Green Options

One of the things about being an artist that has always bothered me is it’s a hobby (or life) which is geared towards social & political change, yet is entirely toxic to the artist and the earth. Which is an oxymoron that really hit home for me when I became chemically sensitive from the overuse of unsafe materials in unventilated areas. For years after I contemplated what art really meant to me if I could not use the toxic oils, acrylics, stains and glue I was accustomed to- all the beautiful bright colors & goop I had based my entire style on.

I love the idea of making vibrant meaningful art from materials that are locally, organically, and safely sourced- and was shocked to find that we have things in our back yard and grocery that create quality art that’s sure to make your heart thump and hands clap. These videos are of the painting process using poke berry & turmeric paints, made easily by boiling each with some kosher salt for about 45 minutes. I started experimenting with these paints a few months ago and the color has not faded at all- plus you can mix these organic colors together to get more variations. The paint brushes I used are made with human hair (mine and my neighbor’s), a stick and a rubber band to hold the hair in place (you can shape it perfectly with scissors!). The “canvas” is paper sewn together and hung in a tapestry fashion with locally woven organic cotton scraps.

This weekend is the biggest festival of the year in Asheville NC - which normally would frighten me since there are huge crowds, bad music, and freaky combinations of food smells wafting about these events. This year I decided to go on a treasure hunt, specifically a green crafting hunt! It turned out that 1/3 of the booths were representing environmental causes from biodiesel, recycling, petitioning to save trees, to the ever alluring eco minded crafts. It is totally rad that the world is catching the green fever.

Now you can take a virtual walk with me through a few of my favorite festival crafts…

It never ceases to amaze my inner child when I see someone has taken funked out metal parts and welds them together to make whimsical creatures. This flying bird monster & friends looks like it all began with a tiny BBQ propane tank.

This week I got a chance to catch up with Etsy’s eco lingerie designer Clare Bare. Clare has incorporated thrifted & vintage fabrics into all her designs, taking a once tablecloth, bed sheets, curtains or old granny’s nightie and transforms it into retro eco lingerie. If that isn’t earth hugs and kisses enough, she uses organic cotton to line her sexy & imaginative knickers. These are the kind of skivvies that a green crafter can get all gushy over. Clare is obsessed with her pet bunny, felt frustrated with pro-fur classes in fashion school, and gives advice about how to get started making your own upcycled creations.

Who taught you to sew?

When I was in sixth grade, I took a mandatory sewing/cooking class- we learned how to make nachos and duffle bags…need I say more? Our teacher was the biggest nerd- it wasn’t a very serious class, but I took it pretty seriously. I remember everything so vividly- I bought all this white cotton fabric with little blue cows and red hearts printed all over it and a pin cushion that looked like a mouse, and for my final project I made a stuffed animal rabbit! Even though it wasn’t considered “cool,” I secretly loved that class. I didn’t really sew again until high school when a relative passed away and left behind an amazing old Singer home machine with a sewing table and an entire sewing kit full of fabric, thread and trim. I had a friend whose mother is the ultimate homemaker and she taught us basic construction skills such as darts, hems, interfacing, etc. We were inspired at the time mainly by the Victoria’s Secret catalog (and our lack of funds necessary to buy their bikinis) so we would stay up all night sewing, thriving off of our creative energy, then drive to the beach and lay out all day in our creations. Ironically, now I think that Victoria’s Secret makes overpriced, poor quality garments that don’t fit well-I strive to do the opposite of what Victoria’s Secret is doing in so many different ways.

You went to Parsons School of Design in NYC, did your studies there influence your decision to begin designing lingerie?

While I was in school, I pretty much learned more about what I didn’t want to do than what I did want to do. Originally I went to school thinking that I would be a fashion design major, but after foundation year I felt that I couldn’t chose just one thing.

This week I have been spending a good deal of time in the kitchen, cooking up natural dyes. I am actually surprised that after 7 years of art in college I had never learned to make paints, toxic or non toxic. But after reading Autumn’s post about how to make your own milk paint, I got to thinking even deeper into how to make pigments since the colored pigment can be as toxic as the binder. What I found out was a creative revelation that I can not stop cooking up! My personal criteria for creating pigment/dye is this:

It cannot be toxic in any way, even if the substance is natural.
It has to be in abundance and easily gathered in nature (don’t ever take so much that the plant can’t survive or make seeds.)

I totally hit the jack pot when I walked outside to find that my landlady next door has a plum tree with a gazillion plums that had already fallen to the ground and were being eaten by bugs, rotting, fermenting, gushy etc…

The natural organic dye experiment begins…

Supplies you’ll need to cook your brew:

Water
Salt or vinegar
Cooking pot ( a spare that you don’t use for cooking food)
Measure cup
Strainer
White, off white or light colored natural fabric (linen, organic cotton, wool and silk are best)
Some sort of plant, flower, berry, root, bark, etc to dye with

The other day my very crafty neighbor came in my back yard and handed me a magical book called Generation T 108 Ways To Transform a T-Shirt, to which I immediately became all drooly over and enthralled. This book has been out since 2006 and was written by a kick ass lady in Brooklyn who would host Tee Parties! Everyone got to bring over their old useless t-shirts and learn to transform them into fabulous designer (and not so designer) outfits & accessories.

Since I am learning to sew (better) right now and actually don’t own t-shirts I want to cut up I decided to delve into the saucy project #69 “Cinch City” with some organic cotton scrap fabric. I bought my organic cotton for $2 downtown Asheville NC where the Spiritex warehouse sells off the leftovers from their locally woven organic fabric production. (Major score!) The “Cinch City” skirt truly was easy, although they say to only cut one rectangle to make the tube skirt, I actually had to go back in and make more of an angle to fit my waist. To make this skirt all you need is a swatch of organic or upcycled fabric big enough to wrap around your waist & hip, a ribbon, and the most basic sewing skills. It really inspired me to use more drawstring and cinching in my sewing for decorative effect! You can get super creative with this simple design too by making a longer more sultry skirt, instead of the Vegas style mini- or even adding a drawstring cinch at the waistline too so that you can fluctuate in weight and still sport your skirt, well, forever.

If you are looking for a yarn store online that will check all the eco approved boxes, this is it! Knit For Brains (a name that makes me giggle) carries all natural fiber yarns that are not only made of yummy fibers such as soy, corn, banana, milk, organic cotton and bamboo but they are all cruelty free or %100 vegan.  Being that I had never crocheted with a yarn so edible and luxurious I had to order some soy and banana fiber yarns from them. You’re not really supposed to eat this stuff (even though half of them are also names of stir fry ingredients), but my kitty did think the soy was delicious and slurped some of it up like spaghetti!

Corn, soy and bamboo are all very similar in texture and feel, being very smooth, silky and soft. The soy was totally easy to work with, in fact it was like a crochet dream come true - it never got caught on the hook like the funky acrylics do, it pulled through so easy my project went twice as fast, and the end product was soft and pretty.  I didn’t get to try my banana fiber yarn yet, but the texture is really fascinating - it looks a little wild, frayed and fun…could possibly get caught on the hook?

I feel like I just found a unicorn! Trying to find a one stop shop for eco art supplies is like finding a needle in a hay stack. Even if you have some earth friendly crafting supplies here and there in big chain stores, what we all yearn for is that one store that has a delightful eco minded collection and nothing else toxic to dig through. It’s such a buzzkill to have one recycled paper pad in a store full of stuff so nasty and smelly and noxious that I am hurrying out of there for some fresh air.

Before I rant anymore about how silly we humans have gotten with our toxic craft inventions, I think I shall go ahead and share this mythical creature I found. Eco Art Works! (Oh my gawd, I hardly know where to begin because this online store has such a cool and interesting selection, every single item is a green crarfters treat.) Eco Art Works crosses barriers between the artist, the crafter, and children to bring a full range of eco art supplies from non toxic professional watercolors, pastels, and paints to organic yarns, beeswax modeling clay, soy crayons and paper making kits. If you aren’t dizzy yet from this Bigfoot-like sighting there’s even more, so hold on to your chair…

A few weeks ago I wrote about the joys and environmental benefits to upcycling your old worn out duds into hot new creations. We asked that you send in some snazzy pics of your own upcycled fashion projects and this is moment of truth, where we crown a green crafting superstar!

The First Runner Up is Becky, a loyal fan of Crafting A Green World and a wonderfully obsessed crafter who writes the blog Sew & So. Becky’s upcycle fashion is totally awesome cause she is willing to experiment with some really super fugly clothes and manages to  resuscitate life back into their once doomed future. Her ability to take a way out of style bridesmaid’s dress belonging to her mom and turn it into this adorable cocktail dress rocks! For the record, Becky has inspired me to go on an upcycling 8o’s prom dress binge that has been really fun. The Before and After shots of her mad sewing skillz really drive home the point… lame can be made cute.

If you are one of the many modern brides who are now concerned with the massive carbon footprint a wedding can leave behind this will be an eco treat! The average wedding is calculated to produce 14.5 tons of CO2, which is more then the 12 tons a person emits in one whole year. Yikes!

The last few years have thankfully brought us far beyond the once confused crunchy DIY & organic wedding designs into a realm where your green wedding dress fantasy will now become a memorable reality. This is a joyful list of craft culture worthy bridal gowns that will not only beautify your celebration but will solidify your environmental beliefs.

For those of you who may cower at the thought of sewing your own organic or upcycle wedding dress, don’t stress- there’s affordable eco designers who will handcraft your dress, plus bridal gowns are available from charities, vintage, or on auction.

Reduce, Reuse, Upcycle! In the wild wonderful world of crafting you know these are our way of life, in spite of what the mega big box craft stores would like us to think. So this week I set a goal: what can I do with only thrifted pre loved materials? Second hand stores are gleaming with craft finds like retro sewing patterns, stacks of fabric, old curtains, sheets and clothes. Clothes that not even your grandmaw could love anymore…but what if all these things could be reconstructed into something new? Craftalicious designers like Amour Sans Anguish and Supayana take discarded and way out of style garments and turn them into brand new eco fashionista dreams. Layer upon layer of eco couture and smart redesign. While so many are singing the praises of new fabrics like organic cotton, bamboo and peace silk - the most eco savvy choice is actually the fabric that requires nothing new to be produced, cutting out the intensive waste it takes to grow, break down and weave the fibers. While this might not be the #1 choice for those who are chemically sensitive, it is the most gentle on our sensitive earth.