Fashion Revolution Day

Today, the 24th April is the 1st year anniversary of the Rana Plaza factory complex in Bangladesh, where 1133 workers died and over 2500 were injured. Fashion Revolution Day says enough is enough.

Fashion Revolution Day is about asking consumers to consider the labour behind the clothes that we wear. Events are being held across the globe and the main one is to contact brands by sending them a photo/video of your garment inside out on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram and ask Who Made Your Clothes? then tag it with #InsideOut and @Fash_Rev

Where our clothes are made is something that is very close to my heart. In my previous job as a high street fashion designer, I travelled the world visiting factories where my designs were manufactured. The factories were constantly inspected, they were clean and safe, the workers were paid a decent wage and they were well looked after, but I know that this is not the case for every factory.

Quality and clothes which were made to last were key when I started my career, but something changed with the arrival of fast fashion. We, as consumers are now buying twice the amount of clothes than a decade ago. We are driving the demand for more looks and cheaper clothes. Fashion Revolution Day wants us as consumers, to re-engage with fashion, slow things down a bit, love the clothes we buy and care about how they are made and by whom.

Which factory would you prefer your clothes to made in?

Clothing factory in Sri Lanka

Workers at a clothing factory I visited in Sri Lanka. Or.....

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/fashion-revolution-day-asks-women-3443927

Reuters

A garment worker being rescued who was trapped under the rubble of the collapsed Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh.

So today, wear your clothes inside-out to help start the beginning of an industry-wide transformation towards more ethical clothing manufacture and ask your favourite brands "who made my clothes?"

Easter is coming!

I love this time of year  - spring bulbs are popping up, lambs are skipping in the fields - and I get to make lots of egg cosies and Easter cards. I have no idea what it is about egg cosies, but they make me smile when I am making them, I think it is because they look really cute when they are finished.

All our cards and cosies can be personalised with any words of your choice. The cosies can be personalised on both sides and we can add embroidered message's on them, such as 'Sebastian's Yummy Egg' to make them egg-stra special (apologies for the bad joke)

Here is a snapshot selection of our personalised Easter products, which you can find on our notonthehighstreet.com shop.

milly and pip Easter cards and egg cosies

Egg cosies make fantastic Easter gifts, they can be used to keep your boiled eggs warm on a relaxed Easter Sunday breakfast (of course, they are also ideal for hiding small chocolate Easter eggs too!) but best of all is that they are a gift that lasts forever and can be used time and time again.

Happy Easter everyone!

Sports Relief 2014

Did you watch Sports Relief or join in with any activities to raise money last weekend? I'm not sporty in the slightest, so my contribution to Sports Relief this year was to join a group of creatives who have donated a fantastic amount of products for this brilliant cause.

The Crafty and Creative Collective is a group of, you guessed it, crafty and creative individuals, linked by our love of all things unique and beautiful and by the fact that we all also sell our products through notonthehighstreet.com - which is how we know one another.

We've pooled our resources - our most loved products - to build a raffle prize (worth around £300) and also a big prize auction (worth over £1,700) over on eBay. Everything is made by the individual seller and most items can be personalised.

The below image shows the products that are up for auction on eBay. The auction finishes tonight (28th March) so you've only got a few hours left to get your bid in.

Sports Relief 2014 auction 

The raffle closes next Friday (the 4th April) and you can donate as little or as much as you like to win the goodies here. The image below shows the prizes up for grabs - including our very own lavender filled embroidered house decoration.

Sports Relief 2014 raffle

We really want to raise as much as we can, so if you can donate or bid please do, and you'll be in with a chance of winning some amazing goodies.