Sustainability

It seems to me that there is a sudden desire to look closely at the throwaway culture - too much Stuff, buy it without thought, use it a couple of times, throw it away...
We took a day off last week, walked down the old High Street in Lowestoft looking into all the charity shops (and by gum, there are a lot of them). There are a few shops selling "tat" of a new persuasion - "decorative" oddments with not-much-charm, and these are well-represented in the charity shops alongside. It seems that the half-life of the average ornament is about 3 weeks...

Oh, dear.

This seems like a loss, a defeat, a failure of both taste and common-sense in so many ways.

And yet, I make decorative (and useful, please let it be said) things to sell.. I do try to make things that are well-made, will last, can be washed, repaired, worth having, not fashionable, and Oh! no slogans! (I do hate being hectored into a "good place" by the furnishings.. My late friend Kate had a lovely tea-mug which said "No, I will not Calm Down, and you can F**k Off" - this made me laugh, but I would not own that one either..

So, more and more, I want to make sure that Things Worth Mending are mended.. Hey! Can you sew on a button? And if not, why not? It's not hard.

Oil that door, fix that carpet, mend that box, tie that shoe...

Happy sewing!