How long does a handmade robe take to make?
First it’s a treasure hunt to find fabrics, blankets and buttons that are locked away in cupboards, warehouses and trunks … originally as wedding presents (blankets!), or job lots that never made the ship (1940 Italian coat fabric bound for England) or left over business shirt fabric when stripes were trendy in the 1980’s. As for buttons, you have to love the collectors!
Then it’s making them hygienically clean, washed in Eucalyptus wool wash and dried flat to make cutting easier. Sometimes the buttons gets ‘re-dyed’ to match a certain fabric colour but generally, they are old, big and bold!
The process from cutting to sewing can take up to 18 hours for each robe. The blanket robes get a full collar of hand blanket stitching too. Lining them with cotton goes all the way from hidden pockets up the collar, so there’s no chance of being ‘itchy’.
Since we’re into up-cycling, the bag the robe comes in is also made of reclaimed fabric. Perfect for storing in summer (just add lavender soap to keep the bugs away!) And in case you’re wondering, everything is Australian made, right here in Melbourne!
Sustainability trend gathers steam through COVID19!
We’re all about sustainability & up-cycling but we’re not the only ones feeling good living a ‘slow-life’.
Global consultancy, McKinsey, has identified that 57% of consumers have made significant changes to their lifestyle during COVID19 to lessen environmental impact. As a ‘small brand’. We’re thrilled that 61% of Millenials are increasing their spend on lesser known brands but even more impressed that 31% of those over 75 years have started buying fashion online!
‘New-ness’ of fashion is out as a purchase driver (only 19%) with Durability (66%), Comfort (73%) and Quality of Materials (70%) key attributes in a fashion buy. Big shout out to our wonderful customers who let us know how well our robes fit (whether they are wool, linen or even cotton) and feel! I can’t tell you how many remark “this is what quality used to feel like 30 years ago”.
So, it’s not surprising McKinsey found 65% of consumers saying ‘I will be buying more high quality items that last longer’.
Long live slow fashion!!
In the 1800’s, Southern Australia had over 150 Wool Mills. Today, there is less than a handful. Generations of Australian families gave each other beautiful wool blankets to keep warm (especially as Wedding presents!). Replaced by Doonas in the 1970s, there is now a dwindling number of these ‘as new’ wool blankets in cupboards (with pets enjoying the worn ones!).
Some branded for the town: Bendigo, Warrnambool, Geelong
Or a brand you’ll recognise: Onkaparinga, Waverley, Target, Laconia
Or a name to give it a quality or professional ‘feel’: Physician, Paradise, Heritage…, Usually ‘tagged’ made of ‘virgin’ or ‘pure’ lambs wool! A story of small town expertise and support for the local wool growers.
From Wedding presents to Dog blankets...
There is so much textile waste in the world that we all need to be conscious about what’s produced and what happens to the ‘leftovers’, when no-one wants it anymore.
Robeology is no different. All the wool blankets I use are of course second hand which make wonderful dressing gowns. The other wools are either vintage or repurposed from somewhere else (factory overruns, fashion designer end rolls, or someone else's stash). The same goes for the cotton linings. Over the years, I’ve been lucky enough to have found wonderful people, from all around the world, that help me search out these treasures!
When I have cut my product from the cloth, some offcuts are turned into hot water bottle covers. After that, all the smaller off cuts are sorted and passed onto toy makers, fabric weavers and crafters who use smaller pieces of fabric for their creations.
One such a talent is Marianne from Knot Finish who is a fibre/textile artist and fabric weaver. Marianne takes my offcuts and weaves them into such amazing creations as wool rugs, very cool messenger bags, and cute little handbags. What's left after she has finished is very little and can all go in the compost bin. Find her on Instagram on Knotfinish_creations.
