Monday, November 30, 2009

Sustainable Textiles



I went to talk a few weeks back now, hosted by the local Sustainability Group and presented by an artist who has not long established herself in Bendigo - Vertiy Lougoon.

Opened my eyes up to the long series of processes to making fabrics - let alone making them into a garment or item. Such as the material that the fabric is made from - fibre plant or animal or a synethetic process and the resources that go into growing/making these such as water, land and chemicals - then the process of making the fabric again using engery and often unethical work processes such as child labour, then the dying and the waste, vast amount of chemcials and water used in this process too! Completely NUTS!

Very overwhelming and depressing - making with fabric from the op shop really makes sense or refashioning even better.

here are some businesses in Australia who inspire me greatly:
Bird
http://www.slingfings.com.au/
Maike
Gaye Abandon

Here is a list of green tutorials here from Sew, Mama, Sew

My favourite materials are horse hair fabric and embroidery floss - a good project for me is to sort out how sustainable they are and if there are any alternatives?

The images dont really relate to my post today - however they are off the new decorating activities taking place around our new home!

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