Taking the Seamless Pledge

This morning, Tabatha sent me a text suggesting we both take the Seamless Pledge. I hadn’t managed to read Zoe’s post on the pledge yet but when I did it seemed really obvious that it was not only something I should do but  that I have practically been doing already. Since learning to sew, and growing in efficiency, skill (and speed, thankfully) I find that I no longer even want to buy clothes. My pattern drafting course finally killed the inclination off completely – if I find a piece I like I remember what I liked about it and will adapt that into my own patterns. More often than not, I won’t end up making it (which saves me a lot of money in the long run) but when I do I find it fits better, it lasts longer and it’s better finished than the shop-bought equivalent.

The Seamless Pledge – as a quick summary – is a promise to not buy any mass produced clothing for a specified amount of time. I’m not going to go into it in too much detail because if you haven’t heard of it and are interested in learning more it is better to hear it from the horse’s mouth and visit Elena’s post over on Seamless. I recommend watching her video too. You can also learn more from Zoe’s post. There’s no point in me rehashing here what they have both said so well!
Anyway, Tabatha and I both realised that we couldn’t really remember the last time we had bought clothes (except for jersey tops and cardigans. And except for my purchase of the Bettie Page Alika dress whilst drunk in Las Vegas…) and realised that those clothes we had bought we could quite easily make ourselves.With that in mind,

I, JuliaDBennett, take the Seamless pledge until 30th April 2012. I will abstain from buying any new clothes until the end of my pledge, with the exception of underwear, tights and socks. I will try to use only the fabric in my stash to make any clothes I want or need [Disclaimer: Tabatha and I are off to the Sewing for Pleasure show in March and I have already started saving. I cannot say I will not buy fabric…] I will use only patterns that are already in my stash, that I have borrowed or made myself. I will trawl through charity shops, I will look for second-hand items on eBay and I will craft my own clothes with my own two hands.

And Tabatha is taking the pledge too!

I, Tabatha Tweedie, take the Seamless pledge until 30th April 2012. I will abstain from buying any new clothes until the end of my pledge, with the exception of underwear and hosiery. I really, really can’t pledge not to buy new fabric, as my stash is quite small,  but I will attempt to use up everything I already have in my stash, and I will use only patterns that I already own, that I have borrowed, that are free or that I made myself (although I reserve the right to potentially buy new patterns on the day I go to the Sewing For Pleasure show in March).  I will trawl through charity shops, I will look for second-hand items on eBay if necessary and I will craft my clothes with my own two hands.

We hope that you will join in if you can. We’ve already joined the Seamless Pledge Facebook page and the Flickr group. Please join us and keep us updated on your progress!