Ragamuffin Wreath

First step is to locate a wire coat hanger and pull it out of shape to form a circle of sorts.

This is great as the hanger has that natural hook to hang the wreath when you are done, just squinch it a bit .

I used old sheets though any old fabric can work. (I used sheets for muslins so clients saved them for me)

Rip it into strips aproximately 1.5 inches by 7" then tie each strip onto the hanger base, starting next to the hook. If you want less flop - make the strips shorter etc. Okay now just keep going until you cover the hanger. Make sure you push the ties up tight against the one that went before.

I forget how many strips it took, suffice to say it takes plenty.

Then tie on a few ornaments. i used old metal ones from a rummage sale. The wire edged bow covers up the hook.

When you are satisfied with the look of your wreath, it is time to stop.

Happy Winter Solstice to You and the Ones You Hold Dear

fashion waste

equals lost carbons...ie carbons spewed into the atmosphere with negative values attached.

The production of the garment takes energy - the manufacturing plants where weaving, dyeing cutting, assembling and sewing the fabric take place are energy suckers. The fiber crops as well as synthetic fiber production all take energy before and after the processing. Getting all the pieces together via various transpotation means before it even gets to that manufacturer takes lots of energy!

I am not going to bring up the slave labor conditions in much of this nor the callous abuse of resources like water and soils because it is huge mongous; and deserves its own headlines.

If the garment is part of an over run then carbons are emitted getting rid of the thing and there is absolutely zero real value added. (this gets tricky as labor/pay needs factoring in as a plus but then the game of illusions enters the scene)

OK Lets face it; our economic model is a spoilt brat. The brat has survived by tossing the majority a few crumbs as it plays the game of victory and spoils. NO MORE!!! We are wiser, techier, more communicative and full of spirit. We are going a different route. The curtain is down and the brat is visible.

Co-op anyone?

Please take a few minutes for Cap and Trade a great short on the Global Warming Summit

Thanks to

at SCCC lecture on sustainable fashion

- change is in our hands

on screen-Kimmi Designs at Sustainable Ballard Festival Sept. '09

everyone working to make earth the home we feel welcome in.

Montana 1 for fashionRIP

Re-use and renmnant skirt. The perk of having been in custom biz means i have a lot of left over fabrics. The pain of being in custom is those bits and pieces are stacked in crates everywhere!

Collective UK

Tammam website

-Bespoke collection

Jane dress

Have been learning about the Conscious Design Collective which was founded by Lucy Tammam. She is an eco aware designer that saw the best way to boost sustainable fashion was to organize. The collective started in 2008 and has 8 members that really get involved with putting on the shows (striving for 2 a year) though other sustainable designers are invited to participate.

" being part of the CDC allows us to share costs for Fashion Shows etc. Its also a good way for combining contacts." says Nicola of Beautiful Soul.

Lucy started Tamman her own label in 2007 and sees the collective as a good thing but says it needs a full time director to be really effective.

Well Seattle i am ready to try it here. Contact Kimmi Designs or email me,

x

the Victoria and Albert Museum

lecture oct 28th at SCCC -mom needs a tripod

along with people from the London College of Fashion joined forces to talk about ethical fashion October 27th..
Designers Sarah Ratty of Ciel, Christian Kemp-Griffin from Edun and Matilda Lee from the Ecologist were the guest speakers and the question of the day was “is green still the new black?”
The discussion was pointed towards trade and labor practices in the industry. The full house showed that people are aware and concerned.

However right now cheap clothing sales are rising. Quality and personal style are lost in the propaganda of a throw away world. Trouble is that when we throw away this world we pretty much go with it!

ignorance isn't bliss- its now just tacky denial.

Lecture -Free Fun

Feathered friends

The Lacey Act of 1900 was passed to stop the killing of 1oos of thousands of birds, including entire breeding colonies of over 10,000 as the feather fad boomed into the 1850s. Marie Antionette puportedly wore a feather plumed headdress during the reign of Louis the XVI which ignited the trend.

However she never said "let then eat cake."

Fast Fact

Success is not excess!
Every year there is $100 billion to $1.5 trillion in over supply of goods- the worst being non-perishable foods, seasonal clothing, consumer electronics and other consumer packaged goods. (that's a lot of packaging waste as well)

Excess inventory represents 7% of annual revenues in the apparel segment.

This results in corporation losses as well as extra environmental impact as this overstock must still be transported and warehoused. Add this to the initial manufacturing costs, its a big price to pay for garbage!

Words to Sentences

Monster Shop Shoot at the SB Fest

Kim and i started on the path to organize the reFashionists, the recycouturiers, upcyklers, altClothiers and the slew of eco and green designers....in order to help each other with information, do shows, buy bulk (great for the tee trade) and generally get the word out that we are the leaders in fashionable change. (and to get some language down )

Sustainable fashion is a treasure chest of possibilities. Our choices in spending and earning, in work and play influence the larger picture. As we educate each other about the connective reality of life and forgive the lack of knowledge that got us to the edge of disasters, we will participate less and less in the old madness. If we see the alt path clearly, we will follow it.

Sustainable Clothing is a choice that can be independent of the wastemaking cult right now! The new designers and the new textiles are making it easier every day. As we enable research and economic viability for the changes to continue and grow, they will.

And that is a very good thing.

fast fact

Between 8-10 million tons of textile waste goes to landfills every year. That's a lot of material garbage.

Made with sustainability

recyCouture dresses from "Species on the Verge" collection. The skirt (at left) is made from man pants that were refashioned, painted, reverse appliqued, stenciled and free stitched. Part of the Signs and Symbols Collection this one celebrates Rachel Carson and her book, "Silent Spring". (see other early work at start of this blog)
The skirt at the right walked by to balance the photo; isn't that nice?

The Andean Collection

Socially conscious fashion is about the details. This is where the physical and the mindful meet.

Fashion has to be more than protection against the elements. We left that stage way back, say thousands of years and even then i suspect a pretty feather or stone was added just because! In that light we now have choices that are polished and beautiful and made with a thought to fair economics, human dignity and worth and environmental concern. We can adorn ourselves with amulets and earrings, bracelets and beads and feel good about it.

That is how it works. When you support the actions you want to see in the world by participating you enable that which you want to happen.

Tis Simple!

The Andean Collection is a treasure chest of color and design made from seeds. The artisans are respected, earn fair wages and participate in the companies earnings. Please check out the website as there is no way to do it justice with words. I love the chunky tagua bracelets!

(PS Amanda is a former Seattlite and is offering a 20% discount this month- i am not capitalizing on this entry except in goodwill, which just might be fair trade principle number 1 )

PPS the 20% discount comes in a confirmation email when you sign up for the AC mailing list

Kimmi Designs

Kimmi and models at SB Festival 2009

Real clothes were on the main stage of the annual Sustainable Ballard Festival. The (neo) Fashion Show was a collage of work from local designers and innovators. It was full of delightful, fun and functional garb from second use textiles and alt materials.

Kimmi Design showed a formal and feminine collection made from "recycled fabrics, curtains and tablecloths etc."

In the spirit of sustainable sanity, Kimmi Designs soar.

More from the SB show later!

See you at the Festival!

fashion in the park

I will show up with one garment (at least - as model dependency is part of show -ability) and other designers who make clothing to sell and may do so at the fest!

It will be fun to see what the local eco fashion line up will be.

Excess

Success/Excess Quilt 2005-06

is not the answer!
I had another insightful discussion yesterday with a young man who had done some community service work in Illinois for charity (I think it was Salvation Army) where he would watch truck after truck pull up to a long conveyor belt, dump its load of clothing and turn around and go out for more.

At the end of the belt was a compactor that mashed the fabric into bundle lots that were then put back on trucks to be shipped to China. Add up the friggin' carbons! and wonder at the math that creates the illusion that more is better. Gag!

Ok that was only around 85% as some went to resell which is what we think is happening with our tossed wearables because the truth smashes too many sacred golden calves and that raises questions.
(hi, if this is your story i so thank you for sharing and please ask your girlfriend to email me. I have questions about the clothing illusions held by the kids she works with. We can and will do better than this!- if we just try)

London Fashion Week starts

video shot of Kayo Trousers (available to buy) with Manami Vest

and i am excited for my friend Nicola who is launching the debut collection of Beautiful Soul this year. What can i say but "cheers" and as she goes forth with ethical fashion so shall others follow. We can and we are doing better!

what is this?

refashion is to modify
as
recyCouture is to art.

Recycled clothing has become a generic term for all second (or more) round use of garments and other textiles that are re-purposed into clothing.

Recycled actually means to take back to a premanufactured state and then to remake into something else; usually a totally different product.

Perhaps in order to be taken seriously we need to define our work in a more precise manner.

Please vote for fashionRIP Project at Greenwala. This is a no registration required, quick action that you could bookmark and then vote every day til November . Their rules!

Simple Support

Hello,
if you are here- please go to here! to Greenwala to vote for the fashionRIP Project to help the second phase which is to start a small business for street up economics and sustainable development.

The fashionRIP Project has been the creative motivation behind some major breakthroughs in my path and i am experimenting with applying these concepts on a larger scale.

Fashion may look trivial but the fashion reach is mighty and infiltrates multiple industries and issues. Sustainable fashion is seeking to optimize its best, awake from the toxic nightmare it enabled and then free itself.

Seeking to heal the past by staying observant, listening and being respectful of all of our true power and natures is an individual and a cultural pattern that we can develop. To be able to bloom together must be better than this!

Flash Fashion at Fest

local craftng op

NM Opens

got my saddle shoes on and its time to move

in Bellevue, a local turf.

I worked for this company a long time ago at Frontenac Square in St Louis. I got the job because of connections. My late ex-father-in-law was a CEO big shot in the town, so i walked in and had it. So easy, classic to human nature and yet so unfair; for all parties.

Motivated workers were left out and the store had a bored, slightly rebellious salesperson. I even told a few people that they had the same sunglasses at Famous Barr a few yards down the mall for a lot less! The class system restricts access which restricts ideas and though it worked in my favor i knew it wasn't right!

The truth in systems is that they grow to outlive their use and then hang on like demons, cutting at the jugular of advanced solutions.

However, the sustainable fashion ethos is going to march into the Neiman Marcus lair at Bravern and attempt a friendly breakthrough. By writing this, i am forced to proceed with an as yet amorphic plan to enlighten. i have chosen to accept this mission.

It is easier by far to make the necessary noise and feel good about myself- even if it is embarrassing, difficult and awkward, then it is to write a lousy excuse as to why i couldn't. I shall wear something fabulous (perhaps a fine vintage refashion) and the arrogance of rock and self righteousness.

Who is this person?

Tartan Weave

(9/03/09)

"the first tartan ever to be woven in Africa came off the loom yesterday (Ive added a pic on my profile).: carded, spun, and dyed locally from the weavers local flock, without the use of pesticides and no reduction in the water supply the cloth will continue its ethical, eco-friendly trail to be made into garments and accessories by local producers for domestic use and the US schools market. The South Africa tartan will be launched on the 16th. December - South Africa's 'Day of Reconciliation - at a televised reception attended by government ministers and a host of celebrities. The South Africa is the first of 22 'national' tartans being produced for the garment and fashion industry throughout Africa and beyond.
'At last, a rainbow cloth for the Rainbow Nation' (Desmond Tutu)."
David McGill
from excerpt posted on EFF
PS I asked David for some larger pictures and will post asap.

Truman Alley

Junky Style shop in Truman Alley, London

Junky Style, i think this store is selling reFashion apparel. There is also a book called Junky Styling featuring wardrobe surgery and not related (but i could be wrong)
No matter i'm lovin the language of it all ...

Sew Up Seattle

inspiration everywhere , don't buy- reFashion!
Window display at Nordy's in downtown Seattle

is behind the Flash Fashion 24 hour Challenge at the Sustainable Ballard Festival next month the 26th and 27th. A local refashion/eco designer show will happen on Saturday and ought to be fun and inspiring as well as being an intro to those new to concepts of clothing off the fast fashion grid.

The Sew Fun option on Sunday is to make bags for the local food bank.

Sew Up Seattle is a scrap happy delight and they offer free sewing classes at Goods for the Planet on the last Saturday of most months. They ask you to call ahead because space is limited. This is a good way to sample the sewing experience and they are in a nice location.
Good stuff!

letter to University Art Gallery,

Dear Director,
i understand that local is important and that recycled fashion shows are a good way to start into sustainable fashion concepts without stepping on old toes.

I am glad i didn't pursue my invite to help with this show any further as real designers attempting to work towards a sustainable economic model, could have been hurt.

Sew Fun at this years Sustainable Ballard Festival is another "let's play green" affair happening next month. I suppose i am just sad that the USA is so far behind Europe in its outlook and concepts.


Have a good show. The Haute Trash affairs are fun and no threat to the fast fashion industry either so you should have a nice event,
deborah barnes

(edited for a general read)

re-Sew Fun

Adili eco fiber guest bags at Sustainable Fashion Center show

Oh, the Sew Fun part is about making bags. Perhaps the local sustainable designers are going to show bags as well as clothing, or the 2 days are only linked by their textiles.

I am confused.

Clare C and Beth H are the heads of this event and i am meeting up with them today at Goods for the Planet an eco home and garden store here in Seattle. More to follow!

Sew Fun

recycouture skirt made from a 70s poly stretch top, a couple remnants and some beheaded silk floral stems

will be at the Sustainable Ballard Festival this year, Sept 26 and 27. I am getting into the design of this gig and will update when i know more. Right now all i can say is it will be a good experience for designers and audience because ripping into a toss away garment is easier than cutting into a piece of $78.00 a yard fabric.

Air Drying

Kensington Gardens area of London next to the Phoenix Hotel

instead of using an energy sucking dryer has benefits other than cost/carbon savings.

Air dried clothing and linens smell great (unless the air is stinky with pollutants) and sunshine is a natural bleach and will kill germs and mildew; so dark clothing should be hung in the shade.

If done with intent hanging the wash on an outdoor line is an op for stretching and bending, which is good for flexibility.

Aqua Green Silk Dress

was finished on the day it was needed. I forgot to take a picture. Will try to get one later as it really turned out beautiful. Really!

Eco friendly

Brush and vanity jar top are celluloid (early plastic), resin topped (BPA hazard) plastic and metal belt from the 60s,
mod shades and a vinyl handbag...PLASTICS, PLASTICS EVERYWHERE

Fabric from recycled plastic is being labeled eco friendly and there is some truth there but perhaps not enough to justify a long term engagement.

The melting process requires "energy" and most likely spews toxic gasses into the air, perhaps these gasses can be contained but according to several websites the amount of time and energy put into the product doesn't justify the friendly labeling.

On the other hand, the smatter that is reused keeps it from the landfill for one more round. Metals, glass and paper however can be re-cycled multiple times and are easier to process. Plastic needn't be a total loser as some things are highly useful and better adapted to the plastic formulation.

So for now, drinks in plastic and excess packaging are on the top of my scratch it list.

Caral - War was not the Answer

In a Gothic Library in NYC

Early this morning PBS aired " Lost Pyramids of Caral" a doc on the Caral site which is one of a cluster of 18 in the Supe Valley. These are the oldest known urban settlements in the Americas, dating around 2600 BCE.

These "cities" had large public areas, irrigation systems, sunken plazas and public buildings with stairs, rooms and courtyards built around a large plaza. These ancients were fairly sohisticated planners and developers. The largest pyramid is 60 ft tall and covers an area of about 4 football fields.

That is interesting, but the best is that they were an advanced civilization built on commerce and pleasure. A peaceful society where no weapons, mutilated bodies or protective walls were found. Instead bone flutes, cornets and beads were found in the pyramids as well as evidence of squash, bean and cotton crops.

Prior to this it was theorized that only war would bring people together to form such complex societies.

Justifying war and exploitation as human nature hits the dust big time....we can be civilized and fair trade is in our natures ...definitely our better natures.

reFashion profile

This is the start of a refashion from a dress that was made about 14 years ago from a pure silk fabric that was purchased in Sienna about 15 years ago.

The sleeves and skirt are being salvaged and the bodice is a redesign cut from fabric left over from its first life.

Letter to Ethical Fashion Forum

Hello,
I was at the Urban Craft Uprising (Seattle WA USA) last Saturday to gather up some interesing eco designers that would like to be in on a sustainable fashion show at the Western Gallery where i was asked to show the recycouture clothing I am doing for the fashionRIP Project.

I was happy to see that the quality, variety and number of designers doing reFashion has improved even since last year. I also came across some great screen printed tees - some fresh graphic styles that stood out even in this rather avant garde group of artisans.

A couple of the best printers told me that affordability of more sustainable blanks was all that held them back and that they would love to switch to the greener, fairer path. I thought of you (EEF) and wonder if you can point me to a supplier that i could turn them on to. I suspect i could gather a few more printers and then be able to do collective orders where the costs would be within their range.

thank you, deborah barnes

Urban Crafters

en masse at the Urban Craft Uprising this weekend (8/1 and 8/2)
It will be cool inside the Exhibition Hall at the Seattle Center and the last time i attended i smiled a lot. Checking out the vendors this time around i see that many are picking up on the green. More smiles.

vegan shoes

I am curious about the faux leather or Vegan products ......not from animal sources. Is that a necessarily good thing when looking at full product lifecycles as most (if not all) faux leather is a petroleum based product which causes a lot of toxicity in recycle and production processes whereas organic (animal) products are microbe friendly and add nutrients to soils as they breakdown. Petrol breakdown is part of our plastic waste nightmare etc.

I am caught on this issue and can argue well for either side using the sustainable agenda as a platform. That is why it is one of those tricky gray issues.

My feet sweat puddles in plastic and leather breathes, so for feet's sake i am opting for leather. When it comes down to it, the healthiest rules.

Sara of Devout Dolls

Sara in a 1920s vintage red flapper dress at her opening reception last Thursday at Some Space in Pioneer Square where the artist premiered "The Big Sleep" collection. Check out the show to really see the beautiful attention to detail and "staging" that makes these dolls works of art.
In the meantime wander her website .....it is worth it!

Plaid tidings

Mad about plaid especially these great tartans.
Beauty, sustainability and fair trade ....soon to be in the Seahawks colors among other NFL schemes.

Eco Design Fair

hands on art in my neighborhood and for the wrist....
.

a Beatles charm bracelet

I noticed i have followers; thank you
and i apologize for being slow on the posts.

i am trying to arrange sewing/recycouture classes, do the first volunteer workshop to make altered cards from the unsolicited cards that nonprofits mail to people hoping to guilt them into giving -i have a problem with resource misuse no matter the cause, sell more of my worldly goods and get to London for the Eco Design Fair.

I am glad i "invested" in cool old junk, rock n roll and vintage clothing because it has resale value and is enabling me to carry on with this sustainable fashion crusade.

The British have embraced eco design with more support than here in USA so going there to be in its glow keeps me positive. The organizers are delightful and i hope to meet up them as well as with some designers i have connected with via email.

i am learning so much with their help!

organic hair shirts

vintage fabric, ethical without the zzzzzzz's

After the Seattle GreenFest i knew the USA needed a more inspired approach to ethical fashion and other things of style. So i booked a flight to the Eco Design Fair in London.

Going green isn't all earthy, raise your own chickens and wear boring beige hemp garb; please dear people, what is this hair shirt nonsense!

The dye issues are relevant but i was told there have been some major breakthroughs on that front. (Something i will try to track down) Otherwise cut, line and a little frivolity are not taboo! Ethical is not tedious, boring nor bland....despite its prior framing in the morally righteous a hole club; ethical is from a wide angle lens, a fresh heart and a lot of courage. Ethical is about being your best possibility and in the new model, where it is encouraged, a kind of magic ensues.

Or i am mad as a hatter and so be it....better mad than hollowed out by the sellers of fear and crush. Human sacrifice is not an option.

getting out of Dodge

Musing on nonprofits; it occurred to me that my credit union ( i left WaMu about a year before the failure as i didn't like what i was hearing) was a good use of a nonprofit and should be enhanced to support local start ups for ethical economics. Insurance could also be in the form of a nonprofit "pool " as both are part of the basic infrastructure for economics based on human values and not the old corporation focus where money is all that rules the bottom line.

In this existing (soon to be archaic) pattern, taking advantage of resources soon becomes exploiting for that equals power and power equals growth and growth means to gobble up other corporations. The bigger they get, the better they can exploit and so it goes, a virtual malignant tumor on the planet, degrading resources (humans included -think HR dept!) better and faster and ......

pouf!

Or we can decide to value clean water, air that is breathable, the natural beauty and myriad forms of life that enable this world to be our "home." Perhaps the wisdom to try and understand the whole of nature is the drug that will enable the cure that will help us realize what it is to be healthy. Healthy critters make better choices, are more creative, loving , forgiving, learn more and faster and.....

At least it would make for a great experiment!

trouble in Dodge

Love the look but hate the waste maker under drama
in this old Photoshop class assignment.

Does anyone else wonder why there are so many non-profits out there? All trying to bandage, clean up, cater to the symptoms and otherwise make for a patch up of the very thing that created most of the problems.
They are in fact dependent on the problem makers for that is where the money is, money they need to operate and so they beg. Another case of trickle down toxicity.
This is twisted.
To not address the fundamental disease of a bad system is to never cure the disease. The disease in this case mimics cancer and the host is the planet.
Stupid humans!

charming degrade

the more she wears it the better it gets
- notice the threads and tears that give this skirt personality

dressing for yourself, jewelry artist style
PS i lost your name, please email me if you see this
as credits are important!

last weekend i was selling my vintage clothing and textile collection out of a couple of dedicated rooms in my parent's house. This sales approach started with collectibles, went on to the textiles and the next one is records, cds, books and crafts.

the surprise has been that it feels more like a house party than a store and we are meeting the greatest people.

i highly recommend this way of promoting the re-use of goods. Also it is a boost to the local economy and in this case, the fashionRIP Project.

PS i am losing capital letters purposefully, just for the fun and balancing of it. ( gaining sustainable capital on one side which is offset by losing unnecessary capital on the other...hmmmm)

Memorial Day

at the Seattle Folklife Festival i ran into my friend Michael. We met at the Sanctuary Art Center.
Ever the stylist he shows how first hand imagination can rework second hand duds. Michael you are fabulous!

Ethical Fashions Twist

i have a friend getting his masters in Occupational Therapy and we got to talking about designing for physical issues. I was wondering how many designers thought about it and today came across Chris Ambraisse founder and designer of A&K Classics in the Eco Fashion World e-letter.

About 15 years ago my mother made a dress for a young girl with an enlarged heart that caused a hump in her little back and expanded her chest. The mother just wanted her daughter to have a pretty dress. I never thought i would revisit this memory under these circumstances but in the new definition of fashion, it certainly has a place.

i am taking on a new challenge. This one is to do a presentation/lecture for SCCC that will be delivered Fall Quarter. The theme for the class that quarter is body and spirit and i was asked to develop my talk on sustainable fashion with that in mind. The topic is larger than the umbrella issues i was planning to talk about, but accepting the path as it unfolds enlightens in surprising ways.

recycle that Styrofoam

In a Bergdorf window last March. The styrofoam chandelier is similar to the tea cup and saucer one hanging at MOMA...coincidence or repurposeful repurposing of a recycle idea. It gets so confusing....but looks good!

Coca Cola and Eco fashion

Earth Day at North Seattle Community College

Wow, just saw the ads Google put up on this blog. Eco Fashion from recycled plastic Coke bottles is not eco friendly and not sustainable and not endorsed by this blog!!

That the Coca Cola company is jumping to the green ethos is a little late (forgivable) and absurdly unjustifiable (not forgivable!) No amount of recycling compensates for using plastics in the volume we have been conditioned to accept. Making these bottles and then recycling them uses a lot of energy and i just heard (from my dad) that the emissions from the recycling process are big on airborne toxins. Add this up and in the end you have a shirt that will not break down when worn out, thereby adding zero value back to our soils as organic matter would.

In fact that tee shirt will possibly outlast all of us if we continue in this insanity - greenwashing business as usual is obscene!

Earth day GRRRRRRRilla Marketing

against vending machines. Please visit the fashionRIP blog for the story.

Frou Frou sucks!

Aw yes,
as Nicola Woods a former student of the London College of Fashion responded to our international face off with olde fashionality

"We are fighting the same battle and from the same corner it would seem. As a designer, my aim is to prove that ethical can be sexy and you do not have to compromise on style, just because you are looking out for the environment and the people who have made what you are wearing.

...We will get there and I can see a definite movement happening in London, which has removed the Frou Frou and *air kissing* ( sweetie darling style) and replaced it with innovation and like minded designers and individuals, who look out for each other as they share a long term vision. It’s very exciting."

Her Beautiful Soul label suits her.