A few weeks ago I came across a post on the Sculptress Studio blog (discovered through her inspiring Flickr feed) about attending a sheep shearing at a 1840’s festival. Making clothing at that time (which isn’t long ago, really) was a three-year process. Three years. What she wrote here really struck me:
“Clothes had value far beyond what they do today. How many shirts and socks have I thrown away because of a small hole worn in the fabric? How easily would I have abandoned it if I spent three years making it? How did waste apply in the three year cycle? I imagine by the time cloth reached the trash pit it had gone from adult clothing, to children’s clothing, to quilts, to patches, to rags, to wicks, to nothing but a few thread bits.”
Around the same time, I came across baby vests made from rescued cashmere, like the one pictured above, made by eecee bb. An excellent example of good quality adult clothing being saved from the trash and turned into something useful (and adorable). I really want to try to be more aware of the impact of my purchases, and re-use as much as possible.
Have any good upcycling tips?
About
Britt McMaster is addicted to cucumbers. She and her husband, Ryan, live and work in a tiny apartment in downtown Vancouver, BC. Both Ryan and Britt love to write lists of all their ideas on action sheets, and they have pages and pages. They write especially quickly after they've each had a dry cappuccino or two. Most of those fanciful ideas will stay on paper, but Cucumbersome is Britt's platform to try some out.
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- Anthro's new window displays are so beautiful - heaps of flowers made from plastic bottles. http://bit.ly/dgTiAM
- Searching for short-ish black rain boots with big gold buttons on the side... know who posted them? Vancouver is ever so rainy.
- @pompomkaren LOL! I think I might have just what you're looking for! http://ow.ly/N8m7
You could take a look at http://www.wardroberefashion.net/
members pledge to only make their clothes or re-fashion thrifted items and then post their results on the blog. I’ve seen some great stuff on there
HI!
I’m not sure if this counts as upcycling, but I’m in the process of moving and I’m using clothes and towels to wrap around my dishes and breakables. This way I don’t have to unpack garbage and will save on fuel by reducing the overall shipping weight.
Lori.
Quite sobering and also inspiring!