together perfectly and now they even have a full rail dedicated to vintage fashion!

Over the course of seven decades they have succeeded in changing mentalities. From the: "erghh, is that from a charity shop?" to "is that Annie Lennox in the Oxfam shop?" they taught us all how to re-value things and how to transform something old into something else.

Photo via: cardiffashion.com

So here is my invitation to you all: why not stop by your nearest Oxfam shop and try to reproduce one of these "fashion under a fiver" looks? And whatever you end up spending, at least you'll be happy to know that every penny will be put to good use!

Let us know what you come up with!!

The Wardrobe Challenge.

I bought my wardrobe from a second hand shop a few months back and painted it up to look pretty. It's a super cute, 1940's "gentlemen's" wardrobe, which essentially means - it doesn't fit all my clothes.

As quirky and interesting my wardrobe looks on the outside, I have to say I don't feel like my clothing reflects this quite as much as I'd like it to, but I'm sure every girl feels like that. Right?

I like to pick pieces at random. I have no thought as to what it should go with and unfortunately there are no 'wardrobe essentials' as Gok drums into all his viewers. So as I stand every morning looking at my wardrobe thinking "I have absolutely NOTHING to wear" I usually end up wearing the same things over and over.

So, I've set a challenge to myself...

(In true Ted Mosby style "if you haven't used it in a year")

Each item in my wardrobe is going to be worn, from one end to the other over the next few weeks - or months (I may well be underestimating the amount of clothing I have). Anything I feel like I don't want to wear is being revamped into something I do want to wear or going to charity! 

It's a hard thing for me. I have so many sentimental items of clothing that never get worn but just sit when they could be of so much more use to someone else. I built E&W on the ethos of reviving clothing, something I should adopt in my own wardrobe and I feel now is the time!

Ill be posting every few days my collection of outfits and challenge you lovely followers to do the same! 

Its Summer clean out time

♥

xoxo

DIY Tie Dye

So if you didn’t know we have the most fantastic range of tie dyed tee’s now in store at HC. All of our tee’s have been hand dyed with procion MX dyes, so not only does the color last longer and is more vibrant but each one is unique!

As we know girlies, sometimes the men’s tee isn’t the most flattering for our shape so if you’re really loving the tie dye and want that special hand done piece but struggling with the fit, here’s our tutorial on getting the best cut out of the tee! It’s simple to do and completely changes the look!

1. Take your tee, fold it in half and cut the neck line and bottom if you want to crop it too! Don’t go overboard with the neckline – we suggest cutting a maximum of 3 inches from the original neck!

2. Once you’ve snipped it, give the edges a gentle tug to help the material roll back on itself and make your rolled hem.

3. Then fold back the sleeves a few times and rock it over your new denims or skinny skirt!

For something a little different why not try cutting upward slits into the bottom to create a fringe edge instead of completely chopping off or maybe cut the tee lower in the back? 

♥

xoxo

Sewing bee

Finally, national television has recorded and broadcasted the undeniable proof that sewing doesn't just belong to old ladies with ten cats. Yes, I'm talking about the Great British Sewing Bee. The second episode is on BBC2 tomorrow night, and I couldn't be more excited!

I loved everything about the program. From the location, set in the old textiles district of London, to the contestants, which include old and young, men and women, working mums and truck drivers, it's great! Surrounded by sewing machines, fabrics, lines and needles, the contestants stitch their way through all sorts of challenges, knowing that at the end there can be only one winner [insert the highlander soundtrack here!].

But my favourite thing about the GBSB was the fact that they featured an upcycling challenge in their first programme! Seeing people on national television working on the neckline of an old t-shirt, and transforming something dull into something full of zest and personality, planted a big smile on my face. It really made me proud about all my upcycled creations and inspired me to do even more.

So, now it is my turn to inspire all you sewing bees out there. Grab an old t-shirt, search "t-shirt upcyling" on pinterest and go completely bonkers!

If it goes wrong, well at least you won't have much to loose... just an old t-shirt! :)

Image credits: Pinterest board by Stephanie Quintal

New blog, same philosophy.

After a short period away from the blogosphere, the E&W blog has come back stronger than ever! We have a lot of stories and tips to share, and we are very determined to continue our quest to promote ethical fashion!
Those that have been following E&W already know that our creativity is fuelled by unwanted materials. We love to work with old fabrics and vintage garments in need of a makeover, and it is truly inspiring to find that more and more people are beginning to share this passion!
Ethical fashion is no longer a trend followed by few. Big institutions like The Victoria and Albert Museum have already opened their online doors to this debate, and are helping to promote amazing projects: the Wardrobe Refashion is one of them.

The project, created by Nichola Prested, was designed to lead people to commit to 2, 4 or 6 months of high-street shopping abstinence! Instead of buying new, people were encouraged to make their own, buy second hand or buy handmade.

Sadly the Wardrobe Refashion is no longer active, but the idea lives on and it's still very inspiring!

A throwback to the beginning…

After a wonderful, inspirational chat with Catarina of Mrs.Crafting today, it’s a little post about our original inspiration point for E&W!

Having just started researching and guest posting for Something Kinda Cute’s new wedding blog (here) I loved the idea of Catarina giving us a helping hand with ours too! Seeing as I constantly complain about the lack of time and inspiration!

After our little chat about what we’d like the blog to revolve around - ethical fashion seemed to be the biggest presence. After all, that is what we’re all about! It got us thinking about a recent project that was done to discover people’s emotional attachments to their garments. Don’t pretend like you don’t have one - whether it’s a lucky pair of socks or your mum’s cardy, we’ve all got a special item of clothing that we just can’t seem to shake off.

The great thing about making clothes from old items (be it curtains or garments) is that they all come with a story…

When we first started E&W, piecing together bits and bobs to create our dresses we gave them their own identities. It started as a bit of a fun, but as it turned out people really loved reading about where their dresses story!

So, a throwback to the old it is! We’re heading back to our roots, letting you all know the stories behind your dresses, where they’ve come from so that hopefully you can add to it!

We’d love to hear about all your stories and attachments to your clothes!

These lovely girls were at Hubbard’s Cupboard today, handing out leaflets and sweeties to everyone - dressed in the very best of E&W handmade!

Buttons & Buckles

We’ve been having a sort of our beautiful buttons and have mounted each couple onto very suiting cards! Busy sewing them all on watching Mo Farah do the Mobot and Jess Ennis storm the heptathlon! What a great day for GB! 3rd on the medal board!!

Re-use

We have a strong brand ethos at E&W and we hate to throw anything out.

Check out our super cute display frame, filled with empty cotton reels and vintage fabric, stashed into an old box frame. Perfect display! 

We will always find use for anything, from fabric scraps to odd buttons and most recently our empty cotton reels. 

    

On sale now via our facebook store here!

♥

Lace & Collars

Aloha,

We took a trip to the lovely town of Frome today to visit the first Vintage Rag Market in the Cheese and Grain hall and it was fantastic! We picked up some wonderful bits and bobs to get making and its really inspired us to crack on with it!

In particular, we spent double our budget on scraps of vintage lace (yes double) and I could have spent 10x that quite easily! With only around 15 stalls it still took us a little over 3 hours to rummage through the piles of goodies people had to offer at their discounted prices.

I spoke a while ago about our eventual attempt to get round to a bit of Miu Miu D.I.Y, and today having found a nice little lot of vintage lace and silk collars - we’re finally on that train of thought!

Here’s a few that I’ve managed to get all sewn up since we arrived home…

Lots more to come, embellished with vintage appliques, motifs and buttons - soon to be pearls, jewellery bits and bobs, fabrics, trims and peter pan collars!

Fantastic.

We’re on the case of button cards, up-cycled shorts, make your own skirt packs and loads more to be introduced to the new shop opening next month (hopefully)!

Its all go

As always

♥

Another round of dip dye?

We ♥ denim shorts!

Display ‘Case’

I just couldn't resist these!! They’re from a beautiful new(ish) shop in Cowbridge, very reasonable! And perfect for a new display…

Its been a busy few weeks with us at E&W, as always, but these weeks especially! With the upcoming jubilee weekend we’ve been all out union jacking and 50’s making. 

We have a lot of updates, and a website in progress that we promise we will let you all know as soon as its set in stone! Everything feels like its up in the air at the moment, and we cant wait to get back down to earth.

I'll keep you posted on the way down!

E&W

Jubilympics

As much as I am not a fan of either, I do love a good old Union jack print and as we all know with the Jubilee and Olympics fast approaching, its a major must have this year on ANYTHING! So… I made a dress.

It’s a very ‘unique’ dress, in style and fabrics, only half re-cycled and it’s a work in progress (as per usual) but it will all be finished (and revealed) at the Diamond Jubilee Festival this Monday in Powis Castle - its definitely one to attend if you love your vintage! We’re hoping to get ourselves a generator to power the sewing machine so you can get your shorts ‘Union Jacked’ while you wait!

We are also offering it in store, and at our second Jubilee event in Cowbridge on the 5th June. Join in and get upcycling!

Its a Jubilympic Jubilation, celebrating all that is British!

Pins and Needles

Don’t you just love a good productive week?!

We’ve pulled together our shorts collection for in store tomorrow! We’re also half way through the online shop… its going to look amazing!

Not only have we done all of this, there’s also 3 more dresses from the famous 50’s collection completed and ready for sale from tomorrow - the rest just need zips!

This is my favourite one - the candy stripe! Its had to have a wash thanks to a very unhelpful mutt…

We’ve got some more ideas to make some completely unique amazing shorts - all will be revealed soon! We can also up-cycle yours, bring them to us in store and get a new makeover for Summer!!

So here’s to another good week, lots to see and do tomorrow with the Book Festival in Cowbridge - we will be in the shop so come say hi!

E&W 

♥

Hello Summer!

The new shorts collection for E&W summer!In store from tomorrow, limited stock available online soon! 

Project Jubilee…

The time is now! We’re currently under a little move about of the workshop due to my sister moving home and reclaiming her room for a month - so there's no better time to sort out the projects for the next few weeks!

I want to create the 3 main looks of the 50's to showcase at the Jubilee festival and to me that means the dress, the coat and the suit, all with a cute 50's eco look.

The box coat. The Chanel suit. The classic full skirted dress.

These 3 pieces, for me, exude the 1950’s look and although there are a lot more dresses that have the classic 1950’s look, I wanted to choose something a little different that I can experiment with…

Then to go with all of this we’re expanding the Famous 50’s collection - a whole load of circle skirts, little tops and cutsie dresses. All eco, all vintage, all amazing! And these are the fabrics…

And for once Ill show it as I’m going along - from start to finish.. (promise)

I’m also (finally) in the middle of uploading all our wedding dress stock to our web page! So if you want to see our amazing wedding dress collection from 1940’s to 1960’s, handmade and up-cycled gowns check out the website here

So much to do! With some time to settle in and do it! Bring on the week ahead.

The Famous 50’s collection!

Models (left to right) Alayna and Marla

Alayna wears 1920’s cotton embroidered blouse (£35) and vintage Dior skirt (£60)

Marla wears handmade, recycled bodice top (£40) and matching upcycled skirt (£30)