Sew for a change - October Results

All right, I failed. That sucks, since I really didn't see it coming. I thought I had this one safe since I already manage everything on the list.

What pushed me over was toothpaste. I use a good one normally, buy a little while ago I was going away on a sort of sewing camp/LAN for a long weekend (and that was awesome by the way!!!) and realised half way there that I forgot to pack both toothbrush and toothpaste! And that the only store between myself and the destination was a petrol station - oh, the horror. I had to buy a terrible super rough plastic beast (yes they only had one) and some equally awful paste to go with it.

The better side of the month was that I have only purchased second hand fabric and therefore spent zero points. Amen.

New challenge will be presented shortly - sorry about the delay!

/Alexandra

Completed: Burda Style shirt

A while ago I completed a shirt project in this lovely sheer green fabric that I bought on a trip to Berlin earlier this summer. Since the fabric is very see through I had to finish it with french seams. French seams look awesome, but are very time consuming since every seam takes 4 times longer than just running over it with a serger. I think it was worth it though.

It was almost a month ago that I finished this shirt and it is already by far my favourite garment in my entire closet, partially due to the AWESOME color, but also because the fit turned out exactly the way I wanted it. A bonus was that I, for once, managed to make something that was also somewhat trendy. Many of my colleagues wear very similar shirts (although not home made, obviously). If I could, I would wear this shirt every day.

Here is the picture parade! It turned out to be hard to capture right. It looks a lot shinier in the pictures than it really is, but anyways...

French seams even on the set in sleeves!

Loooove the french seams - so neat!

Star Challeng #9 - The HYGIENE month!

Isn't it funny how we try to eat organic food, lower our carbon footprint in all kinds of ways and be good people in general - but we don't hesitate for a second to smear poisonous goo all over our bodies many times a day, and then at the end of the day, shower it all (well, what is not absorbed by our bodies) right out in the ocean. Not so clever, is it?!

This month may scare you, because there is a long list of things to deal with. Do your best, anything is better than nothing!

This month's challenge is to make hygiene a friendlier task to both nature and ourselves.

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Complete the following:

1. Toothpaste: Select one that do not contain triclosan or parabenes. Also, if you need to replace toothbrushes, choose wooden ones if you can.

2. Schampoo and Conditioner: select brands that does not contain parabenes, silicones or PEGs. Or if you dare - go 'no poo'!! (That's what I do!!)

3. Skin care: select products free from mineral oils and PEGs. For many people a regular vegetable oil is doing the job beautifully.

4. Anti Lice: Fall often means lice if you are a family with kids in the primary school age. Drench the hair in olive oil and put on a shower cap for a few hours and they will choke to death.

5. Make-up: Try to limit your use of make-up and only buy replacements when you run out (don't buy new products). Select organic where you can. Use vegetable oil on a cotton pad for make-up removal.

6. Soap: Choose hard soap instead of liquid soap. Aleppo or African Black Soap are both fantastic, non-drying soaps that can be used for the entire body including hair and face. They can also be used for shaving (for men also).

7. Try to avoid nail varnish completely this month.

8. Try to avoid perfume completely, this month (perfume very often equals ftalates).

9. Kids: Try to avoid using "products" on kids altogether. They are more sensitive to chemicals than we are.

10. Deodorant: choose versions without Aluminum and Alcohol.

11. Feminine products: choose reusable cloth pads instead of disposables or choose a menstrual cup instead of tampons, if you can.

If you manage this, you'll receive a star and 10 points.

Good luck!

Note! If you are a newcomer who wishes to jump on board the Sew for a change challenge, then you'll start with 33 points instead of 75. Check out all the rules here. Welcome!!

Sew for a Change - September Results

This month's challenge was to raise awareness to what we surround ourselves with in our homes and try to change as much as possible for the better.

In this area it was tricky since we had already come a very long way here. There is virtually no bad stuff left (patting myself on the back) but I still went for a big detective hunt and the only thing I needed to change was the cling film department. I recently blogged about making my own Bee's Wraps and now, a couple of days later, I am even more in love with them. They ROCK!! I think I have earned the 10 points despite not having changed a lot. Why should I be punished for already being good, right?

The spending was not too bad either. I love striped simple tops and the ones I have are pretty much worn out so I decided to treat myself to 2 yards of striped fabric for new tops. The only bad thing was that I didn't find anything organic. But still, this was the first month in a long time where I actually come out on the plus - yay!!!

Now - only 2 more star challenges left of this whole year!! Hang in there, people, we are almost there!

The coolest thing EVER - Bee's Wraps!!!

As this month's challenge is about detoxing my home, and I have done almost all I can think of before - I have been searching long and hard to improve the situation even further. One thing I couldn't get my head around was how to get rid of cling film. Although I try to use glass containers for most things, sometimes the convenience of that plastic is just too great.

But, stubborn to find a solution for this, I have indeed been googling my behind off and I came across the absolutely GENIUS Bee's Wraps!! They are simply cotton sheets covered with bee's wax and jojoba oil and the heat from your hands will allow them to form around any item you wish to wrap. And present a perfect food preserving environment! And are reusable again and again and again!

The not so genius thing was the price. Dead expensive if you ask me. There must be a way of making them myself! Again, google was my friend and I found other people that had already come to the same conclusion and found away of making their own!

So, to the works!!!

1) I cut some leftover cotton sheets that had been washed many times. I did a range of sizes since I want to have options :)

2) I put organic bee's wax granulate (that I happened to have around from making facial creams) on top of it and then shoved it in the oven on low temperature until it melted and the cotton had soaked up all the wax.

Out and let dry - it literally takes less than a minute - and they are ready to use. And they cost me close to nothing. THAT, I say, is genius!!!

I just love when things are both clever AND pretty. That brings me sick amount of satisfaction.