I have an old grey cardigan.
The sleeves are too short.
A button is missing.
It makes me look fat.
I haven’t worn it in years.
I have a new grey cardigan.
It comes with knitted woollen hand warmers.
Has an avocado seed button.
A cool batch on the back.
And I love wearing it.
Upcycled fashion hacks
The attached handwarmers
This is how much longer the sleeves are now
Here you can see where and how I attached it. After a while I decided the change the pattern. I didn’t restart as this part isn’t visible anyway.
This is how it looks when worn.
I used sock wool to make them nice and warm. 75% of sheep wool they are a little bit scratchy, which doesn’t bother me, but some people might consider other wool choices instead.
Also, with the rest of the wool, I did knit almost 1 pair of socks size 43. One sock now has a blue tip.
The missing button
This is a picture of the cardigan in the middle of the upcycling process.
The button has two different coloured sides and is pretty big. I had made some buttons when I started experimenting with avocado seeds, and before I started making avocado seed jewellery. This is the first time I found a good use for it. I am not sure how it’ll like the washing machine. We’ll see.
The batch
I recently ordered a fair amount of batches and buttons from Black Mosquito. I think it’s important to openly show that I am against racism, against fascism, against sexism, against homophobia and so on.
I might be naive but I am still against violence too. So I very consciously only picked images that did not promote violence. However, we can not tolerate intoerance and must stand up against it.
Being myself suits me best.
Well, that one I didn’t fix with needle and thread.
That one I fixed in my heart and my mind. It took me a very long time, and I still struggle.
I am myself, and I am ok with that.
I very rarely think about whether or not I am seen as attractive, and when I do only the opinion of one person is relevant.
Funny enough when I thought I should look pretty and tried on a different occasion, either the kids or that person or both looked irritated and said I look “strange” – like I am not myself.
Very true and very encouraging
Being myself suits me best.
I sometimes think about how I am dressed because in some places I want to be seen as fitting it, I admit that.
I do not owe anyone a certain look or attractiveness.
I do owe the people around me to be well-groomed: that I wash my hands regularly, keep a distance, wear a mask and such.
I think fashion developed a lot for people to show that they are rich.
And the ways to do so are still closely attached to create huge amounts of waste.
So I am looking forward to a new way of “judgement”.
I realize that I might be part of a special sort of privileged style. Because I am not throwing stuff away. I rarely buy anything. I fix stuff by hand. I work from home four days a week. I live in a rich country, and I have the enormous luxury of time to sit down and knit sleeves into an old cardigan.
Yeah, so this cardigan is a form of privilege too, and it’s also a step on my path of realizing that I have everything and more. And what I need is safety, equality, equity, solidarity, freedom for everybody and commitment to fight for a better, sustainable world together.
On a side note: The wool is called “CraSy Socks Surprise Success”.