At the Summit of Awesome a few weeks ago, I attended a session called "Crafting a Green Craft" with Urban Fauna Studio, cosa verde, and Glue and Glitter.
They got me thinking a lot about the materials that crafters use. I bow down to hand-crafted goods because they aren't mass-manufactured using questionable labor and questionable processing techniques.
But then I had a "duh" moment when I realized that oftentimes hand-crafted goods are made from materials that are mass-manufactured using questionable labor and questionable processing techniques.
For example, there are tons of depressing statistics about cotton fabrics and how much pesticide goes into producing them and how many people get sick from preparing them for mass consumption.
That's why my preferred modus operandi is upcycling: using old materials to make something new. Matt and I tried to upcycle as much as possible while planning our wedding. For example, we cut up an old dress and turned it into a tie, a sash, and flower pins for our wedding party. An added benefit of upcycling is that it's usually budget friendly!
Upcycling is not always a feasible option. As far as I can tell, the next best option is using more eco-friendly fabrics (like the ones on sale at Harts Fabric right now!).
When I went to High Fashion Fabrics last week, the eco-friendly selection was disappointing so I opted for Amy Butler's regular cotton (oh, Amy, when you are going to produce an organic line?). I didn't beat myself up about it too much because I'll probably wear that hat for the next ten years (I'm not the kind of girl who needs a new wardrobe each season).
But still.
6 comments:
Speaking of eco-friendly fabrics, I just got my vintage wedding dress in the mail today!! Wheeee!
It's beautiful, it fits me perfectly, and it cost me $20!! Almost too good to be true. With a few modernizing alterations by a talented local seamstress, this is going to be the perfect, perfect dress for me!
And it's recycled. yay! :)
(sorry, I had to be happy somewhere)
Thanks (once again) for an incredibly helpful post! I've been lamenting over how to dress up the plain white tablecloths our venue is providing. I narrowed it down to either doing lotka paper overlays, or fabric table runners. The paper is too small and expensive and despite looking at a ton of fabric, I've found nothing that I liked, let alone that was organic or sustainable.
Enter your post! Hart's is just an hour or so south of me, and they have a fantastic selection of patterns that I actually like!
@ mandyrosy: Send us a picture!
i never even thought of that. that's a really good point. i think it'd be easier to digest buying eco-stuff if it wasn't so expensive. it's horrible, but with prices of everything being so high, it's hard to justify budgeting even more money for something....
and i made a purse last night from ebay fabric lined with goodwill fabric. the straps turned out weird and now i don't like it. :( all my hard work. buuummer.
Sara,
I totally will send a photo, but maybe I'll wait and send you the before and after alterations. Thanks for being excited with me!
@ mandyrosy: Sounds good!
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