September is here. Time to dress a bit warmer. In the South of Sweden where I live, the sun is shining and it is still kind of summer but the days are getting shorter and the night are getting longer so autumn is absolutely knocking on the door.
Autumn always gets me in a nostalgic mood and today memories from the past pops up. I came to think about a long shirt that a used to wear in the nineties, more precisely in 1994, The fabric was glittering gold and covered with images from the life of Jesus Christ. A very kitchy piece of fabric. My father did not think that the shirt was very suitable for going out in public. Dad thought the shirt was far too daring as it was completely open in the back and he thought it exposed far too much. But I ignored it, I wore the shirt anyhow.
My dad died on Christmas Day 1994 and some time before that I made the Jesus shirt, that's why I can remember exactly what year it was.
After a while I got tired of my glittery Jesus shirt and put it in a corner. The fabric was lovely so I knew I would either start using it again or I would upcycle it into something else. The shirt had to lie in the corner for a few years and then I took it out again and cut out a piece of the fabric that I put on a burgundy dress. It's been over twenty years since I made the burgundy dress but I remember it very well as it was the dress I wore the first time I met the man who became the father of my children.
I saved the burgundy dress for many years but unfortunately rats got into the storage room where the dress was kept. The rats feasted on the burgundy dress and most likely, the dress became part of a rat's nest that was being prepared for winter rest.
The other day I wanted to make myself a new bag and then I thought of the Jesus fabric, I still had parts of the old shirt in my drawers. The glittery fabric would go perfectly with a bag and in my cupboards and drawers I also found a lot of other things that would work well together.
Most of the fabrics and straps on the bag I've had for ages. I got the floral ribbon on the bag lid from my friend Pia well over thirty years ago, sometime in 1987 or 1988 when we attended the fashion design school Fashion Forum in Paris together. She in turn, had recieved it from her mother. After more than thirty years I still have several meters left of the floral ribbon.
I bought the lace band at the bottom of the pocket flap at a market in London in the late nineties. I bought a lot of meters of it but now I only have a few decimeters left. The lace is super soft and beautiful and I've used it to edge sheer lace nightgowns that I made for a sex shop. The nightgowns didn't sell that well, I remember, the lacquered plastic dresses that I also made sold much better!
The strap on the bag has actually been a bag handle before. It was on a bag that I got tired of and turned into a pillow instead. Fortunately, I saved on the strap and after being in a cupboard for about ten years, it had to come into its own as a strap again!
I've also used a striped skirt that I haven't worn in probably ten years for the bag. The material is heavily woven cotton and it fits the bag perfectly!
This bag really opens up for so many memories. I remember more when I look at this bag than when I look into a photo album.
Is it the same for you? Does upcycling your clothes also evoke lots of memories from the past?
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