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 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

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