Ok, Let’s Save the Planet

It has been an interest and concern of mine for decades (saving the planet). I’m old and don’t protest in 100 degree weather very well. What I do is raise my own awareness of the impact of my living on this planet. I change my ways when it makes sense to do so and is non-life threatening.

As mentioned in a previous blog, I read a book that told the story of denim. Denim's journey begins in the Texas cotton fields. The cotton is harvested and sold and shipped primarily to foreign lands. You’ll need to read this book and find out the journey cotton takes from its birth to final denim details. Unraveled: The Life and Death of a Garment. This book made me aware of the impact of our fast fashion consumption and subsequent contamination of third world locations and populations.

Thrift stores are available to me where I live. I shop at thrift stores for fabrics within a garment rather than for the garment itself. I have learned to deconstruct a garment, render it’s useful parts, leave some parts whole that can be reconstructed into something more viable. I further challenge myself to use all parts of each deconstructed/reconstructed garment. Some small scraps go into making rope, stuffing for "Ugly Monster" dolls, also made from scraps. This is called zero waste sewing.

Recently, I was privileged to meet a young lady from Chile, Fran Gajardo, an international upcycler. She teamed with The Sewing Labs in Kansas City, Missouri for a series of events to help raise awareness of the need to recycle. Fran grew up in Iquique, Chile, a place where the world was using her hometown as clothing waste landfill.

During a recent workshop facilitated by Fran, a reporter from a local television station, Christel Bell, interviewed her and created a video of our group. “You enter (Iquique, Chile) and there’s endless hills of clothes — tall, tall hills of clothes … There’s dead rats around the chemicals. The lands are getting contaminated,” she said. “Why do we keep making more clothes? Why do we keep extracting more resources from the earth?” she asked. Check out the video here.

Fran learned to take the discarded clothing and transform them into new and beautiful garments. She has been able to take her message around the globe. Her message resonates with me. I try to incorporate deconstructed garments into my own sewing. I try and focus on natural fabrics, dyable fabrics, and recently leather belts and brass buckles.

Below is a series of photos from four garments and one hand dyed table runner deconstructed and reconstructed into a "Kimono" with a hoodie. It was satisfying to challenge my skills and creativity in this project. I include images of the final product as well.

Please feel free to comment and share what your thoughts or experiences are about recycling. Especially share what garments or project you have created using upcycled clothing.

Let's do our part to help the planet and upcycle fabrics when we can. Thank you!