Sherlie McMillan (at rear, in green) getting hands-on in a recent workshop(Photo: Lis Bastian)
Story by Linda Moon
Global problems are creating renewed interest in traditional DIY skills like sewing. Here’s how a local grandmother is sharing her rag trade experience to make a difference and how you can get involved.
Key Points:
Upcycling old clothing helps the planet, saves you bucks and empowers your creative side.
Each year 200,000 tonnes of clothing go into landfill in Australia, according to the Australian Fashion Council.
At age seventy, Sherlie McMillan has a goldmine of skills and knowledge. And the retired pattern maker (for Macpac, Kathmandu and others), and former tutor at New Zealand’s Design and Art College and Christchurch Polytech, has found plenty interested to learn from her.
This year she trained a group of 18 to 25 year olds in how to upcycle fashion. Now, in July, the Blackheath Rotary Club member from New Zealand is back at the sewing machine training the newest bunch of recruits. In a win for all 18+ folk, the Upcycling Fashion program has been opened up to allow adults of all ages, male and female, to join in.
Career opportunities
Since news spread via word-of-mouth that Sherlie could do alterations, she’s had more requests for local work than she can keep up with. “I get so many jobs now that would have been done by the mother of the house,” she said. Things like sewing on a button or taking up a hem.
“You can create your own job if you learn some of these skills,” she said. “Especially in the Blue Mountains where there aren’t a lot of jobs out there. And you don’t need a lot of equipment.”
Sherlie, who has 40 years experience in the industry, taught her own three sons to sew when they were young. “At one stage I’d bring home work and they would be repairing the garments and getting paid for it,” she said.
So what’s involved?
Sherlie (at whiteboard) and eager upcyclers in the making.(Photo: Lis Bastian)
What is upcycled fashion?
It’s the transformation of unwanted or surplus clothing, textiles or scrap fabric into new, unique garments. People can upcycle anything – including their own clothing or something from a thrift store.
A key skill is altering secondhand clothing to make it fit. This might involve letting it out and pattern making – which involves lots of measuring and drawing a flat outline on cardboard to fit the garment to the body, Sherlie said. Another key skill is learning how to repair clothing.
Upcycled fashion can incorporate artwork, embroidery, crochet or knitted elements. “Wool and fabric can all be combined. Artwork looks fabulous when it’s incorporated into a garment,” Sherlie said.
Lost human skills
Sherlie’s interest in pattern making was initially driven by having a non-standard body shape and difficulty finding clothing that fitted her. But most of her sewing skills were gained before she turned 12. “We would sit around the fire and listen to a radio and our hands would be doing things,” she said.
“A lot of these skills are being lost. My dad was overseas in the Second World War and he knitted and repaired socks for himself. It was just normal. There wasn’t the same number of things you could buy. If you bought something you would treasure it and look after it.”
As a working mother before the digital age, Sherlie still managed to find time to mend and look after her family. Thanks to the Internet and ultra-busyness, today most of us feel we lack time to repair our own clothes. However, interest in traditional skills is on the upswing, with experts pointing to the cost-of-living crisis, environmental awareness and other factors.
“I do think some of the basics skills are being lost.” – Sherlie McMillan
Workshop participants enjoy the social aspect as much as learning a new skill (Photo: Lis Bastian)
Why upcycle clothing?
“Environmentally, it’s important that we don’t continually buy cheap clothes and discard them,” Sherlie said. “It’s better we reuse and try to make a garment last longer than one or two seasons.”
“Garments can be made into so many other things,” she enthused. “It’s cheap on the pocket. And you can pick up the most wonderful things. People sometimes don’t know the value of the product that they manage to get in a lot of the secondhand shops in Australia.”
Along with encouraging waste, fast fashion (cheap, trendy clothing churned out quickly) is simply bad news.
Synthetic textiles, like nylon, polyester, acrylic, spandex and rayon, are chemically engineered, petroleum-based products. They can’t break down in the environment.
Fast fashion also contributes to modern slavery, animal cruelty and environmental devastation. “Faux fur” claims, for instance, are often fake – it’s cheaper to produce the real thing. Humans working in the industry face exploitation and life threatening conditions. In fast fashion, ethics are low and cheap toxic dyes and chemicals are common, harming workers and the environment.
As reported by ragtrader.com.au, in March France’s lower house of parliament voted in favour of a bill proposing a ban on ultra-fast fashion.
About the workshops
On a positive note, we can all learn to source ethical fashion, upcycle, swap, buy secondhand and repair our own clothes.
Sherlie’s workshops run monthly, on the first Saturday of the month from 9am to 3pm at the Blue Mountains Planetary Health Centre at Katoomba. As they’re very hands-on, participants are capped at a maximum of 12, which encourages a cosy closeness. “Socialising has been part of this initial group and friendships have built up over time,” Sherlie said.
Participants are encouraged to bring along their own sewing machine. But it’s not essential to taking part. Nor do you need to know how to use a sewing machine.
“People tell me what they really want to know and I work from there,” Sherlie said. For some this means starting from scratch, for others it might be learning how to understand the tension on their sewing machine. The programs incorporate pattern making and how to fit, alter and repair garments. “I work with a basic T-shirt. But you can turn it into a dress or shirt or a coat or a lot of things,” she said.
The workshops also teach what to look for in a good upcycling piece. In line with a skill-share concept, the idea is that everyone can share what they know and be as creative as they like.
It feels good to make something new out of something old! (Photo: Lis Bastian)
Free Skillshare Saturdays
The Upcycling Fashion Program is a community outreach activity of Blackheath Rotary Club. It’s also part of Skillshare Saturdays, which launched on Saturday 6 July at the Blue Mountains Planetary Health Centre. All programs are free.
Meet Sherlie and some keen upcyclers in this short video
Take Action:
Check out what participants from the Fashion Upcycling workshop had to say about it here.
Contact [email protected] if you’d like to join in or if you have a skill you’re able to share.
This story has been produced as part of a Bioregional Collaboration for Planetary Health and is supported by the Disaster Risk Reduction Fund (DRRF). The DRRF is jointly funded by the Australian and New South Wales governments.
Our video on Falling In Love With Glossy Black Cockatoos is now up on our Planetary Health YouTube channel (sorry, it`s too big to share here but there`s a link in our profile).
Jayden Gunn finishes his presentation by saying:
"Care is like a snowball. The more people you tell the bigger the snowball gets, and the further it goes. And the more we know, the more we care. And the more we know, the more we`re able to help."
The video is of our fabulous Forum on Growing Connected Landscapes for the Glossy Black Cockatoo, and includes presentations by Jayden Gunn, BirdLife Australia, Amanda Foxon-Hill from Mid Lachlan Landcare, and STEM teacher Samantha Bowden from Glenbrook Public School. There`s a link with the video on how to register for the Community Tree Planting Day in Goologong on 5 July (and it`s also in our profile). Video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCERdF21Ud0&t=13s
Today we`re enjoying eating ripe medlars! Medlars are attractive cold climate fruit trees that were popular in Medieval gardens. They`re one of the few fruits that can be harvested in late Autumn and eaten in early Winter when they`re fully ripe. This is a great time of year to plant them for a future harvest. Check out our short video on how to eat them! #coldclimategardens #ediblegardens #medlars #growyourown #planetaryhealth #bluemountains...
We`re thrilled to share that last night @BlueMountainsCityCouncil`s Planetary Health Centre won the Innovative Leadership Award (Population Under 150K) in the 2025 NSW Local Government Excellence Awards. What a great end to World Environment Day! 🌏 This award celebrates how local government can lead transformative change for a more sustainable future. Thank you to everyone who worked so hard with us to make our vision a reality. You can read more about what we`re doing at our website (link in profile): http://www.bluemountainsplanetaryhealth.com.au/ @ph_alliance #planetaryhealth #worldenvironmentday #localgovernmentleadership #nswlocalgovernmentexcellenceawards...
Blocking out a couple of hours a week to step off the treadmill and give ourselves time to nurture our relationship with the earth and ourselves, is one way to keep our creative spirit and ‘lust for life’ alive. If you haven’t done so yet, one opportunity over the next week is to spend some ‘slow’ time in the 2024 Wynne Prize exhibition at the Blue Mountains Cultural Centre before it closes on 15 June. Read more in Katoomba Area Local News here (link in profile): https://www.katoombalocalnews.com/the-2024-wynne-prize/ @bluemountainsculturalcentre @artgalleryofnsw #wynneprize #landscapes #bluemountains #katoomba #artexhibition #planetaryhealth...
Recognising how violence and war impact the health of the planet, the Blue Mountains Planetary Health Initiative has become a member of the Blue Mountains Peace Collective. On Sunday 25th May, we attended a presentation by Dr Keith Suter on Making Peace in the World Today at the Leura Uniting Church. In this powerful presentation Dr Suter questions why we learn about war rather than successful peace negotiations! View the video of his presentation below and read our full story in Katoomba Area Local News here: https://bit.ly/3Fl4WgQ (link in profile)
With an extra day up your sleeve this long weekend, it`s a great opportunity to give nature a hand to regenerate and provide more habitat for our fellow species! Join our fabulous all ages Planetary Health Bushcare Group from 1.30pm and then participate in the Forum on Growing Connected Landscapes for the Glossy Black Cockatoo at 4pm, followed by drinks and nibblies! You can also start the day with a fabulous Tai Chi session at 8am. Visit our Planetary Health Pluriversity website to book in and learn more (link in profile): https://bmpluriversity.org/program/
Or ring 0407 437 553 for more information. #planetaryhealth #bushcare #katoomba #bluemountains #glossyblackcockatoos #landcare #biodiversity #habitat #wearenature #togetherwecan...
In this inspiring interview with Medlow Bath resident Amanda Foxon-Hill she talks about her work with Mid Lachlan Landcare, why Growing Connected Landscapes for the Glossy Black Cockatoo is so important, and why she loves her work so much! Read the full story in Blackheath Area Local News here: https://blackheathnews.com/connecting-landscapes-for-glossy-black-cockatoos/
Book in for the Growing Connected Landscapes Forum at 4pm this Saturday 7 June here: https://events.humanitix.com/growing-connected-landscapes-for-the-glossy-black-cockatoo Register your interest for the Community Tree Planting Day in Goologong here: https://events.humanitix.com/glossy-black-cockatoo-community-tree-planting-5
In a world that increasingly feels out of balance, we’re thrilled to be offering Saturday morning Tai Chi and Qigong at 8am this Saturday 7 June (and the first Saturday of every month on our Skill Share Saturdays). Tai Chi is an ancient Chinese martial art and moving meditation for body, mind and spirit. It is ideal for learning to keep calm amidst chaos but also has health benefits to increase longevity. Harvard Medical School has reported that this gentle form of exercise can help maintain strength, flexibility, and balance, and could be the perfect activity for the rest of your life. It`s particularly popular in Hong Kong, where residents have one of the highest life expectancies in the world! T`ai-Chi has also been found to improve brain function (like memory and mental flexibility) faster than other exercise and, in a recent study, comparing T`aiChi to brisk walking, the martial art was found to be significantly better at reducing blood pressure and other risk factors for heart disease, like blood sugar levels and cholesterol. If you’d like to try it out, you can reserve your spot here (link in profile): https://bit.ly/3FxWPgR
Learn how to Grow Connected Landscapes for the magnificent Glossy Black Cockatoo at 4pm on Saturday 7th June. In our first Planetary Health Forum we’ll be hearing from Amanda Foxon-Hill from Mid Lachlan Landcare, Jayden Gunn from Birdlife Australia and Samantha (Pongi) Bowden from Glenbrook Public School, to learn more about the Glossy and how we can all help improve its habit from the Lower Mountains to Central NSW. We’re also launching a Community Tree Planting Day on 5 July in Goologong (near Cowra) to which we’re hoping we’ll get a large group of volunteers to help make a difference for this beautiful bird (and lots of other species as well!)
Habitat connectivity is essential if species are to adapt and overcome the challenges posed by our changing climate.
Join us as we imagine life as a Glossy Black Cockatoo. We`ll make our way through the temperate eucalypt forests of Dharug & Gundungurra land here in the Blue Mountains before leaving the Great Dividing Range for the Wheat & Sheep belt of the Central Tablelands. Our journey ends on Wiradjuri Land, North West of Cowra in the dry scleropyhyll forests of the Conimbla & Nangar National Parks, the start of the Western Woodland Way
Jayden Gunn is an adept wildlife photographer, ecologist, and environmental educator, with a deep passion for Australian birdlife. Through his lens, he captures Australia`s unique wildlife, using digital storytelling to connect people with nature in meaningful ways.
Links in profile to book in.
Book for the Forum here: https://bit.ly/43FzamP
Register your interest for the Community Tree Planting Day here: https://bit.ly/3HwYHa5
Watch an interview with Amanda here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77y2jrCzINo&t=52s
Read more about Glenbrook Public Schools work for the Glossy Black here: https://lowermtnslocalnews.com/glossy-black-cockatoos/
Our newsletter is now out! View our video of Dr Keith Suter on "Making Peace in the World Today” and read about Growing Connected Landscapes for the Glossy Black Cockatoo and the 2024 Wynne Prize exhibition at the Cultural Centre. You can also book in for our Mushroom Cultivation and Tai Chi workshops, and our Planetary Health Bushcare on Skill Share Saturday, 7 June. And PS. We’re a finalist in the NSW Local Government Excellence Awards. Read the newsletter here (link in profile): https://bit.ly/4dEFL5u
Yesterday a delegation from the University of Sydney and the Razak School of Government in Malaysia visited the Planetary Health Centre to exchange experiences on the challenges all our local governments are facing, including adapting to climate change, managing ageing populations, and finding economic opportunities for small councils to support their community`s needs. @rsog_insta #localgovernment #planetaryhealth #disasterriskreduction #systemicchange #councils #malaysia #exchange...
As part of an international project to advance science communication for Planetary Health (SciCoPH), Indonesian science journalists, science communication experts and bioscientists visited the Blue Mountains Planetary Health Centre to learn more about what we`re doing last month. Read our story in Katoomba Area Local News here: https://bit.ly/43MFUjM (link in profile)
Linda Moon has lived in the upper Blue Mountains since childhood and is a freelance writer for Australian media. A qualified naturopath, permaculture designer, mother and former student of social work, her passion is building local community, gardening, mental, emotional, social, housing and environmental health – all of which are linked!
Building science journalism is pivotal to tackling planetary health, and collaborating internationally is critical as we work together to protect the health of all species. In early April the Blue Mountains Planetary Health Centre took part in a project funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) entitled “Advancing Science Communication for Planetary Health”
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