On Garment Waste

Organic Cotton Stripes

If you are a regular reader, you will probably know that I do love a stripey sailor top, especially if it is made from organic cotton and is in a fabulous colour, like orange perhaps. 

I was interested, then, when I noticed that my local Seasalt branch was having a sale recently. I popped in, with no particular intention of making a purchase and discovered this beauty on the sale rack: 

Brilliant Mistake

It turns out that this, and a bunch of other items were all reduced because they have flaws: tiny rips, buttons missing, small marks, that sort of thing. Well, naturally I headed straight for the checkout with my prize. I bet you didn't even notice the tiny mark either- it's barely even visible in the picture, despite the huge incriminating arrow!

Marks for Thought

This got me to thinking: why don't we see more slight second in shops like this? In short, I suspect it is because they are sent to be mulched before they even reach the shop floor, or worse- to landfill. There's nothing wrong with recycling of course when something has reached the end of its life, but how much better to offer people the choice? Surely it's up to the individual consumer whether a 'flaw' is acceptable to them or not? 

Thank you, Seasalt

So, thanks Seasalt for putting these less-than-perfect garments out there for us to make up our own minds, and giving items which have taken resources and energy all along the production line a chance to be used before they go to be recycled. 

Could Try Harder?

I was pleased to be handed my top in a small paper bag. The paper comes from 'sustainably managed forests' which is great, but wouldn't it be better if it was recycled paper? The receipt was also handed to me in a quite a large piece of folded card, and on reflection I wonder whether this is at all necessary- especially as due to the nature of my purchase it was going to be un-returnable anyway... food for thought.

Cake Break!

Orange Sponge Cake, scroll down for recipe

I am working out quite a lot at the moment, and I am trying to increase the variety and the content of the exercise I do each week.

Hand in hand with this goes and increased awareness of what I am eating. As I heard in an aerobics class a while ago: "Great abs are made in the kitchen!" (meaning, as I see it, that there is no point in working really hard at the gym if you go home and pile on the calories).

I feel I have three key food challenges:
1. Don't eat too much
2. Don't eat too little
3. Don't eat loads of junk

This last one is complicated, because it is very difficult to keep track of the coded ingredients on packaging. I need to get a lot smarter, because even supposedly healthy cereal bars are evidently packed full of additives and sugar.

I'm going back to the philosophy that occasional treats are ok, and if I am craving something really satisfying then home made cake is probably the best- there is nothing quite like the process of baking on a cold winter day to tick all the comfort boxes. And what is more, when you make a cake at home, although it has refined sugars and saturated fats, it has no dodgy chemicals- think inverted this hydrogenated that- and one slice is satisfying and filling, stopping you from being hungry again in an hour.

I improvised this Orange Sponge cake today, so I thought I would share the recipe with you. Let me know how you get on! You will need:

7" spring form cake tin, greased and floured (my tin is 8" and cake is too shallow),
Pre-heat oven to 180º


Sponge:
170g Caster Sugar,
170g Butter,
3 Eggs,
170g Self-raising Flour,
Grated rind of one Orange,
Vanilla Essence,
Freshly Squeezed Orange Juice as required,

Cream the butter and sugar, add beaten eggs one at a time, sift in the self-raising flour and fold in. Add a few drops of vanilla essence, the grated orange rind (take care not to grate the white pith of the orange), and any juice needed to achieve a soft dropping consistency.

Pour into your cake tin, tapping the sides to spread the mixture evenly in the tin.

Bake for roughly 30 minutes until the sides of the sponge have come away slightly from the tin, and the centre springs back to the touch.

Allow to cool, then turn out and slice in half horizontally (I find a long bread knife is best for this).


Filling:
150g Icing Sugar,
180g pot of Philadelphia Cheese,
1 desert spoon of Lemon Juice,
Orange Juice as required
Beat all the ingredients together, adding just enough orange juice as necessary to make a filling that will keep its body when sandwiched between sponges. Spread all of the filling onto the bottom of the cake. Allow to stand for just a couple of minutes, then place the top sponge onto the filling.


Glaze:
50g Icing Sugar,
Orange Juice

Add just enough juice to to dissolve all of the sugar and achieve a pouring consistency. If you make this too wet your glaze will roll straight off. Pour over the finished sponge.

Enjoy!

Busy Bee

I wanted to share with you a recent sample that I am developing into a throw. Inspired by the Cornish sunset, this is going to be both a design in my ravelry store, and form the basis of a workshop in October. I just love how the star-shapes are formed where the hexagons meet, and the contrast of bright orange with grey... there's always something so exciting about a new design.

There will soon be a link to the workshop on the right, but if you simply cannot wait for details please do get in touch. 

I have decided that Sunday is my new blogging day. Our Sunday routine is to do the housework, visit the local boot fair, then sometimes I go to yoga, and whatever else we get up to is interjected with coffee breaks and quiet time... it seems like the perfect day for reflection. 

If you are enjoying these pictures of the amazing Cornish scenery then you might like to follow me on instagram for more: my username is StitchingPixie. Do say hello!