How far does your fashion travel?

Yesterday I took some international colleagues on a walking tour of Philadelphia and it reminded me of a great lesson in living sustainable. BUY LOCAL. While many of the products might come from a great distance away, many local retailers work with local producers and even if the product has made a long journey the consumer has not. Buying local save fuel and energy on the buyers end and supports the local economy and these are all parts of creating a sustainable life.

Smak Parlour is one of the best examples of local in Philadelphia. Abby and Katy are grads of the Drexel d&m program and they opened Smak Parlour after gaining some valuable experience in NYC. When they began, they produced their own garments in store - definitely local and supplemented their designs with a highly edited selection of accessories. They have moved their production off-site (it is still local) and have worked to include other local designers. 

My purchase yesterday was a necklace produced by a local designer using baubles and gew gaws scavenged from antique jewelry. Sustainable all round and very lovely as well. 

--till next week Restore, Recycle, Refresh & Renew

Broken Brolly Follies

I've always considered the start of school the start of a new year so I like to have a good closet clean out at the end of the summer. This year I've found a plethora of broke brollys (umbrellas luv). I've been thinking about how to reuse them and I have had a pretty interesting idea which I had hoped to get to for my Etsy shop this summer, but alas it wasn't meant to be. I'm not going to tell you what it is so you will have to stay tuned;)

Featured in Springwise Newsletter on May 12, 2010, I did find an excellent umbrella re-use project and it is even local to me! Recycling Zychal is a Philadelphia based company that gives broken brollys new life as doggie rain or bad weather coats, kitty catnip toys or human hoods. According to her site, Taryn Zychal hand makes each item and donates $1 to the Morris Animal Refuge for each broken brolly she receives as a donation to her company. 

Environmentally friendly and animal responsible what more could you ask from the brolly that gave her life for you to save that Burberry trench;)

--till next week Restore, Recycle Refresh & Renew

Spring DIY

Spring Cleaning? It's time. What to do with all the stuff you need to get rid of? 

The Instructables website offers up some great ideas for re-use. According to their website, "Instructables is a web-based documentation platform where passionate people share what they do and how they do it, and learn from and collaborate with others." In effect it is a community of doers who constantly create, share and collaborate on DIY projects.

Lots of old tees? Turn them into comfy shorts for a great beach cover up, lounge wear or pyjamas. Turn a loveable old hard back into a purse. You would be amazed at how easy these projects are. With step-by-step instructions and photo documentation it's hard to go wrong.

Now that you've made a start, let your imagination run wild and create your own reuse project with those book pages. Break down the steps. Take the pics. Join the Instructables community. Share. Repeat.

--till next week Restore, Recycle, Refresh, Renew  

New Season New Tote

Summer is on the way and your vacation is just around the corner. Time to consider your carry all options. Whether you choose to laze on the beach, hike in the mountains, picnic in the park or shop the high street you are going to need a worthy tote - all weather, packable, reusable and sustainable for an affordable price.

You say: "Impossible."

I say: "Not only possible but readily available."

Check out the Recycled Street Banner Bags at Poketo! All the way from Korea, these bags are made from recycle street banners in Seoul. Produced by a South Korean non-profit, eco-friendly shop that specializes in one-of-a-kind, hand-crafted items generally made from castoffs. These re-purposed banners are whipped into one of a kind colorful, reusable, weather ready totes available at a very affordable price.

While not 100% eco, the re-purposing of materials and use of local production are good choices and off-set the transportation from Korea to you to some degree.

--till next week Restore, Recycle, Refresh & Renew

DIY Art Supplies

I know that many of you like to alter your garments and pursue creative home projects so this week I thought I would share some Green Art Supplies with you. A local retailer, Utrecht, debuted a Green Product page on their website in honor of Earth Day. Here are some highlights of the options they offer.

Eco-Friendly paper: Moleskine products made with "green" papers. Utrecht offers up a variety of folios with a choice of papers. Moleskine offers up the Cahier on their website that is the epitome of eco-friendly - acid-free paper, thread stitching, cardboard cover and kraft paper covers.

Green Brush cleaners: Jack's Linseed soap cleans just about anything - hands, brushes, surfaces. Made from naturally refined linseed oil combined with a special blend of natural cleaners, this soap is safe, non-toxic and low odor.

Eco-Friendly mediums: Turpenoid Natural is an odorless turpentine substitute that can be used to thin oil paint or clean brushes. It is non-flammable, does not irritate skin or eyes and does not emit harmful vapors.

Better choices for your health and the environment - let your creativity run wild.

--till next week Restore, Recycle, Refresh & Renew

Iceland Inspired Scarf Part 1

In honor of my spring break study tour to Iceland, I am posting the project we will be completing there so you can join in. You can follow our escapades on the d&m abroad blog.

Iceland Workshop Getting Started.
This week we will gather your supplies, look at our goal and some inspiration.

Goal: Use Icelandic design as inspiration to synthesize the Icelandic design concept -maximizing resources through re-use to create hand-crafted products using a “raw” aesthetic, inspired by the powerful visual and forces of Nature.










Haugkaupf Tee Shirt - mesh, jersey 1
Project: Using the visual examples in your packet and inspiration from the items you have seen at Gallery Kraum and Rosa’s studio, create a 48” (approximately) scarf out of recycled tee shirts.









Rosa's pieced, jersey skirt close up 1

Supplies:
Gather old tee shirts these can include artwork or decoration if you like. You will cut these next week into 20 6”x 6” pre-cut squares. (You will need 16 to complete your project. Cut an additional 4 for experimentation and trading.)

Cotton or Cotton-Polyester thread. (You can use one color, or several that match or contrast with your tee shirt squares.)

2-3 needles that you can thread;)

1 pr. scissors that will cut both your thread and your squares.

Optional: Any decorations – buttons, beads, sequins, fringe, soda tabs, etc. Use the Icelandic design concept -maximizing resources through re-use to create hand-crafted products using a “raw” aesthetic, inspired by the powerful visual and forces of Nature to select your decorations as well.

Next week we will prepare the tees and stitch them together.

--till next week Restore, Recycle, Refresh & Renew