Di Jones

Blog

Architect/Crafter/Cook/Gardener/Wannabe shoe maker

I was born in an outback mining town in the North West Australia, grew up in Perth, and now live in Melbourne with my husband, son and a cat.

I grew up in a do-it-yourself household. When we lived in the outback, Mum ordered fabric by mail order and made clothes for all manner of people in the town. Dad built most of our furniture from scratch, and worked modification after modification to the family home to adapt it to our needs. I’m not sure whether this was driven purely their creative tendencies, or a response to necessity, but it was an approach that has carried through their lives. Today Mum knits socks and dishcloths, sews quilts, and tends to a huge vegetable garden and three chickens. My father is still undertaking building works on their home, making furniture, and in recent years has started building timber boats. 

This Bio is supposed to be about me, not my family, but I do feel that how I live now is very much a product of the experiences and influences I grew up with. Making do and mending, being resourceful, recycling and adapting, were just how we did things as a family. Mum taught me to sew and cook, my Grandmother taught me to knit and Dad taught me how to wield a screwdriver and hammer (although thankfully I found a husband who is much better at it than I am). Gardening (and parenting) I’m learning through trial and error. We hope that our son inherits a love of creating (as opposed to consuming), an appreciation for where things come from, and a respect for the resources that the world can provide.

I joined Sew Green in 2010 and look forward to writing about sustainable building design, backyard veggie gardening, reducing waste and sustainable crafting.