KNITTYGRITTY BY TAYLOR BICCUM
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If you’re reading this, welcome to Knitty Gritty.
EDITOR’S
I hope this publication inspires you to respark your own joy within your wardrobe and that you take away something that may change your life for the better.
Knitty Gritty is an educational platform that provides people with the knowledge and tools to ‘make, do, and mend’, the clothing that already exists in your wardrobe. With the knowledge we share on how to mend and recreate your beloved garments, you will begin to build positive and lasting relationships with your wardrobe and help combat unsustainable practices in the fashion industry. This idea was born from my fascination with thrifting, upcycling, and the “Make, Do, and Mend” campaign from the Second World War. From a young age I was taught to take care of my clothes. My mom, Louise, would always tell me that our clothes are supposed to make us happy and feel good. We need to take care of them so they can take care of us, more or less. If any piece of our clothing had a rip, stain, maybe didnt fit properly, there was always another way to repurpose them and fix them. Instead of throwing our clothes away, my mom would get out her sewing kit and mend what she could. She would sometimes turn the garment into something completely unique. and now, I strive to be more sustainable in my wardrobe the way my mom taught Withinme.the past 20 years, the fashion industry has been moving faster and faster. Trend cycles have been sped up exponentially to the point where ‘micro trends’ are all that people seem to wear anymore. We buy clothes that are trendy in the moment, but then the next time Zara or Urban Outfitters has a new drop, we’re done with the piece of clothing we bought just 3 weeks prior. We end up throwing things away because brands are telling us that it’s “not on trend” anymore and we fall into a pattern of only buying things that are “cool”. We don’t try to curate our wardrobe with pieces that we genuinely love or that spark joy within us. Since the fashion industry has introduced “fast fashion” to the world, it has significantly impacted global warming and Withwaste.Knitty Gritty, I wanted to reintroduce a sustainable practice that can help people respark joy within their wardrobes. I want to turn my wardrobe into something as sustainable as I want the world to be. We need to start buying smarter and help make our clothes last for longer than the period of a micro-trend cycle.
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LETTER
DEARREADER,
Let’s get down to the knitty gritty, xx Taylor
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6 KNITTY GRITTY CONTENTS Make, Do, and QRPostWoolTheFloralPlacketKeyholeCrosswordPre-ProductionMendPuzzleDressDressDressShirtSkirtVeilSweaterProductionCode 7068605244362820168
7 Taylor Biccum Co-Founder andCreativeDirector Other Contributors AspenOliver Co-Founder andDirector of PRandSocials BrittaWichary Photographer MarleeWeill Model andDesignAssistant SophieWang Model andCreativeAssistant
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“’Make, do, and mend’: these four little words have become synonymous with the British home front” (Summers, 2016).
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Let’s go back to 1939. World War II had just begun, and the allied powers banded together to quickly go into battle against the Nazi regime in Germany. Because the number of materials needed for the war, countries placed rations and bans on specific materials and resources for everyday consumption. June 1, 1941, was the beginning of an almost eight-year rationing period. “This limited the amount of new garments people could buy until 1949, four years after the war’s end” (Imperial War Museum, How clothes rationing affected fashion in the Second World War). To appeal to their citizens, Britain went through a series of advertisements that were aimed to help people adapt quicker and easier to shortages and rations. They implemented a coupon system, where they sent out about 60 clothing coupons to all citizens to be able to ration the consumption of clothing off the high streets, they issued the CC41 (civilian clothing order of 1941), and the make do and mend campaign when the British government created an official leaflet in 1943 although many women had adopted this practice since the beginning of the war (Summers, 2016). The ‘Make, Do, and Mend’ campaign is probably the most well-known WWII government campaign in Britain. Their pamphlet, prepared for the Board of Trade by the Ministry of Information, provided citizens with tips and tricks to maintain their wardrobes in the best conditions possible. They discussed how to mend rips and holes, elongate, or shorten garments hemlines and sleeves, how to clean shoes, make socks and undergarments, restructure blouses, frocks, slacks, and more, and how to properly launder your garments to ensure they wouldn’t get damaged. Once the government started producing the leaflets and public advertisements, more and more women realized that they had been doing this since the start of the war. The designing of the information was so important in getting more people on board with the philosophy and spread the word around to different parts of the country. The Board of Trade, along with the Ministry of Information, made colourful advertisements with clever illustrations and wording. This philosophy was so important for all citizens to adopt at this time, in order to allow the government to save more materials to create and use the fabrics for both men, and women, in uniform who were participating in active roles during the war. This ration period, caused by the war and enoforced by the government, impacted Britain and their people very heavily. This campaign specifically changed the way Britain previously understood fashions of their own and changed peoples mind set to something more sustainable. and affordable
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This is a visual journal of my personal journey of making do. and mending items from my own closet to respark joy within myself and my wardrobe. Here is the KNITTYGRITTY .
From the start of this calendar year, I have vowed to myself that any item I want to add to my closet either needs to be incredibly unique, or found second-hand, bonus if it is incredibly unique and second-hand. Because of this and the way my mom taught me to take care of my wardrobe, I wanted to start something that helped other people want to take care of their clothes the same way I did. I want my clothes to “SPARK JOY” within me, and I want to feel confident and happy in every piece I own.
By starting to use the “make, do, and mend” ideas in my everyday life, I have started to spark more joy out of the items that I have thrifted, because I have seen ‘potential’ in them, but never worn them because I didnt like them or they didnt fit as they were. I decided to take various items from my closet that I didn’t wear because of various reasons, and turned them into items that I will wear far more frequently because I have mended or recreated them into something more unique than they were before.
It’s very common now-a-days that everyone has bought something in their closet that they thought was so cool and might have thought they were going to wear it all the time, or maybe it was an impulse purchase, whatever it may be, you probably have worn it once or not at all because you realized that you probably dont like it or that it doesnt fit you. I have done that far too many times and then end up not only wasting money, but also space in my closet for pieces that actually make me feel good and pieces that I want to wear.
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Throughout my life, I have been very intrigued by second-hand items, especially clothing. I love that every piece has a story from a previous owner, or previous life. Starting in high-school, I would go thrifting and second-hand shopping very frequently. I would still buy the bulk of my clothes from fast fashion brands such as Free People, Zara, Urban Outfitters, H&M, etc. However, as I grew older, my love for finding unique pieces while thrifting grew with me, until it consumed my purchasing habits.
I was first introduced to the “Make, Do, and Mend” campaign from a tutor of mine, who explained to me that it was something that changed the course of fashion and garments through the course of the 1930s-1950s.
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This dress was thrifted from Loot Vintage in Covent Gardent in London. I orginally bought this dress because of the unique pattern and the large bow on the front that was hanging on by a literal thread. This dress was an inspiration piece throughout this project, beacuse it was going to be that hardest one to restructure due to the delicate fabric, but it was the one that sparked the most joy for me.
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CrosswordPuzzleDress-1970s
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This dress went through a series of changes. My vision for it was to be sleeveless and shortened to a mini length. Marlee, my design assistant, and I decided to cut off the sleeves and the orginal hem, then use my sewing machine to add zigzag stiching to close off the seam so the fabric wouldn’t unravel. Additionally, I hand sewed the bow back on the neck of the dress and with some left over fabric, we created a hairbow to match. This dress was my passion piece, and I couldn’t be happier that I made my vision come to life.
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These two pieces were exisiting in my, and a friend’s, closet. The red dress is from Urban Outfitters while the tanktop is from Shein. I decided to use these two pieces because even though they had been worn a couple of times, they didn’t ‘spark joy’ within us to want to wear them for years to come. So, it was time for a change.
WhiteKeyholeTanktop-2020
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KeyholeDress-2022
This dress was made by combining an old tanktop with the bottom of another dress. This piece waas made by cutting off the top part of the red dress, then sewing the tanktop to the raw edge of the skirt by using a sewing machine to create a straight stitch around the waist.
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WhitePlacket DressShirt -1999
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This which placket dress shirt was thrifted in Marietta, GA, howevver it was originally sold as a Saks Fifth Avenue Exclusive. This shirt is meant to be worn with studs that are chosen by whoever wears it, so there are no buttons on the front or on the sleeves, besides three buttons at the bottom of the shirt that would be tucked into the pants. I saw a lot of potential in this piece, and I chose it because it sparked joy and I wanted to give it a new life.
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This old dress shirt was recreated by some simple cuts in the fabric. We cut the fabric up the sides of the shirt, making sure to keep all the plackets in tact.
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WhitePlacket DressShirt -
To replace buttons, we attached old keychain clasps together for closures. Even without knowing any basic sewing skills, with a good pair of shears, you can easily upcycle anything and make it unique.
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I saw this convertible skirt-dress in a charity shop in Pimlico, London. When I first bought it, it sparked joy for me, however it was far too large to wear without it falling off my body. Something needed to change about the piece, and I wanted to turn it into something that could be worn properly.
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Floral Skirt -1990s
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Skirt -2022
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The “Make, Do, and Mend” philosophy is about making do with what you have, and mending it. So with this piece that is exactly what I did. With an older piece of elatic I had, I attached it to the previously larger waist line. By adding a more fitted elastic to the previous one, I was able to make the skirt fit my waist size perfectly instead of it being multiple sizes too big.
Floral
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Sheer WhiteHouseCoat -1960s
I bought this piece at the vintage market at Brick Lane in London. This was origingally bought to be used at a a friend’s birthday party as part of a costume. I really loved this piece and wanted to wear it because of its unique trimming, but I could never find a way to wear it outside of my house. I chose this piece becaue I saw great potential in it to become something beautiful and of purpose for something special one day.
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-2022
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This veil was on of my favourite pieces to recreate because I really stepped outside of my comfort zone when dreaming up my sketch. By cutting off the arms from the original piece, I sewed in new seams that flattened the fabric in the back. I then removed the trim from the sleeves and reattached them to the bottom, and sides, of the veil. Finally, I attached the back collar to a white headband for it to sit on the head evenly.
White PinkVeil
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This sweater was bought at a vintage booth at Acklam Market in Notthing Hill, London. This piece was bought in the Autumn/Winter when I believed I was going to get great use out of it. However, the sweater was very oversized and difficult to style with other things in my wardrobe. I had dreams of what this sweater could become given the right care. I had to get through the KNITTY GRITTY before I could properly appreciate it.
BrownWool Sweater -1970s
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Brown
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Dress-2022
This cozy, oversized sweater has found new life in becoming a transitional piece. By taking the sweater in on the sides, and cutting off the sleeves, I was able to create a sweater-vest dress that can be worn in more seasons than just Winter. By reimagining how this sweater could be used, and styled, by making small changes, it is now a more versatile piece in my wardrobe that I will be able to wear more often throughout the year.WW Wool Sweater-Vest
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My purpose for this publication was to show others how you can turn ordinary, or forgotten about, items into something unique and high-fashion by using the “Make, Do, and Mend” philosophy. Although, the “Make, Do, and Mend” process can seem daunting and time consuming, with the right ideas and a basic skill set, (or by hiring a seamstress) it is so easy to mend and recreate your clothes. For most pieces, I used a simple hand, and machine, sewing techniques, but some pieces didn’t require any additional stitching at all. These final five pieces I have created, spark so much joy within me. I was able to get down to the KNITTYGRITTY , make, do, and mend, barely worn pieces in my closet and create staples in my closet that I will have for years to come. Thank you so much for taking interest in my process. I hope this inspires you to one day do the same.
70 KNITTY GRITTY SCANTHIS QR CODE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE “MAKE, DO, AND MEND” CAMPAIGN, SUSTAINABILITY, AND WASTE PRODUCTIONWITHINTHE FASHION INDUSTRY.
71 KNITTY GRITTY https://knittygritty.squarespace.com/
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