Jane Milburn OAM

We've had relentless rain on Straddie for weeks and the upside is its good gardening weather. I've uprooted our herb garden, moved nearly a cubic metre of top soil in before returning the herbs and adding sugarcane mulch. This garden bed gets northern sun in winter so it is set to be productive and nutritious into the future. Our neighbours Kate and Pip noticed the rainbow while I was working and sent me these photos. 💚 Good to be applying some permaculture principles but am missing having real chooks in the system because we're not ready for that commitment again. Have to make do with Mabel (pottery chook by Robert Burton that I've had for 35 years) and a knitted chook tea cosy (made by yarn liberator Erin Hamby) which is a recent gift from my friend Liz who visited this week. #gardening #herbs #permacultureprinciples #chooks

We stitched, shared stories, knowledge and resources at our Stitching Stories session at North Stradbroke Island Museum on Minjerribah @northstradbrokemuseum It was lovely to have locals and visitors there, including my pottery and bookclub friend Claudia Whitton @claudiamargaretwhitton . These sessions are about engaging with our old fav clothes in new ways by mending, adapting and upcycling them to reduce textile waste. Anne Anderson from Amity will be your guide next month on the second Saturday (June 13) from 10am-1pm. #stitchingstories #upcycling #slowclothing #regeneratingagency #naturalfibres

Stitching Stories is on at North Stradbroke Island Museum on Minjerribah this Saturday from 10am-1pm. @northstradbrokemuseum This is a free community event that encourages slow clothing mindfulness as antidote to fast fashion waste. BYO natural-fibre garment to work on as a canvas for creative upcycling, whether that be stitching, mending, embellishing or needle felting. All resources and guidance provided so come and hang out, locals and visitors alike. With the cooler weather coming, I've got out my merino wool garments and checking they are ready for winter (I store them in plastic tubs over summer to keep insects at bay). I recently had the pleasure of catching up with Kerrie Richards from @merinocountry at their Shailer Park factory where they manufacture local wool classics perfect for our climate. I'm wearing one of the upcycled wool creations I made 10 years ago that includes some of Kerrie's offcuts. She gave me another bundle to play with! Also in this post are a few other pix that show the natural beauty of our island home that we preserve through our upcycling actions. #merino #naturalfibres #slowclothing #upcycling #stitchingstories

Sew wonderful to be part of the Scenic Rim Sustainable Fashion Designer Showcase the other day organised by Erica Bates @batesericam and Julie Johnson, and be with many like-mindeds whom I've met, engaged with, inspired and been inspired by, over the years. Loving Erica's tablecloth/doily creation too. 💚 In the morning, I was co-judging the Upcycled Op-Shop Challenge with Andrew Carpenter @papadrew.au and we had some difficult choices to make. Then in the afternoon I was MC for the local fashion designer showcase and it was fabulous to see so many small creative businesses thriving as a counter to fast fashion factory mass made. This was an awesome community event demonstrating a groundwell of commitment to hands-on upcycling as a way to keep textiles out of landfill and feel (and look) good while doing it. And of course it was a perfect occasion to rewear my upcycled red silk dress for the 64th time! I made this dress from five dormant garments to coincide with Fashion Revolution Week in 2019 and it is still going strong. This time, I styled it with a silk/wool wrap I felted years ago and recently dyed with eucalypt leaves. #adventuresofthereddress #64wears #upcycling #fashionrevolutionweek

We had fun Stitching Stories into our clothes on the verandah at North Stradbroke Island Museum on Minjerribah @northstradbrokemuseum ... thanks for joining us Paula Boo @paulaboostudio and friends. Second Saturday of each month this year 10am-1pm sharing how to mend our clothes, tinker and add personality to them so we love them for longer. It is a free community activity sharing slow clothing actions as antidote to fast fashion. All resources provided, just BYO garment. As the weather gets cooler we'll be mending small holes in woollens using needle felting. #slowclothing #regeneratingagency #stitchingstories

Everything has potential 🔥 That is the moment that’s been echoing in my mind since our incredibly inspiring call with Jane Milburn this week. Jane joined us in the #indybindysewciety as our April guest speaker and so many of us connected deeply with her message and her work. Jane’s the founder of @textilebeat , author of Slow Clothing, a TEDx speaker, Churchill Fellow, and was awarded an Order of Australia Medal in 2022 for her service to fashion sustainability. Every month we get someone exciting from the sewing community to join an intimate call. We ask all our burning questions, and they share their sewing journey and insights. It’s such a thrill to get to know these people beyond the grid! If you’d love to join calls like this and be part of a space dedicated to exploring and expanding your own sewing practice 👇 Comment SEWCIETY I’ll send you the link to join the VIP waitlist. You’ll be first to know when forts open PLUS you’ll get VIP perks! We covered so much with Jane. From her upcycled career journey, to the stark realities of clothing waste, to the connection between how we dress and our health and wellbeing. She shared tips for op-shopping, her love of hand-stitching, creative ways to use our fabric scraps, and how upcycling can stretch your creativity in new and exciting ways. We also got to hear about what Jane’s got coming up this year. We dove into so much more than this and everyone walked away from the call feeling activated and excited 💖 Comment SEWCIETY if you want to be a part of fab live calls like this. Plus get access to: ✔️ A FREE PDF sewing pattern every month ✔️ Instant sewing buddies from around the world ✔️ Trainings and support so you can master new skills and make clothes you’re truly proud of ✔️ A community bursting with energy, creativity and enthusiasm ✔️ A go-to place to ask all your sewing questions ✔️ Endless inspiration at your fingertips Comment SEWCIETY below. I’ll send you the link to join the VIP waitlist. See you inside! Aims xx . . . #sewingfriends #sewinginspiration #sewingskills #sewinglife

Come join us for Stitching Stories this coming Saturday April 11th from 10am-1pm at North Stradbroke Island Museum on Minjerribah @northstradbrokemuseum This is a free community activity based around Jane Milburn's slow clothing philosophy as a citizen-led antidote to fast fashion. All you need to bring is a garment from your wardrobe or opshop (St Marks at Dunwich will be open) that you want to renovate with handstitching energy and creativity. We provide hand-sewing resources or you can bring your own. All ages and skill levels welcome. #slowclothing #stitchingstories #regeneratingagency #handstitching

Creative days at Straddie, making little creatures with my friend Wendy Bailye @wendybailye at the North Stradbroke Island Arts and Pottery group. In between making and creating, also helping apply for grants for Straddie Arts Trail August 13-16, enjoying sunsets and keeping up with work. #livingsimply #StraddieArtsTrail #creativeliving #analoguelife

Farewelling island identity Joe Lake the other day with friends Trish Lake @trishlake24 Cath Carroll @curious_island and Renata Buziak @renatabuziak . Joe lived a full life, celebrated his 100th birthday and peacefully passed away in his own home on his own terms with family around him. Such an inspiration. Joe will be missed at the upcoming Dunwich Anzac Day service where he marched last year, impressing the young soldiers there when they learned of his D-Day service in 1944 (he signed up aged 14). It was sad but good, and Joe now has a bar named after him at Point Lookout Bowls Club. My brother Tony came to visit the next day, and we remembered our Great Grandma Mary Walker who died aged 101.

Put your hands together for the 2026 AgriFutures Rural Women's Award Queensland winner Angie Nisbet from Hughenden. At a prestigious ceremony at Customs House today, Angie was chosen ahead of three other fabulous finalists Sam Musson, Jaime Best and Alyson Shepherd to represent Queensland at the national awards later this year. Angie is a fifth-generation beef producer, mother of three and co-founder of FarmHer Hands @farmherhands after her sister Shona was diagnosed with Stage 2 melanoma and the loss of a close friend to skin cancer. This propelled the sisters to design UPF50+ sun protection gloves in an initiative that has evolved into a national movement championing sun safety. Angie is driven by a clear purpose: to shift the culture around health in agriculture and empower people to look after themselves, one glove, one check, one honest conversation at a time. Proud to have Angie, Sam, Jaime and Alyson join the 80-strong Queensland alumni of the AgriFutures Australia @agrifuturesau Rural Womens Award which provides a platform to inspire and support women to use and develop their skills and leadership capacity. Queensland Minister The Honourable Fiona Simpson presented the award while outgoing 2025 Rural Women's Award winner Nicole McNaughton was an amazing MC clearly energised from her year in the spotlight. #ruralwomensaward2026

Valuable time spent with all the key people in the room for our AgriFutures Rural Women's Award alumni networking event: Our four fabulous 2026 finalists Angie Nisbet, Alyson Shepherd, Sam Musson and Jaime Best, the 2025 Queensland RWA winner Nicole McNaughton, as well as alumni, judges, sponsors, and journos. RWA alumni Georgie Somerset and Erin Corish shared their experience and the value of being part of this influential network, as did I as Qld Chair of the @agrifuturesau alumni network. At Customs House tomorrow, the 2026 Queensland Rural Women's Award winner will be announced and you can hear more in interviews with Jennifer Nichols in the ABC Country Hour. #RWA #ruralwomen

So thrilled to see my friend Meriel Chamberlin implementing her Churchill Fellowship @churchill_trust findings and as Business Development Manager for Salvos Stores having impact on mechanical processing solutions to help deal with burgeoning textile waste. In an Australian first, Salvos Stores @salvosstores in partnership with the Queensland Government, today opened its Textile Recovery Facility in Brisbane offering an automatic textile sorting and decommissioning service. More than 200,000 tonnes of clothing ends up in landfill each year in Australia. This new facility will begin to pilot and scale textile recovery solutions and plans to process up to 5,000 tonnes of textiles per year, enabling the materials to stay in circulation and generating additional revenue to fund the frontline work of The Salvation Army across the country. Meriel said, “For over 140 years, Salvos Stores have turned second-hand goods into hope through our stores. Each year, our community of Salvos Stores shoppers give a new home to millions of donated items, keeping them in circulation. Our Textile Recovery Facility is our new way to keep even more textiles in circulation and out of landfill, turning cutting-edge innovation into real solutions.”  The Queensland Government has invested $4.97 million in the project, supporting Salvos Stores to establish this cutting-edge circular economy textile hub in Brisbane. In 2023, Meriel won a Churchill Fellowship to investigate the latest global best practice in commercialised and scaleable zero waste textiles, travelling to the United Kingdom and Europe, including to Belgium where the Valvan technology was sourced from.  Oh and while reprocessing textile waste is fabulous, it uses energy and maybe we could all help by buying a little less in the first place. The average Australian buys 56 items of new clothing per year. #textilerecycling #salvosstores #churchillfellowship #textilewaste