a little political refashioning

Since this is a non-partisan blog (as far as I know), I won't get into any electioneering here. But I wanted to share a little project with you that some of you Sew Greenies might be interested in: an online t-shirt making rally for your favorite candidate!

I signed up recently for the current round of Wardrobe Refashion because I've decided not to buy any new clothes this year. But that meant I couldn't buy a campaign T-shirt, and I have to say that I'm one of the more head-over-heels supporters of this particular Democratic candidate for the US presidency... (I'll let you draw your own conclusions about who that might be). So anyway, I decided to make my own T-shirt.

Then I thought about it and realized that some more folks might want to make their own shirts too, so I'm starting a rally! If you're curious, come check it out! We're designing and making our own shirts... repurposed, thrifted, recycled and/or hand-made shirts only, with your own designs!

Sign ups are going on now through the March 11 primary, and rally participants will share their creations on Flickr... winners will be chosen on the same date as the NC primary (my home state) on May 6th. There will be exciting crafty prizes for the winners!

If you want to do this but support a different candidate [or live in another country or something ; ) ], feel free to take this idea and run with it. There's plenty of craftiness to go around!

eco moms unite

my dad sent me a link to this New York Times article about moms getting together to talk about ways to go green at home....

i really enjoyed many of the points they bring up. even though i'm not a mom :)

read it here

[the image above has nothing to do with anything other than the fact that it feels weird to post without a picture and it feels like winter becoming spring where i live at the moment]

On this day.

Albert Namatjira Mount Sonder, MacDonnell Ranges c.1957-59 watercolour and pencil on paper, National Gallery of Australia.

Today the Australian government made a formal apology for the past wrongs caused by successive governments on the indigenous Aboriginal population.

Text of PM Rudd's 'sorry' address
Today we honour the Indigenous peoples of this land, the oldest continuing cultures in human history.

We reflect on their past mistreatment.

We reflect in particular on the mistreatment of those who were stolen generations - this blemished chapter in our nation's history.

The time has now come for the nation to turn a new page in Australia's history by righting the wrongs of the past and so moving forward with confidence to the future.

We apologise for the laws and policies of successive Parliaments and governments that have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow Australians.

We apologise especially for the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, their communities and their country.

For the pain, suffering and hurt of these stolen generations, their descendants and for their families left behind, we say sorry.

To the mothers and the fathers, the brothers and the sisters, for the breaking up of families and communities, we say sorry.

And for the indignity and degradation thus inflicted on a proud people and a proud culture, we say sorry.

We the Parliament of Australia respectfully request that this apology be received in the spirit in which it is offered as part of the healing of the nation.

For the future we take heart; resolving that this new page in the history of our great continent can now be written.

We today take this first step by acknowledging the past and laying claim to a future that embraces all Australians.

A future where this Parliament resolves that the injustices of the past must never, never happen again.

A future where we harness the determination of all Australians, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, to close the gap that lies between us in life expectancy, educational achievement and economic opportunity.

A future where we embrace the possibility of new solutions to enduring problems where old approaches have failed.

A future based on mutual respect, mutual resolve and mutual responsibility.

A future where all Australians, whatever their origins, are truly equal partners, with equal opportunities and with an equal stake in shaping the next chapter in the history of this great country, Australia.

In pictures.

Full text.

Rudd's dramatic first step moves Australia forward.

Lighting up Sorry week.

bleeding hearts benefit

hi sew greeners.

renee is hosting a sale on FRIDAY with the all of the proceeds going towards the Sierra Club . In her own words this is why:

I was reading about the impact oil drilling will have on Alaska, should the US pass legislation to begin leasing drilling rights in the Chuckchi Sea . Environmentalism is a cause I feel very strongly about, and couldn't sit back without doing something to help out. Especially with Valentine's Day coming up, I believe there is no better time to show the world a bit of positivity through loving actions.

She's collected a bunch of crafty goods and will sell them online starting Friday. If you'd like to support the cause there's more info and a preview here . the etsy shop [that will be filled] is here

hang up

happy new year to all our readers! we wish you all the best in 2008. and (naturally) a new year comes with resolutions (though every year i say i won't make any). this year i am trying out the more encompassing idea of living a "conscious" life. thinking (and in turn questioning) more.


our bathroom sans shower curtain

and now, as we nearly complete our bathroom redo, i have been put in charge of the accessories. earth friendly i say. no plastic please. (sorry rubber ducky.) i would very much like a linen or hemp shower curtain (this one in particular) but worry about the fine print stating that a liner is required. as usual, i am turning to our very knowledgeable community for guidance. does anyone have any experience with these products? any suggestions? i would be so grateful.

and what - if any - resolutions have you made?

give, give, give!

Do you have a few last minute gifts to pick up, or to make?

I do. But I'm going to forget about them. Instead, I'm going to the mall.

I'm serious. At the local mall, there is a big Christmas tree with lots of names still on it, of kids who have real needs - like warm coats and clothes for school - and who could really use a Christmas present from a friend like me (and you).

I'm going to go pick a name off the tree for each person left on my gift list. I'll take note of the child's name, age, and any other information there is about her or him. I'll buy her or him a new coat, a pair of sneakers, socks, mittens and hats, art supplies, or whatever they've asked for. Then I'm going to wrap the gifts right there at the mall, drop them back at the gift tree, and then go home.



Once I get home, I'll make another little gift out of each of those big gifts. It will go something like this: I'll grab a Christmas card (or make one) and write something like:

This year, your gift is a winter coat for Sam. Sam is seven years old and lives at Haven House, a home for children of incarcerated mothers. Thanks for helping Sam get something he really needed!

I think I'll make a little token to represent the item and then put the card and the token into a box and wrap it up in nice paper with a fancy bow. Voila! Double gift, and it was something that somebody really needed.

This might seem like something that your family members (or whoever you have left to get gifts for) wouldn't like, or might think is weird. But you might be surprised at how much they appreciate it. So... maybe we can meet in the Food Court for a latte?

Holiday Crafting with the Kids

We are looking into more creative ways to reuse materials and get the kids involved in holiday decoration over at Two Green Chickens. Come on by and share your ideas!

toys without the tox

Has anyone else been bothered by all the horrible news about toys lately? With the holidays upon us, all the news about lead, phthalates and asbestos in children's toys seems particularly ominous to me. I've never liked the part of Christmas where kids are overwhelmed in beeping, spinning plastic toys and the city trash collectors have to do double-duty to haul away all the packaging and wrapping. But the pollution that's in our kids' toys is far worse. It's not that I ever thought that plastic doo-dads made in China were particularly good for kids, but lead, for crying out loud?

First, everyone should take action to let Congress know we need decent safety standards to protect kids from nasty chemicals. And after we've been responsible citizens, we can turn to being responsible consumers, and the toys we buy for the kids we love.

My suggestion? Let's make our own toys this year!

I love making toys, and Christmas is a great excuse for me to get Santa's workshop going on my kitchen table and make a whole bunch of them. So I thought I'd share some of my favorite resources on toy-making, and ask y'all to share yours, too.


bad kitty, a wicked but cuddly sock monster

My all-time favorite toy to make is a sock monster. All you need is rudimentary sewing skills, some old socks, polyester fiberfill or other toy stuffing, and your basic needle, thread, pins, scissors, etc. Sock monsters can be incredibly simple little goblins, or complicated animals with long, curling tails and embroidered features - kids seem to love all of them, no matter how well (or poorly) you can sew. The best book I know for sock monster instruction is "Making Stupid Sock Creatures" by John Murphy (read my previous post about this great book here).


knitted momerath village

There are oodles of resources on the web and in the library for knitting toys. This blog is devoted to toy knitting, and includes an index with lots of free patterns. I love Jess Hutch's toys, and her book is a gem (if you can get your hands on one). Lots of knitting books with kid and baby patterns feature toy patterns in among the sweaters and hats, especially books by Zoë Mellor and Debbie Bliss. "The Knitted Teddy Bear" by Sandra Polley is a great resource for knitters of all skill levels who want to make old-fashioned, cuddly teddy bears. I also really like "New Knits on the Block" by Vickie Howell, which includes not just softies but all kinds of neat costumes and accessories. "Family Circle Easy Toys" is a classic with both knit and crochet patterns - the copy in my local library has been well-loved in its decades-long tenure there.



For stuffed animals, dolls and doll clothes, a wonderful book I picked up recently is "Toys to Sew" by Claire Garland. Her toys range from ridiculously easy to not-very-hard, and the patterns are way cute.

And finally, puppets! You can make a puppet out of just about anything, and while you could make a puppet and give it as a gift, making puppets together with kids is so much more fun. I just picked up a copy of a beautiful book called "Puppets Unlimited with Everyday Materials," by Anushka Ravishankar & Gita Wolf. The authors include detailed instructions for making stick puppets, string puppets and many others based on traditional Indian puppetry, with regular junk from around your house. Their focus is on making the puppets together with children. Then you can make your own stage and celebrate Christmas Eve with a puppet show - a great gift for kids and grown-ups alike.

Have fun making some toys for the kids on your list this year... and don't forget to take action!

Shameless Self Promotion!!!

Erp.

I'm a little nervous about posting this here... but I swear that I was told that this is just the place to post this. So if you don't like this, or me (that isn't very nice) I blame Lisa. :)

Tomorrow, Friday, November 30th I'm speaking on a panel for Sustainable and Organic Design at San Francisco State University. The talk begins at 7pm and honestly, I would be honored if any of you could make it. This is the first time I've spoken in public about what it is we do at Del Forte and my experience in Organic and Sustainable design.

I'm going to be talking on the subject of our business (fashion, specifically organic cotton denim) and how this is sustainable specifically and, in a larger sense, what is sustainable for the world and for future businesses. I will most likely also talk about how to go about being sustainable, what sustainable means to me, and how to bring this sort of mentality and knowing to a broader scope.

A University Map may be found on http://www.sfsu.edu/~sfsumap/, The event is on the top floor of the Ceasar Chavez student center, located in the center of the campus. If you are driving, parking is best in the one large parking structure off of Lake Merced Blvd. You can also take BART to Daly City and take the SFSU shuttle to campus.

Again, the event starts at 7pm and there will be three of us talking and answering questions. My fellow panel-mates will be including Gail Baugh, Textile Specialist from San Francisco State and Jeffrey Bletcher, founder Yam Street. If you ever had any questions about sustainability in fashion, textiles etc here is a great opportunity for you to ask them! One of my favorite teachers always said that there were never stupid questions in the world. Only people too stupid to ask. I always liked that.

So yes, that was my shameless self-promotion. I hope you don't mind... and I hope even more that you can all come down if you have the time. Thanks!

a little hut - a large inspiration

patricia is an amazing graphic designer. she is also an outright outstanding maker and crafter of things - as her blog - a little hut will attest.

i wanted to point out two ways in which she shares her creative genius with us.
check out her tips on recycling materials, and all of her tutorials in general.

wow. perfect ideas for holiday recycling if you ask me!



you can support patricia by buying from her shop too.

wrap away

it seems like a lot of us like to re-use wrapping materials.

i keep ribbons, tissue paper, boxes, padded envelopes and re-use them when i can. obviously i am not alone - yay!

shelly in canada wrote in with this tip:

I keep a stash of Christmas fabrics with our decorations, mostly fat quarters but there are a few bigger pieces. Every year we wrap all of our family presents with the fabric and tie them up with ribbons or bits of scrap yarn. They look great under the tree and after Christmas everything gets packed up again to use next year.

here's shelly's stash waiting to be used and....


here's a sweet little package

leah from michigan [leah - you didn't give us a link to you] provides us with a link to a pdf which shows you how to wrap things the japanese way in fabric!



here's the link to the pdf {it's from the japanese ministry of the environment!!}

finally - gretchen sent links to posts she's written about recycling and wrapping.... one on general wrapping ideas and one on how she used ikea instructions as wrapping.

thanks you guys!
keep your ideas coming! and have a wonderful thanksgiving if you live in the united states!

Me - R R R - y Christmas!

taking on a personal challenge of
Reduce
Reuse
Recycle
this holiday season.

and getting the kids on board too. we have been having a lot of discussions on the difference between reducing, reusing and recycling - and the hierarchy of prefer-ability here. our words became actions yesterday.

last year we spent time cutting circles out of our received holiday cards as they came down off the piano. (handy 2 1/2" circle punch was a big hit with the kids and the activity was a perfect quiet distraction for a post-holiday afternoon.) this year we are reusing them in the construction of some holiday balls (oh elementary school memories here!) - to hang along our diningroom light fixture. while i thought i would remember how to do this - when i sat down it escaped me. a tutorial was found here.

happy holidays!

cross-posting this from jumilla bugs - after being inspired by f.pea's last post, thought i would put this up, and see what other crafty ways you are using the 3 R's this holiday season!

a composted party

As the holiday season approaches, you may be contemplating hosting a party at your house, and maybe you're even contemplating how to minimize the waste from such a party. We recently had a big party in our backyard, and experimented with composting the garbage. Some things we did right, and some things not as well, so I wanted to share some learnings with any of you party people out there who might be cooking up a fabulous low-waste event of your own in the next few weeks.

We don't have enough dishes and silverware for 60 people, so instead we ordered compostable plates, cups, napkins and flatware from Green Line Paper (there's probably a local supplier near you). On the day of the party, we set up the trash area with one garbage can, one recycling bin, and for the compost, we used a smaller trash can lined with a brown paper bag.

One thing we didn't do as well was to make clear signage to direct the composting, since it wasn't exactly intuitive for most folks. If I were to do this again, I'd make a big sign that says:

PLEASE COMPOST YOUR GARBAGE
1. Scrape the food from your plate into the garbage.
2. Tear your plates and cups into 4 pieces and throw them in the compost bin.
3. Throw your forks and spoons into the compost bin.
4. Thanks for feeding the worms!

We didn't actually have worms in our compost bin before, but a friend was nice enough to give us some from her kitchen worm bin to help speed up decomposition for such a large amount of stuff. If you had a well-running outdoor vermicomposting area, you could forego the plate-scraping and give the worms all the food waste (except for bones, if you had any). Even if you just have a kitchen worm bin, the torn up plates and cups make a great bedding medium for worms.

The party was great! And afterwards, we only threw one bag of garbage into the trash - and it wasn't quite full - so I'm considering the effort a success. Party on, worms.

we want to hear from you!

hello there sew green readers. sorry for our lack of posting of late. seems like all of us ladies have been swept up in flurries of activities.

but we have a request/hope.

the holidays are quickly descending upon us. i don't know about you, but i want to think small and local and a bit greener this year. many have already taken the buy handmade pledge - which is GREAT. but what else is there to do?

this is where you come in.

we'd love for you to send us your holiday ideas.

any tips, tricks, tutorials are wholeheartedly welcome. please send your posts with WEB SIZE [read 72 dpi and under 1000x1000 pixels] pictures to :: sewgreenblog AT gmail DOT com

we'll filter through them and post as many as we can.
please be sure to include any credits and links to your own blog or website or whatever. if you already posted something on your blog - we can cross post it!

we look forward to hearing from you!!

Like a Junky...

It is I, your ever-delinquent eco-fashion writer Amber Clisura, here to give another thrilling installment in the greening of your wardrobe. Please, first and foremost, fellow Sew Green contributors, accept my apologies for being such a bad poster. My life has taken a series of crazy turn in the last 3 months that it is a wonder to behold me standing up. But now on to something important - clothing.

A while back I had the pleasure of interviewing Anne and Kerrie, the two masterminds behind the UK Based Junky Styling. Junky has been turning out amazing clothes that have been recycled, reused, rethought as well as combining industrial jobber/remnant fabrics that would have just been thrown out into their line. (A jobber/remnant fabric is yardage that is used commercially for fashion but whose remnant, after production use, is too small to resell to a fabric store for public consumption.) From skiwear to evening wear these two women have designed it all. Innovative and challenging, their clothing evokes a sense of history without being lumped into "vintage". Couture and streetwear that truly redefine an idea of what a 21st century eco-conscious woman is and how she should dress.

(L) Annie and (R) Kerrie. Two wonderful women with one of the
most incredible labels I've seen in a while.

While in Paris for Pret a Porter I talked to them further about the eco-fashion business and their upcoming 10 year anniversary show at Dray Walk in the heart of London’s alternative design neighborhood.

Here is part one of a two part interview.


Many people think that in order to be considered an eco-fashion designer there is so much you have to learn before you can even begin to grasp the work. What inspired you to start Junky? Were you already interested in the environment when you started the company?

We began because we wanted to dress differently. Initially, it was all about unique design, and we were able to achieve this through cutting up clothes that were second hand. We started because there is nothing worse than being in the same place and same dress as someone else! We didn't study for it and it the environmental relevance was there, but the design was at the forefront.

You’ve received a lot of attention from the fashion press in Europe but how do you feel your impact has been received so far?

Nominally - We are just a small spec on the fair-trade horizon, but one nevertheless that Vogue's called 'high fashion street couture', so we're happy with that !

A lot of people are asking how to give back, how to really make this sort of movement hit home. How do you feel you can push yourself even further? What are you hoping to achieve with your message of reuse::recycle::refashion?

Acquiring franchises around the world where we can train up the local community's to create and recycle in the Junky way, this would leave a
great legacy

Something that is even more challenging in being green in this fashion world is being a woman. What has been your biggest challenge as businesswomen? As a start up? Doing eco-fashion?

When we started 10 years ago the biggest challenge was to get people to take us seriously and believe that our idea was a viable business option, as opposed to just a hobby! For us, perseverance and a belief that what we were doing got us through a lot of disbelievers. Meeting other women in business has enabled us to succeed in our right.

Of course I have to ask what would you have done differently if you had a chance?

I think I’d have liked to have some kind of training/experience before we began...Whether it be tailoring, business, accounting skills etc – I just think it would of made life easier !

What do you feel is the biggest issue that you hope you can tackle with your clothing?

The sheer disposability of fashion - let it be known that you CAN wear clothes for more than 1 month. The idea that when you are tired of something you can change it up and wear it again and again.

Do you feel that there is space for people to not do anything to stop the environmental harm that is going on in the world?

We have all now acquired a heightened level of education/information about the environment. No matter who we are, or what life we lead. So there are no excuses at all left for us to not do what we can to make a difference. We believe that if everyone does something, no matter how little, a change will be made

Is there anything you can share with us about your design process?

There is nothing to tell ! We just create sustainable designs via our Junky's ethos - Timeless, deconstructed re-cut and completely transformed
clothing - forever

There is so much talk in the world today about trends and how “Green is the new black.” Which leads one to believe that Green and Eco will go the way of my Z Cavaruccis. Where do you think eco-fashion is going? How do you feel apart of that process/transit? Where do you want it to go if it isn't going in the direction you feel it should

It’s my belief that finally, eco-fashion is becoming more design lead. Which is .of course, the way forward. People can't be expected to purchase clothes solely on the basis that it's a green product; they have to feel and look good as after all, they are buying a style- a fashion. So this movement towards a more sophisticated cut etc is a very positive thing. This then backs up my theory that green fashion isn't just a fad - like organic food, you can't forget what you've learnt, so keep learning and moving the cause forward.

For me I know now that I’ve learned a lot of some of the small things I can do to make a difference how do you bring issues of greening into the rest of your lives?

We all here at Junky do as much as we can. From choosing and investing in green energy to recycling, we all try to live as sustainable of a lifestyle as we can.

ecospot films

A still from Small Steps

A high school friend of mine and her partner's ad/film made it into the 20 finalists for a 60 second "Save the Earth" ecospot. It just so happens that my friends' spot incorporates craftiness into making a difference too, so I had to mention it here!

There are some inspiring little ad/films here. Check it out and vote.

Ones I thought were especially good:
Small Steps (my friends' one)
Plastic Ocean
Keep it Equal
The Little Things
The Sky is Falling