Month: July 2016

Remember how I was going to make this a child free zone? Mostly? Well here is one of those blogs that is not part of the “mostly”. (Already, oops)

A few weeks ago my four year old was in one of those annoying moods where he got something in his head – super heroes it was that day – and did not give me time to breathe until I gave him and his bloody super heroes the desired attention. Living in this modern world I tried to go down the easy road by looking for pictures of superheroes online (did you know that there are literally hundreds of different superheroes and villians? Well, my son assumed that I knew and could tell him about the powers of every single one of them. Clearly he didn’t realise that it took me many many years to figure out what Batman actually means. Really. Not exaggerating. Had he been called “Fledermausmann” in Switzerland little six year old me would have known. It just would not have helped further Batmans career in the German speaking world.)

So anyway we moved on to checking out costumes online. Foolishly I hoped that looking at them and possibly asking Father Christmas (oh how I love the power of the words “Father Christmas”) for one would satisfy the little person. Of course not. “I want this one! No I want this one! And I want this one too! When will it be here?”
And while I love spoiling my precious litte minis I am not one of those parents that just buys their kids whatever they want whenever they want it. (Alhough I do sometimes scatter chocolate chips all over the floor to get a 5 minute breather – a parenting technique that might not be much better but still one I am proud of!)

Anyways I did not have it in me that day to just say “no” to his big brown begging eyes… And so, five minutes later I found myself sitting at my sewing machine making an “Invisible Flash” costume which of course was followed by the “Love-Heart-Happy-Heart Super Girl” outfit for my two year old. And just like that half the day was gone.

 

But man it was worth it. To see those happy little superheroes running around all day – and the next day and a couple of days after – being super awesome, shooting people with happy hearts and really believing they were invisible. And while their super powers were not as real as they thought they were, putting a smile on everyone’s face who walked past us was just another kind of super power. So I decided that the world could do with more little, crazy, happy superheroes. And big ones. Of course I made one for myself, gotta join the fun sometimes – I am just not sure yet about my superpowers, suggestions?

Now if you’re keen to turn your probably already extraordinary kid into an everyday superhero switch over to my Facebook page and check out my creations for little people

A bientot

Andrea

The other day I went to a local op shop trying to find a “cheap” outfit for a costume party when I stumbled upon this huge warehouse filled with wool fadges. And the wool fadges were filled with old clothes. There were hundreds of them – fadges not clothes. I couldn’t help but wonder just how many garments there are in this world? How many are being bought and thrown out every day?

 

Being one of those people that ask Google just about anything, I went home and asked Google about the effects the clothing industry has on – well… just about everything. The environment, consumerism (and vice versa), the people designing and creating fashion and so on. And apart from lots of pretty pictures of beautiful garments (oh and how I love beautiful garments!) I did not find a lot of positive stuff. And I thought damn, I really want to write about this. But I also want to write something light hearted and this is just a bit serious. Hmmm, what to do.

So I sat down and ate leftover fried rice. And thought about my little dilemma. With all the information available I decided to share some of my favourite sources I found on the subject. Thought for food:
*An article about recognising the problem world wide and finding sustainable solutions.
http://www.environmentalleader.com/2014/10/06/assessing-the-environmental-impact-of-the-fashion-world/

*The True Cost – a documentry about the fahion industry

 

*And a helpful website a friend shared with me

http://theregister.co.nz/news/2016/04/new-zealands-ethical-fashion-companies-2016-revealed-who-passed-test

 

I of course did try to see the positive in the fact that there is so much negative infromation availlable on the subject. It means that people are becoming aware of the terrible impact the whole industry has globally and are trying to make a positive change for the future.

And yet, even after learning about some not so nice truths regarding the colthing industry I still have to confess that occasionally I just can’t resist a bargain. The challenge for me lies in making my little shopping heart happy while being kind to the environment. And of course my wallet because sadly, the better and kinder the product the higher the price! I constantly remind myself to buy quality, not quantity. Try to shop local and locally made.

So far I can happily say I have disciplined myself when filling my shopping trolley at the super market. It’s time I care about what I wrap my body in as much as I care about what I feed it with. And you should too.

A bientot

Andrea