SerendipiT Donating 100% of Sale Proceeds to Japanese Aid Organizations

2011 Is Here; Now What?

Well, it’s officially 2011. If you are into Mayans or Judgement Day there may not be much point in planning out your next project, but as for me; I’ve got a lot of work to do. I am extremely happy to have survived the holidays. Everyone seemed to enjoy the gifts that I made for them with a few confused looks but mostly happy faces. Lots of exclamations of “It’s my favorite color!” which is really what I was hoping for. Lots of promises to pair the shawls coats (apparently purple coats were very popular in recent years) and new soap savers being filled with beer soap. I hope everyone really loves their gifts as much as I loved making them, but now it’s time to work for myself. Well, for myself and my Etsy shop. I’m off to a productive start though. I’ve already made a brimmed beanie and a pair of sweater boots from the same sweater. I’m hoping to get well practiced at making these matching sets so that I can have a few for myself, a few to give as gifts and a few to sell in my shop. They combine all of my favorite things in a few fun projects: thrifting, recycling and crafting! I’m also planning to use my newly acquired knitting and crocheting skills to get to work on a few fun projects too. I’m hoping to make a few rag rugs, some stylish accessories and maybe a sweater or two. Of course, I’m already receiving family requests for a new knit scarf, patches and hemming and even a fun baby shower gift. I’ve also come up with some fun ideas for the shop and I’m going to try to start using patterns in my refashions, so wish me luck! I’m also studying up on photography so that I can improve my photos. Please be sure to comment on anything you see in my shop; I can always use feedback, pointers or advice. Finally, in just a few months it will be time to get started on those Christmas projects again. So who has time to worry about the apocalypse? I’ve got crafting to do! What are your plans for the coming year? Be sure to share photos of any projects that you get finished or links to any cool tutorials that you spot. Happy New Year to you gentle reader!

It’s Party Time!

That’s right folks, it’s officially party season. From now through New Year’s Eve you will be expected to don your best duds and doll yourself up to spend time with friends, family, coworkers and acquaintances. You can’t be seen wearing the same fancy dress year after year or be caught wearing the same suit and tie in every after party photo can you? What’s a green girl or boy to do? Even worse is the thought of shelling out all of that hard earned dough during this tough economy for a single purpose dress to be worn once and then hung in a fancy bag in the dimmest corner of your closet until you finally give up and donate it. Well, before you do that try refashioning. If you like to sew just grab a dress from a local clothing swap, goodwill or best friend who doesn’t want to wear it anymore. Purchase or make your own pattern and refashion that frock. I realize that this isn’t likely to happen for most of us during this busy holiday season, so I present to you some environmentally-friendly, budget conscious alternatives to grabbing that shiny new outfit from the rack. Check out some of these great recycled and vintage pieces from the crafty sellers on Etsy:

What I’ve been up to on Etsy

Hey, here’s a peek at both my personal shop (Serendipit) and my team’s shop (Fashion:Remix). Please keep us in mind for your personal wardrobe updates and gift giving. We all make and sell eco-friendly refashioned or recycled clothing and accessories.

Feeling Super Inspired

I love, love, love fashion. I love to watch it, read about it and obsess over it. Unfortunately I can’t afford any of it, so I try to make my own eccentric glamor work with what I have. I also like to refashion things I own to look similar to trends. I have no issue with wearing trends out of season; I just love to find things that are really inspiring. This season has so many great things to choose from. I don’t think I’ve ever felt more inspired. While catching up on some light reading about NY Fashion Week @cutblog their Best Bet really caught my eye. Funktional’s Scarf-Collar Coat was really intriguing so I popped over to Need Supply Co.’s website and found this beauty. There were so many great pieces that I ooed and aahed for an hour. The Fishbones top by LNA is so effortless, accessible and inspiring; I think this one will go up on my sewing wall. I suddenly feel the urge to focus on cut-outs and reverse applique. If I make anything interesting in the coming weeks I’ll be sure to post all about it.

The Centre for Sustainable Fashion at the London College of Fashion

I so want to go back to school right now. Yes, I know that I just graduated and I already have an expensive enough hobby, having collected several unrelated degrees that are of no use in the real world. However, should I ever have my chance to fulfill my dream of learning fashion design, I am so going to this school! What makes this school so unique is that it focuses on sustainability in the fashion industry. They are askign designers to think about what fashion really means to society and then distilling those notions and paring them down through more earth-friendly practices including, but not limited to: factoring in the true cost of production (rather than just pumping out, cheap throw-away styles and continually innovating and sharing the knowledge gained through new approaches. The section of their vision that I find most interesting reads, “Put human well-being at the heart of fashion production and consumption. Changing fashion practices to improve well-being of workers, consumers, designers, and producers is central to a more sustainable future.” This is an admirable goal and one that I hope, for all of our sakes, can be taught to the forward-thinking design students who will shape the goals of our collective fashion future.

Bio-couture: The Future of Fashion?

photographer Santiago Arribas Peña from the Science Museum

I stumbled upon a link to the BioCouture research project and was intrigued by what I found there. From what I’ve found by looking through the various photos on the website is that the goal is to radically change the clothing industry to address the ecological impact and the sustainability of fashion in the future. There have been a number of movements in the last few years to reduce the environmental impact of the immensely destructive chothing industry. Recycling and Refashioning have challenged the way that fabrics are viewed and used. Organic and Fair Trade seek to address the economic and ecological devastation visited upon developing countries. However, this BioCouture movement may just be the most radical yet. They have created and are using a new type of fiber, bacterial-cellulose combined with natural fruit, vegetable and spices to dye the material. Their website, which seems unfinished, does show some completed pieces including a “Veggie” Biker jacket decorated with and a “denim” shirt stained indigo with natural colorants. What I’m most surprised to see if that most of these materials are dated 2007.

Under the “links” section is the equivalent of an “About” page that lists information about the project team members. These include an author, Suzanne Lee, and a Dr. who serves as co-director of a Biotech firm funded by a grant from The Research Centre for Fashion, the Body and Material Cultures. You can purchase a copy of Ms. Lee’s book, published in 2005, on Amazon: Fashioning the Future: Tomorrow’s Wardrobe. Unfortunately, there are no excerpts, comments or descriptions of the content of any kind. The Biotech firm Cellucomp, lists as their vision, “To be the World leader in th e provision of products based on high performance composites derived from sustainable sources which utilise green production methods”. I belive this to be a lofty and commendable goal for this Scottish start-up. They are known for materials such as Curran, a biocomposite made from carrots. This materials has been used to create everyday items such as fishing poles and tennis rackets and is said to be as strong as carbon fiber. Curran received an honorable mention for the MEDIUM Award for Material of the Year for 2009:

Curran by Cellucomp (UNITED KINGDOM) is a high-strength biofiber formulated from degraded carrots with a stiffness that rivals carbon fiber. The material is remarkable for its capacity to enhance sustainability in a wide range of applications where lightness, maximum performance, and durability are crucial, from consumer products to aeronautics.

In poking around the internet a bit more, I was able to locate the new, updated website for The Biocouture project website.  An update on the homepage indicates that the new BioCouture jacket is on display at London’s Science Museum in the Wellcome Wing. The jacket will appear in a new exhibit titled, “‘Trash Fashion: designing out waste’” beginning June 2010 through February 2011.

I’ll continue to follow the exciting developments of the BioCouture project. I love the idea of growing fabric from bacteria using environmentally-friendly manufacturing practices. Perhaps one day I’ll be able to buy new clothes without damaging the earth. Until then though, I’ll just keep refashioning the clothes I recycle from Goodwill.

Easy Refashion: Dress + Tshirt = Fold-over Waistband Skirt

This tutorial is short, sweet and perfect for a beginner. I’ve made variations of this skirt at least five times already this year and I never grow tired of the supremely comfortable, soft and stretchy fold-over waistband skirt. I am petite which means that dresses rarely ever fit me right. My proportions just aren’t the industry standard. I do however, frequently fall in love with the pretty fabric of dresses at my local thrift store and this is the solution to my former dilemma. For this refashion I used a thrifted dress with a cute floral pattern that was ill-fitting and had a few stains on the bodice. I also used a tshirt that had bleach stains and underarm stains, but would still had enough usable fabric to form a waistband.

Here’s what you’ll need to get started:

• Cutting tools (pinking shears, fabric shears and a rotary cutter). If you don’t have all of these, you can get along just fine with a simple pair of shears or scissors.
• 1 Dress that will fit comfortably over your thighs. Take a dress that you want to work with and hold it up to see how it will look as a skirt. If it looks good, move on.
• 1 tshirt that fits comfortably around your waist and over your hips.
• Sewing machine or needle and thread
• Ruler or Cutting mat (or both)
• Tailors Chalk

How-To DIY:

1. Hold the dress up to your body and determine the length by folding it where you want it to hit on your waist. I chose to make my new skirt knee length. I folded in half and then marked with chalk. Cut the dress through all layers just above the line.

2. Measure 5″ from the bottom of your tshirt. This will create a fold-over waistband that is approximately 2″ wide. Mark with chalk, then cut through all layers to form a tube.

3. Slip the skirt into the tshirt tube and align the seams. The bottom hem of the shirt should be facing down toward the hem of the skirt. The right side of the dress (pretty side) should face the wrong side of the tshirt tube (inside).

4. Gather and pin the skirt to the tshirt tube waistband. Start by pinning the skirt seams to the tshirt seams. Next pin the center and then gather and pin at 1-2″ intervals until the skirt is secured to the waistband. You may need to gather and form a few small pleats if the skirt is wider than the waistband. You can do this at random around the waistband by spacing them evenly. You don’t have to be precise. Ensure that the top of the skirt meets the top of the tube.

5. Sew the waist band to the skirt using a zig-zag (or other stretch knit stitch). The zig-zag stitch allows the waist band and skirt to be stretched without breaking the thread. If sewing by hand, use the whip stitch.

That’s it! You’re done! See how easy that was? Now, just slip on your skirt and fold over the waistband so that it hides the top layer of stitches. Do a little dance, twirl around and show your friends and family how cool you are. You just made your first fold-over waistband skirt from a dress and a tshirt; how exciting! If you are lucky, you may even get a warm compliment like the one I received from my daughter, “Wow mom, it doesn’t even look like you made it!”

Baltimore Clothing Stop & Swap

Boy am I sorry I didn’t see this sooner! I was posting a comment on the Baltimore Sun this morning and to the right saw and ad for the Baltimore Clothing Stop & Swap. I had never even heard of this, but I was immediately excited. Woohoo, someone is organizing clothing swaps in my very own city! I love clothing swaps because you can shop for free and reducing your carbon footprint by reusing the clothes that someone else no longer wants. I love to swap out my closet at least twice a year and since I discovered clothing swaps I don’t have to feel bad about it anymore; It’s glorious. I clicked on the link and noted that they were having a swap this Saturday, May 1 from 10am – 6pm in Mt. Vernon. I’ll be out of town on Saturday celebrating my Dad’s birthday, so unfortunately I’ll have to miss this one. The good news? They are traveling all over the city (and have been since early April) through the middle of May. I’ll be keeping my eyes peeled for the next swap so that I can spruce up my wardrobe for Spring. The Baltimore Clothing Stop & Swap has it’s own website here where it says:

Baltimore Clothing Stop & Swap:
Style & Sustainability Through Common Threads

April 18 – May 17, 2010

All ages, genders and sizes are welcome to participate in a new kind of shopping experience that benefits the environment and the Baltimore community. Donate, trade or take clothing and accessories in an exciting, outdoor, store-like, money-free exchange. (Even if you do not donate, you may take up to three items!) The Baltimore Clothing Stop & Swap will travel to a variety of locations throughout Baltimore city for one month.

The swap is free and open to the general public.

Their mission is simple, “The Baltimore Clothing Stop & Swap’s mission is to raise awareness about recycling, focused on secondhand clothing and accessories, through an exciting and free service that benefits the environment and brings together the Baltimore community.” There are two very important differences from the little clothing swaps that I attend (usually put on by friends at my local bar/restaurant The Parkside):

1. You can only bring Ten (10) items to donate

2. You have to tag your items

Still, choosing only ten preloved items to donate may be the hardest part and if shopping for free means that you have to fill out some little paper tags I think it’s worth it.

Here are the remaining events; see you there!

Saturday, May 1
Mount Vernon Park, North Square
699 North Charles St
Baltimore, Maryland
10 am – 6 pm

JUST ADDED:
Sunday, May 2
Baltimore Farmers’ Market & Bazaar
Underneath the Jones Falls Expressway at Holliday & Saratoga streets
7 am – noon

Sunday, May 9
Patterson Park (specific address not yet determined)
10 am – 6 pm

Friday, May 14 – Monday, May 17
Maryland Institute College of Art, Mount Royal Station, Frost Plaza
1300 Mount Royal Ave
Baltimore, Maryland 21217
Fri: 11 am – 8 pm
Sat-Mon: 11 am – 5 pm

WorldofGood.com

I occasionally pick up crafting items/fabric from Ebay because I can get a used tshirt with free shipping for less than at my local Goodwill (which can run in excess of $4.00).  Today, while perusing the site I came across a new section of Ebay called World of Good.  The “About” section says, “WorldofGood.com by eBay is the world’s first online marketplace to convene thousands of People Positive and Eco Positive sellers and products all in one place, empowering you to shop in ways that align with your personal values. Respected, independent organizations verify the positive impact every product has on people and the planet. Our goal is to ensure that every choice you make here is a good one”.

WorldofGood.com breaks products down into four categories: People Positive, Eco Positive, Animal Friendly and Supports a Cause. People Positive ensures that “producers get great new opportunities”, or fair-trade practices. Eco Positive, are “good products for the planet” or what you think of as “green” items (ie, recycled, refashioned, use conservation-based raw materials and/or production methods. Animal Friendly and Supports a Cause are pretty self-evident in their product descriptions.

This new method of buying and selling is intriguing and I’m going to look into becoming a seller and I hope that this categorization helps people to more easily make informed decisions about the products they buy and how they affect the world around them. 

Here is a link to the press release issued on September 3, 2008, “eBay Launches New Online Marketplace for Ethically Sourced and Eco-Friendly Products”.