If you follow me on twitter, you may have noticed a total change in the way I use it. To be fair, I did not use that much in the past (usually to notify the publication of new blog post) and therefore the fact that I am using it is in itself a major change. The second change is that I am using twitter as a way of learning and sharing more about ethical fashion, sustainable craft supplies, organic fabric, natural dyes, and the occasional upcycling project. My main interest is of course the craft supplies side of things as I am hoping to make more items myself, but I am fairly partial to ethical fashion too.
So what has happened so far and what does it mean?
- What is in my stash?
It started one afternoon - I took everything out of cupboards, shed/sewing room and the attic and I laid it all out on my bed; and it was scary - there was a lot there, some I did not know I had, some I wondered why I had it, some I liked as long as it was not used on me - a mix of 'it was a bargain I had to buy it', or 'I will use this for a specific project', or 'I just like the fabric/yarn, will see what I make of it'.
At the end of the day, I do like a lot of what I have - which makes destashing much easier - however I am not always sure I have enough of it for bigger projects. I seemed to have accumulated a lot of one skein of yarn here and 1m of fabric there. There could be strange combo being featured on this blog...
- How am I going to use my stash?
There will be two ways: I will be using my stash in future projects, and I will sell some of it and generate money for the next stash.
I assume that using my stash for projects will be both project-driven and stash-driven. I have 8 skeins of Chickadee for instance, and I have been spending a lot of time finding knitting patterns that I will require that exact amount of yarn (and still fit my growing bump - not easy).
As for the selling, I have decided to do it through this blog - probably on Thursdays, so it may be worth checking out because you could grab yourself a bargain. I am going to start with my stash of Tanis Fibre Arts yarn, beautiful but not for me unfortunately. Hopefully someone will love it and knit it!
- How strict am I going to be with this sustainability malarkey?
At this stage, I am SO into it - but I am always like this when I start a new project. I read about it, I research it intensely and that is all I think about. I think this is probably ok whilst my left over stash is still quite big and does not preclude any new project. It might be different if a new fabric line comes out or if I am dead set on a new project that requires specific supplies I don't have or cannot find a sustainable alternative for.
I am not going to be too strict about it. I will try to get organic fabric and yarn whenever I can. I am going to be a bit more relaxed about natural dyes - although that might change as my techniques improve and/or my favourite suppliers list increase. I am totally learning as I am going. I may come back to this post in a couple of years and wonder why I was worried of having a stash of cream, or wonder which planet I was on.
In addition, and most importantly, I will not judge anyone who is not interested in this, I am not an eco-warrior. I am just trying to spend my money better and find better alternatives if I can. And when I share this someone gets inspired as well, that one person will make me very happy indeed!
- What will happen on the blog?
Not a lot will change - this is a blog about handmade stuff, combined with the occasional life snapshots. I may share some of my favourite sellers of sustainable craft suppliers, as it is quite specific and it might be useful. I may try my hand at some techniques such as natural dyeing (I am fairly excited about this) - and share the result with you (good or bad, I promise). I will try to tell a bit more about where the fabric comes from - whether it is destashing or the new stash, and report on project destash - I have at the moment 6 boxes full of fabric and yarn. I am hoping to get it down to 2!
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| The yarn stash |
However in the background I will do a lot more research about what it is I am buying and how it is sustainable, and how it is helping local communities. I am interested in those stories, and it will make that garment I will just have sewn that extra special.
Phew! Here we are.. I did want to write this post for a while. It is not a new direction, but it is certainly something very important to me. Maybe having a second baby had wider impact than I thought. I hope you will carry on joining me and share your own experience of handcraft in my more sustainable world!
