Honoring those who make our clothes

When you shop for clothes, is it hard for you to buy items you could easily make for yourself? I have this problem. I want to get over it though, because I tell myself I will make the simple A-line skirt from sweet cotton fabric instead of buying it, and then I never do. When a person knows how to sew clothes, it changes the way they feel about clothes. At least it does for me.

I read about another gal who thinks a lot about clothes and who is making clothes around the world. I learned about Lea Redmond and her tag exchange program in the Surface Design Associations magazine. How inspiring! Lea has a website called Leafcutter Designs, and from it, she exchanges a clothing tag you cut out of one of your garments for the tag shown in this photo. You sew the special tag into your garment, and when it gets passed on to a friend, sold on consignment, or given as a gift, it becomes a message to the next owner of that garment! I am going to participate as I have always had the feeling of connection with the person who sewed my clothes. I know what it takes to make a quality garment, and I admire the skill and effort. I also often worry about the working conditions of these folks. Do you ever think that a great price on an intricately made item is not so wonderful for the person who made it? How do you think about this?

These clothing tags from Lea were woven in the Eastern USA and she asks for a reasonable donation of $1 for each tag you'd like to exchange. If you cannot contribute the $1, she asks that you do not request more than 5 tag exchanges. She is keeping a map of the tags she has exchanged and it is fun for me to think of clothing around the world carrying this message of care, respect, fairness, and honor for those who make our clothes.

Thanks for stopping by,
Georgianne