The figures are in … In 2016 I used
Total 3.835 natural fibres
Total 318g synthetic fibres
Total 45g regenerated fibres
My Fair Share Fibre Ration
Why the weighing? I have pledged to use no more than my fair global share of fibres and they have to be sustainably sourced. Whats a global share? 11.74 kg per person of which 3.8 kg is natural fibres. As I don’t like synthetics I try to stick to 3.8 kg of natural fibres. You can check my figures here.
So I am over on natural fibres but way under on synthetics.
However in 2015 I bought 3.15 kg of natural fibre products and 3.2 kg of synthetic fibres. – so I had a 65g surplus of natural fibres to use up
Sustainability
You can read my clothing manifesto here
Circumstances
The clothes you wear are dictated by your lifestyle so here’s what I needed to dress for this year:
Returned home from backpacking the tropics. The days of 2 teeshirts, a mu-mu of modersty and backpackers bloomers were sadly over. I desperately needed some new clothes. The next three weeks saw me busy sewing. The design brief was a little more complex this year. Not only did the clothes have to be sustainable & plastic free, they had to be rather more dressy than I am used to. 
Returned home from backpacking the tropics. The days of 2 teeshirts, a mu-mu of modesty and backpackers bloomers were sadly over. I desperately needed some new clothes. The next three weeks saw me busy sewing. The design brief was a little more complex this year. Not only did the clothes have to be sustainable & plastic free, they had to be rather more dressy than I am used to because at Easter we were fulfilling a long held dream – to be in Seville for the Santa Semana and the Feria.
Santa Semana is a week of processions elaborately decorated floats are hauled through the streets, by teams of ‘costaleros’ (bearers) followed by hundreds of ‘nazarenos’ (penitents), many in pointy hoods looking very sinister. This is followed a couple of weeks later with a big party The Real de la Feria where people drink, dance and dress up. The “women wear the traditional “traje de gitano”, literally “gypsy outfits” or flamenco dresses, often in bright colors, and accessorized with matching/coordinating flower in hair, comb, jewelry, tasseled scarf/shawl and fan. Apparently the “dresses are pricey, but worth investing in if you’ll be coming back again – nothing makes you feel part of an event like being dressed appropriately”
Bugger! After nearly a year backpacking, preceded by a year living in a van I can truthfully claim that while all my outfits may well be representative of the modern-day gypsy none of them are fit for a party. This nomad wears khaki shorts, sludgy colored T-shirts (murky from repeated mixed washes) and the emergency muumuu for visiting Iran. Absolutely no bright colors or fringed shawls and definitely no frills.
All I have in my hair is twigs and bits of straw. I haven’t accessorized since my Jackie reading days.
But I am not investing in a dress. I can’t afford it and I would feel ridiculous. More importantly I am living within my fair share of fabric allowance so any clothes I get are going to have to last me the year. They have to theatrical enough for Seville yet practical enough for the U.K.
So I needed something dressy, theatrical yet practical, sustainable yet frivolous
Seville Wardrobe
Chiffon Shirt For the Feria the week-long party in Seville, I made a chiffon top. I know – get me…. in chiffon which I wore with the
The Ebay Fabric Jacket
Downton (Yorkshire Wool) Waistcoat
The Bombazine Skirt
I looked flamboyant at least.
Then back to rather less showy Huddersfield for what I thought was going to be a hot summer. There were a couple of hot and steamy weeks I sewed sleeveless frocks and cool skirts. Then the weather turned obvs! so I had to quickly put together some rather warmer shirts. And buy some T shirts to wear under them.
Had hoped to be back on the road by winter but it was not to be so I had to make a thick skirt that I can wear with wooly tights and leggings.
Natural Fibres
Socks, Vests & Tees
2 pairs of socks from Debenhams 45g each
1 wool homemade 73g
Black vest gifted 144g
Bought In Mostly Natural Fibres (label etc might not be)
White vest gifted 105g
New spotty top – Marks & Sparks 160g
2 no 3/4 sleeve T 156g each
grey vest 105g Marks & Sparks
Trousers
Denim Long Shorts 316g
Linen Pants 414g
Skirts
Wrap Skirt 249g
stripy cotton skirt gifted 231g
The Bombazine Skirt 541g
Corduroy Skirt 300g
Tunics & Tops
Wrap Shirt Lawn Chiffon
Wrap shirt 108g
Offset Tunic 157g
Tabbard Frock 149g
Choir Boy 132g
Liberty Lawn Shirt 96g
Vogue lawn top 110g
Woolen Tunic 288g
Jackets & Other stuff
Yorkshire Wool Waistcoat 178g
Ebay Woolen jacket 180g
Total 3.835
Regenerated Fibres
Bamboo is a regenerated fibre and falls somewhere between natural and synthetcic. Some biodegradae some do not. Bamboo is a form of regenerated fibre. Personally I dont like it but the socks were a gift. Read more here
1 ankle socks bamboo skull & crossbones 45g
Synthetic Fibres
Huge circular skirt 243g
New Swim Top 75g
Total 318g
Terms
By gifted I mean something that people have passed on to me because they no longer want it. Second hand but not purchased.
When I say cotton/ natural fibres that doesn’t include buttons and other such stuff which will almost certainly be synthetic. As might be the thread used to sew the fabric.
Unless you are talking about my own homemade clothes where I can tell you exactly what plastic has been used.
Sewing
I can’t afford to buy eco clothing but I can afford to make it. I have been stiching like a demon and this year most of my new clothes have been handmade. Sadly my sewing skills are not so great. There are ome rather strange outfits in there. You can read my plastic free sewing tips here…
You can read more about my home made clothes here