Where do your clothes come from? Who makes them?

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Submitted by Lynn on Sat, 07/08/2006 - 10:38am.

I've been thinking about this lately as I've gotten the sewing bug again. (Haven't actually sewn anything yet, but give me time to get my sewing room reorganized.) Who sewed this t-shirt I'm wearing? Was she paid a decent wage? Was she essentially held as slave labor in a sweatshop? I hope not. Whipup.net points to Therese Agnew's quilt made entirely of clothing labels and gives five ways this quilt can change your life:

1. You will be reminded that you don’t need money or power to effect change, only creativity and an idea.

2. You will never look at the label in a garment the same way again.

3. You will, even just for a moment, think about sweatshop labor.

4. You will want to show it to other people because of its beautiful workmanship and elegant execution.

5. You will be a little more creative having absorbed a bit of her unforgettable art.

It makes me want to take a little more responsibility for my clothing, and for me that means making it.

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knittingwoman's picture

i don't sew so making my

Submitted by knittingwoman on Sat, 07/08/2006 - 6:17pm.

i don't sew so making my clothes isn't an option and i don't have the time and energy to learn at the moment with 4 kids still at home and one who is special needs. Fabric has a lot of the same issues as clothes too. Buying second hand means that you avoid contributing to the slave industry behind the garment industry and also decreases your ecological footprint. It is too bad that clothes made in better conditions and from organic material is often priced right out of the affordable range. There are some neat books out there now too about how to remake second hand clothes into funky new clothes. It is important to be an informed consumer is all areas of ones life.

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Lynn's picture

Making means lots of things

Submitted by Lynn on Sat, 07/08/2006 - 9:48pm.

Remaking old clothes is definitely part of that. I have a stash of fabric that dates back 30 years, so who *knows* where it came from. You can also get great vintage fabric if you dig around.

Lynn Siprelle, Editor

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knittingwoman's picture

i am currently amassing an

Submitted by knittingwoman on Sun, 07/09/2006 - 6:20am.

i am currently amassing an ever growing fabric stash of sheets and towels and some kids clothing that is worn out for its original purpose but still has lots of fabric to offer:) I just can't bear to throw out what could be used for dolls clothes or handkerchieves if nothing else.

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Zillah's picture

Ethical cloth

Submitted by Zillah on Mon, 07/10/2006 - 4:38am.

You can get fair trade cloth and textiles on the internet, of course it's not the budget option.

When buying clothes a good test is to see where it's been made. Most UK clothes labels say where it's been manufactured. You can get some things that are made in Europe (Benetton for example) so you know that workers will have had reasonable working conditions.

Again, this is not a budget option, but it's something to think about.

Zillah

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