Leona's Make, Do and Mend

Rather chuffed with myself ....and utterly amazed!

YAY! .........I Did It!!!!!!

Yes I did! One whole year without buying a single item of clothing......!
Wow! Where did the time go? 

After being asked by quite a few people out and about whether I achieved my goal of no clothes buying, I thought I better check in with you guys and give you the good news...... which is.....It can be done!


I've had some fantastic feedback on some of my posts ...people making their own drinks, having a go at customising their existing wardrobe and even a Schoolteacher who showed her class my blog about saving Britain's bees! I'm really pleased that I was able to share some of my ideas. I would have liked to have blogged more frequently during the year but I was so busy with all the projects I had on the go ... I never had the time!


But I promise, I'm back now, I still haven't been to the shops and I've completely cured myself of my shopping addiction! The voices in my head have completely disappeared!

Don't listen to the voices!

So, what on earth have I been up to????? Quite a lot as it happens..... It seems not shopping has given me the impetus I needed to get out there and get creative!

MASTERS OF SOUL! A NEW SOUL NIGHT IN LONDON

Thanks Hubby for the flyer! (original artwork Kirsty K Latham) 

I've started up my own monthly Soul night with a couple of friends down in Islington called Masters Of Soul where I get to DJ every month, It's turned into an absolutely brilliant night and I've really enjoyed promoting and organising guest Dj's from all over the country and Europe to come along and spin their tunes for us.

Here's the link to this month's event page on Facebook if you'd like to come along!

https://www.facebook.com/events/242218259243656/?fref=ts

And I'll put the link to our Facebook group up at the sidebar for future dates and details if you fancy joining us for a good old dance!

People getting down at MOS!

 I've also set up a MissyMurphy Mixcloud page where I can share some of my Soul mixes and also mixes from the night, I've got nearly 300 followers already!

Here's the link to my Mixcloud page

http://www.mixcloud.com/MissyMurphy/

So what else have I been doing?????

I love my allotment!

I've also had and AMAZING year on the allotment, My lovely Hubby bought me a poly tunnel for Xmas last year (instead of the usual handbag!) and I've been growing all sorts of exotic fruit and vegetables. And as I've not been spending so many Saturdays grumpily trawling around the shops, I've been spending them in the tranquil surroundings of the plot with the birds and the bees and the little toad community we have. Building structures for grapevines and customising old pallets and boxes has been so much fun and again, extremely creative!

This was an old tool crate ...
Now it's full of lovely carrots!

Thank you Hubby ...I love my Polytunnel!

I'll be going into more detail about some of the allotment projects in future blogs but I've enjoyed my year so much and had some simply stunning veggies in such abundance I think I need to show them off!

A basket of goodness!

Some of the 'Hollywood Veg' I've been able to grow
 since getting my lovely Poly tunnel.

Anything else I've been up to while avoiding the shops I hear you ask???

As it happens ...yes!

One of the reasons I started this quest in the first place was because I just knew I had FAR TOO MANY CLOTHES .... I mean who needs 100 dresses???? It just felt greedy to be honest ....and I felt slightly ashamed  as I hardly wore some of them and had NEVER worn quite a few of them! 

I really wanted to put a stop to my hoarding and stop being so indulgent and wasteful. In these days of cutbacks and recession, when there are people struggling even to put food on the table, is it really acceptable to be so self centred?

I've seen the future ...and it 'aint pretty!

As I found myself becoming less obsessed with buying new clothes and started to re look at old ones, I had the chance to completely re evaluate my wardrobe. In short, I started to look at my clothes in a totally different light.  I seemed to have lifted the spell of attachment to them finally so I divided them into categories.

Category 1:  Stuff that was just utter rubbish to be honest (damaged/worn out etc) 

This stuff went in the bin.

Category 2: Stuff that I know I am NEVER going to wear again and was quite cheap and basic (lower end high st) but still in good condition

This stuff went to the Charity shops.

Category 3: Stuff that still fits me but I'm a bit bored of.

This stuff went into the 'Make Do And Mend" box ... to be altered, customised or 'upcycled' for future wear.

Last but not Least

Category 4:  Stuff that I have never worn or I know I will never wear again but is high quality vintage or designer.

This stuff I have been selling in my new Etsy shop!!

Yes, I set up a shop online to sell some of my better quality unwanted stuff. At the moment there's nothing in it as all the clothes I did put on sold straight away! Some of my beautiful old Mod/ Vintage and 60's dresses which  I've bought over the years are now on the backs of some cute Mod girls somewhere! 

Somewhere they'll be worn and loved and I would imagine, much more appreciated than they are languishing in my bulging wardrobe.

So, not only did I not SPEND any money on clothes, I've actually MADE money on some of the clothes I was desperately and as it turns out unnecessarily clinging on to. And do you know what? I don't miss them one bit! I'm delighted that they are going to be loved and worn by someone else. 

I'm going to be uploading lots more stuff on my Etsy shop and I'm also going to be making some handmade clothes and accessories to put on there. By not buying clothes, I've given myself the start of a little enterprise! 

Missy Murphy Handmade & Vintage!

Here's the link to the store, like I said, everything sold out so I'm going to be spending this weekend frantically photographing, measuring and sprucing up all those clothes that made it into Category 4.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/Missymurphy

I'm not saying I'm completely cured ...a couple of things have been squirrelled out of the 'to sell' pile and have made their way back into the 'hope to fit in' part of the wardrobe but it's been a complete revelation. As a reward, my lovely Hubby is making me a bespoke dress for my Birthday and is going to help me with making some stock to put in my shop. So all in all a resounding success!


I'll be back soon with some of the customised things I did last year and with news on all the other projects ... this whole experience has opened the door to my creative side and I feel brimming with ideas ....AND most surprisingly of all ....I'm not even  THAT desperate to go to the shops!

Bye for now!
A very chuffed Leona XX