The Economics of Clothing Part 3 (Something to think about)

Here's a little food for thought, we're throwing away clothes, lots of them.  And where are they ending up?  In our landfills.  Now the majority of clothing we wear is not natural fiber, in fact it's synthetic, and those kind of clothes don't biodegrade well.  It's such a shame really.  However, I'm not opposed to synthetics completely; they do have a place.  Where would we be without wash and wear that makes our clothes so wonderfully wrinkle free, or the fabrics that keep us dry from the rain that falls so prolifically in the Pacific Northwest, where I live?

There are so many things we can do with clothing once we are ready to discard it.  If it's in good condition, you can donate it a local thrift store.  In fact, some of those places arrange pick up so you can just put it out on your door step and let them take care of carting it off for you.

Another thing you can do with them is reuse them for rags.  If the clothes are really beaten up and have good absorbability, you can use them to dry floors after washing, create mops out of them, dust your house, wash your car.

As well, textile artists often use them in creating new clothing.  Old sweaters can be unraveled and used to make new, more fashionable items.  Buttons and zippers can be removed from old garments and used in the making of new clothing.  You can re-fashion old clothes into new ones with a little more flair or add your own style.  Rag rugs, whether you braid them or hook them can also be made.  I often use old scraps of fabric and up-cycle old items into new useful articles that can be worn, or used for other purposes.

So the next time you are thinking about clearing out your closet of old clothing, remember the garbage can should be your last resort, not the first stop. :D

The Spring Fling

 This is a picture of the square where the event took place.  The people at CHLY were very nice and they put up tents and tables for us to put our things out on.  It was all very laid back and there was a band as well, playing music that took me back to the good old DOA days.  I found my head nodding to a few of the tunes.

 I set up my goods on the table , in my big round box I put in my fingerless mitts, and a few of my favorite hats.  To the right are my bags and then I put out a few more hats and the God's eyes.

Most importantly, I put out my business cards.  I'm really glad I brought those with me and I found that those were the things that people grabbed.  There was a lot of interest in the gloves and some of the hats, especially the blue and green hood.

I had a great time, but did not sell a thing.  However, I made some important contacts and I'm sure I'll be hearing from some of the people who took a card.  The crowd was mostly students and a few people I knew locally.  I had no idea that there was a small square in behind the buildings by the China Steps  I"m glad I had this opportunity to show my wares.

In the next few days I'm going to be working on some new items, more summery in nature, and I'll also be making sure to include some woolens in more somber, natural colors for the menfolk.

The Trials and Tribulations of the Little Black Bag

I have finally finished the bag.  It took a little bit but then it allowed me some rest time, so the issues that came up were well worth it.  I'm pleased with the outcome of the bag.  With it being freeform, it was an interesting project, but caused slowdowns as I was deciding what to do next.  This did cause a lack of interest at times, so it is doubtful I will be doing that too often.  I chose to make a strap for the bag out of black wool on a spool knitter.  I was rusty, so that took a little time, but I soon got into the swing of things.  It also had nails in the top and all I have to say to that is - OUCH!  My fingertips are a little sore and raw.  I'm sure that won't be an issue if I keep at it and build up some calluses.

This was a serious glutton of time, but a good use of up-cycled resources from my collections of many things. I have decided at this time, to make some much smaller bags, more like little make-up bags, with the rest of the material.

The one thing I was glad about, was since I was home, I was there for my son when he found he needed to go to the dentist.  He had bad toothache and needed to see someone about the pain, which kept him up all night for the last few nights.  He was in no fit state and being able to help him, made me feel good and reignited my passion in the bag again.

Slowly but Surely

I keep hitting obstacles, little things that make me stop and smell the roses, or attend to real life in general.  I was not happy about having my day split up today.  I'm heading out today with a friend.  I need this and new it was coming.  Getting away and spending time with someone out in the country rejuvenates me and sparks my creative endeavors.  However, I did not take into consideration just how bad my son's tooth was, and so in the wee small hours of the monrning his pain was no longer a dull ache, but a delluge of pain, agony and suffering.   His face puffed up around the infection and he was in obvious need of assistance.  So as soon as it was open it was off to find a doctor and get that face dealt with.  The dentist is not available until the 27th of April, and that is not an option for him to wait that long to get help.  So we spent the entire morning waiting for Lloyd to get his meds and he's a happier camper now and resting.

I on the other hand will be heading out the door in an hour or so to go do some more stuff.  I had wanted to just relax this morning, but today is one of those days, much like the migraine day I had a couple of days ago.  I'm putting my foot down.  No more internet until after I've got the things I want completed.  I did have an interesting day with working on this yesterday:

The thread is gold, metallic gold, not the color, but actually looks like gold.  There are some small amethyst beads and the heart is red velvet, and the bag is lined with the same red velvet.  I did the little squiggles just free form, and am looking for more to add, I think I have something in my jewelry box.  I'm getting out into the country today... I'm going to get inspired and then I"m holing up in my hidey hole and working really hard on getting things ready for the CHLY Spring Event on the 28th of April.  I'm very excited about this.

I'm not going to let anything more get in the way. :D

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

So  I hit a couple of snags yesterday when I was working on my project.  I'm all out of black thread, but I used a dark charcoal until that was all gone too.  I  know I had a big spool of black thread, but it has vanished.  As well all my fancy buttons have disappeared and I just have the pearly ones.  I know they'll turn up again... Just seems weird that they suddenly aren't here.  There are days I swear I"m plagued by gremlins.  As well, my sewing machine was acting up and I just start using it and the presser foot comes off and does not want to go on, It took me hours to figure out someone had taken off a piece and put it back on incorrectly.  I start to sew again and my tension is all a mess.  I need to get in there and clean it... I suspect it's sat too long and needs a tune up.  I can be patient.  Instead of getting all frustrated, I have put the machine aside until I am ready to clean her up and see about a tune up.  I did however hand sew the bag, the one below.  It's hard to see, but I did some applique on there and stuffed it with a little batting and sewed it down in strategic places so it has a 3D affect, and the applique looks like a medallion.  I should be picking up some thread in the next couple of days and then I"ll get the bags complete.  This is just the first one, and where I am so far.

I added some embellishments to the hat I dyed up the other day.  I was going for a whimsical look, like bubbles floating across the hat, reminiscent perhaps of champagne.  I'm considering taking them off and putting more of a pattern on it.  I'm still unsure, I just k  now that it's not quite what I wanted, yet.

So, I'm considering what I can work on that will keep me busy and help add to my stock until I can get those pouches finished.  I did want to make a pair of Mary-Jane slippers again, and perhaps another pair of the finger-less mitts.  I get asked about those the most. I could work on my sewing machine too, but I'm still too frustrated even though I should be realizing it's just a life lesson, already learned and it's the tail end of the lesson and I'm discovering just how deep it went and how right my decisions have been since learning it. :D  Now i'ts just learning to take that deep breath, so that rather than moving on from the old, I'm moving forward towards the new without regrets.

UPDATE:
I don't know how, I don't know why, but I looked around one last time for a few things and low and behold, my spool of thread appeared, as well as my special buttons, and some items I thought I had left behind and would never see again.  I'm jumping for joy.  In all honesty, these items could not have reappeared at a better time.  I was just about to go and get my wool and put my fabric away for the next few days, when I decided to look in my sewers box one more time.  There they were, I had checked an hour previously and they weren't there.  Gotta love the Universe, I put it out there and then they show up.  That is awesome so without further adieu, I bring you a photo of my latest item... A lovely little bag, filled with hope and good intentions.

I'm riding the Up-cycle

Today's project is an interesting use of what was once a pair of pants.  I love to up-cycle things.  That is take something that has lost the ability to be of any use in it's current state, and recreate it in another way.  I had a pair of pants, that got ripped in an unfortunate place.  I could have fixed them, but it would have been obvious, and made the garment look worse not better, so I cut of the legs and created a bag out of it, that I still use today.  It's great, and has pockets just where I want them and it's really sturdy.

Today's project is to make some small pouch bags out of the legs.  I kept them just in case.  I also have an old jacket, the zippers broken and it's misshapen in parts.  However most the pattern on it is beautiful and I'll be using it to embellish the bag.  As well I have an old velvet pillow case that someone had used as a table cloth.  There is candle-wax all over it, and taking it off the fabric is difficult at best because of the nap, however I can cut around the wax and have enough to line the little bags.  I'll be making each one differently, but there will be similar elements to all.

In the above photo you can see a little of the damage on the pillow slip where I tried to remove the wax.  There is still plenty of fabric.

This is a closeup of the pattern on my old jacket, it's got a lot of potential, and is dark black.  I lightened up the picture so the pattern would be clear.  

And as you can tell here, these are my old corduroy's.  They were lovely once and will be lovely again.

So this is my project over the next few days... I've got my sewing machine out and I'm ready to use  my threads... :D

I Dyed and Went to Heaven!

I finally did it, I dyed something, albeit small and fairly easy I was looking for a certain look.  I have always loved the color ecru and find it hard to find when I"m ready to work with it.  I had heard that by dying with tea you could create that colour.  As you see it's a soft pinkish brown, that is so warm and natural, and it's not white.

So I had just knitted up this hat, real quick, a basic really, just a roll brim beanie, and I was not sure what I was going to do with it. As you can see it's creamy white with nothing really much to say, fine as it is, but I wanted something more.

It needs something more I thought, so I decided to give it a tea bath and try out that whole Ecru thing, after all what's the worst that could happen.  So I started to get prepared.  I wanted to avoid that mottled look that can happen if you just plunk it wet into the tea water, so first things first.  I soaked the hat in cold water for half an hour to get it nice and saturated.

The next step was to make a double on the tea.  I boiled 2 cups of water and poured them over 2 teabags in a large enamel pot.

The enamel pot is dark blue in there so it looks a little murky, but it's all good.  I then pulled the hat out of the water, gently squeezed out the excess and then plunked it into what looks like murky depths.  But see, not so murky, in fact it's a lovely color, all orangy brown.  Every little while I gave it a stir, over the next couple of hours.  I was patient and kept checking for color.

Once it was done, I squeezed out all the tea and then I rinsed it until the water ran clear.  Then gently squeezed out the water again.  So far this is what I have:

I know it still looks creamy, but the lighting was not that great, however, the color is pretty, very faded browny pink.  Besides it's still wet in that picture.  At this point I'm waiting for the hat to dry to see the true color, and then it's getting some further embellishment.  Once it's done I'll post.

I had a great time doing this little project.  I love the way the hat looks so far, and can't wait for it to be done.

God's Eyes

These are God's eyes, or Ojo de Dios, and they are beautiful colorful little woven objects used in Ancestor worship/practice down in Mexico.  Here is where you can find more information on God's eyes,  However, for the most part, they are a lovely little keepsake or reminder for passed loved ones.  This is a great little craft to do to cheer yourself up.  The weave up quickly and you can make them out of scrap yarn or like I did with embroidery cotton.  You can add beads to them or make monuments out of them.  The weaving and winding of this craft is also great for meditation or putting yourself into a meditative state.  Ahh, and there the pagan side of my faith is showing.

I remember my father coming home from a trip to Mexico with handfuls of red and green ones that we put on the Christmas tree to remember our loved ones.  All of them have been shared around with family members, and I like to pull out the one that I have and remember him when I hang it on the tree. :D

Hooray, a Craft Show

So here it is in all it's glory, the CHLY Spring Fling, my first venture into the local Fairs.  I've been invovled in a few in Vancouver and on the Queen Charlotte Islands, but this one I'm really prepared for.  I'm all excited and have already emailed my inquiry to the program director.  I've been busy working on business cards, price tags, little items and more.  I can't wait!