Katie Hume (in pink, centre) has been sewing for decades. Her first fashion workshop was well attended. Photos: Supplied.
If the average person wears 20 per cent of their clothes 80 per cent of the time, there’s tonnes of waste in wardrobes across the Riverina.
Griffith stylist and dressmaker Katie Hume is tackling that issue head-on, launching workshops to help people salvage the clothes they don’t wear but like too much to throw out.
“We don’t need to go and buy more things when you have a wardrobe full of stuff you’re not wearing,” she said. “There’s already so much waste in the world.
“These workshops are about doing something about that 80 per cent of clothes you don’t usually wear. First off, the 101 workshop is about doing a stocktake. You go home and go through all those clothes. Then we work with the items you like but aren’t wearing, where you bring along a basket and we figure out what to do … they just might need hems or a button, simple stuff.
“I then have a third workshop which is for those who want to do a bit more detailed sewing work to make dresses, etc.”
Katie Hume designed outfits for the musical The Wedding Singer.
Ms Hume studied fashion after finishing school and had her own sewing room at home for more than 20 years. She continued to do jobs for people in her spare time and made countless wedding dresses over the past three decades.
At the age of 60, she started her own business, named Style Effect, which recently celebrated its first anniversary.
“I was made redundant in my day job, so I thought I’d do my own thing,” she said.
There are four aspects to Style Effect – one-on-one consultation to help people create their own garment; judging outfits at various events, such as fashion in the field; support for community projects and plays; and the new styling and tailoring workshops she has just launched.
“I recently did the fashion for the Griffith stage musical The Wedding Singer, that was a lot of fun. I take my hat off to the cast and crew, they put in so many hours practising.”
Katie made her daughter Jodie’s wedding dress.
She also did costumes for the short film Lord of the Soil, which is being directed by Leeton actor Jake Speer and filmed in the Riverina.
In mid-October, Ms Hume held a 10-student Fashion 101 Workshop at the Rooms of Requirement (RoR) shared office facility in Yambil Street. Another course is scheduled for 2 December, with places still open, and she says there’ll be more to come in 2024.
“It’s a roadmap for you to save money, and time, and love what you wear with a boost of wardrobe inspiration and confidence,” publicist Sarah Taranto said.
The workshop is for women, men and the gender diverse. More information can be found on Ms Hume’s Style Effect Facebook page.
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