Crafting a Green World

Crafty Convo: Chatting With Seamstress Clare Bare

Leslie Richard — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 12:40:14 +0000

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. I opted for a new program called Integrated Design Curriculum- I took whatever classes I wanted and worked collaboratively with other students from different majors. While taking fashion classes, however, I was totally discouraged- I practically had to drag myself out of bed to get there in the mornings, I was always late, I just lost my passion for it. It was a combination of things…There was such a contrast between the classes I was taking. I spent half my time downtown working on projects that had a strong emphasis on sustainability and taking fine arts/printmaking classes. Then I would travel to midtown (I hate midtown!) to take my fashion classes where I felt like I wasn’t doing anything that made an impact on anything or anyone (not even myself.) I remember one day in particular- Tim Gunn hosted a presentation to all the new fashion students to promote some fur company. They passed around a bunch of fur samples and argued that it is more sustainable to use real fur as opposed to fake fur, because real fur doesn’t create any waste or harmful byproducts. I thought to myself, “Why not just forget about using either of them? Wouldn’t that solve the problem?” I could go on for hours about how lame and unethical that argument was, but I don’t think I need to convince anyone who may be reading this…I felt like they were trying to brainwash me! Soon after that I broke down and told my teacher I was dropping fashion. I remember the look he gave me- like he felt so sorry for me then asked me the dumbest question I’ve ever been asked to this day, “Do you even like clothes?” Haha, I didn’t even know what to say- so I cried! It was really sad because I realized it wasn’t like I thought it would be. I didn’t want to end up working in midtown, running errands for Calvin Klein or something. I just felt like I was in the wrong place. Maybe it was just me though- I’m sure it wasn’t as bad as the picture I’m painting- I tend to look at everything in an extreme way. I think it was just a matter of me figuring out how to apply ethics and sustainability into fashion in my own way. It didn’t happen for me until a year after college ended and passion came back into my life again. If I went back to school now I wouldn’t let any of those stupid things stand in my way because I have a clear concept and mission now. When it comes down to it I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing now if I hadn’t lived through those experiences, or if I hadn’t met one of my classmates, Dana, who came up with the name “Clare Bare” (out of my nickname, Clare Bear. I had to make underwear- it just went with my name!

*Where do you find inspiration for your designs and your personal style?

I find a lot of inspiration from people I see on the street. My neighborhood (Williamsburg, Brooklyn) is kind of like a fashion freak show- sometimes inspiring, sometimes so uninspiring that it becomes and inspiration for something else. I’m also really into beachwear/ beach culture. It’s funny because you will see a lot of people wearing things that they wouldn’t dare wear in their own towns, but at the beach anything goes. Rules can be broken there- you’re allowed to clash prints, wear brighter colors, walk down the street in a bikini, and it’s not weird at all, it’s just normal! I just love people watching. I think that I take everything in pretty subconsciously though. For instance, I am seriously obsessed with my pet rabbit- I started wearing bandanas tied at the top of my head and someone told me that I looked like a rabbit and I didn’t even realize it!

*You use vintage, upcycle and organic fabrics - is this choice driven by environmental concerns?

I really love vintage prints and textiles. Originally I used to collect them for inspiration for my drawings and prints. There is a place right outside of Philly near my hometown called Village Thrift- it’s like a vintage warehouse full of the cheapest/best stuff ever. The linens section spans a 200ft wall! I grab a shopping cart and walk along, scanning for prints that jump out at me, and I usually end up with a whole shopping cart full of stuff- old sheets, curtains, tablecloths, etc. I think it’s my favorite thing to do in the whole world. All of these shopping carts full of fabric ended up taking up so much space in my studio. When I came up with the concept for Clare Bare I was copying prints from my vintage textiles and silk screening them onto organic cotton. Then I was left with the question of what to do with all the fabric I was acquiring. Randomly one day I had an epiphany- why not just use the fabric that I had rather than trying to replicate the design and print it on new material? I always wanted my designs to be environmentally conscious- it was just a matter of figuring out the most effective way to do it.

*All your lingerie is made to order, do you find this time with your sewing machine a special sort of retreat from the hustle of NYC?

I definitely appreciate the time I have with my sewing machine. I’m able to completely zone in on what I’m doing and tune out the rest of the world. My machines are just loud enough to block out the sound of my crazy neighbor singing off key on the stoop next door! It’s a sort of meditation- I can sew for hours, not know what time it is, and not even care. I think that’s how you know you’re doing the right thing.

*What’s one crafting/art tool you feel like you cannot live without?

My Dremel! Because it pretty much does everything- it cuts glass, tiles, carves wood, sands things, saws through stuff…It’s really helpful because I’m always building stuff. I just finished a mosaic bench public art project and I used it every day. Also, I cannot live without my serger! I got a used Bernina Bernette machine off of Craigslist one day, and the rest is history…

*For all the beginning sewers out there is there any advice you can give about getting started?

I’d say take something apart and put it back together- it will help you start thinking three dimensionally. Once you can do that you can figure out how to make anything. It would be especially helpful to do that with your sewing machine. I think it’s really important to understand how things work- that way if something goes wrong you can figure out how to fix it yourself. If you can fix a problem yourself, you don’t have to wait for (and pay for) someone else to fix it for you. My Dad (who knows how to make everything) always says that you can’t rely on anybody but yourself- that’s advice that I never really took seriously until recently. It’s good advice for anyone in any situation. Also- buy an old machine! A lot of times you can get a really good one for really cheap on Craigslist or in a thrift store. The new ones are all automatic and digital for your “convenience”- it seems like a great idea, but if it breaks you’re screwed…They just don’t make things like they used to!

Thanks Clare for Baring your sewl to fellow eco crafters!

Yearn Worthy Yarn: Aurora Silk, Hemp

Kelly Rand — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 17:30:39 +0000

–Don’t forget! Send in your posts for the new Carnival of Green Crafts. Taking submissions now.–

I know that we’ve covered hemp yarn before from Lanaknits and Autumn talked to us about macrame , but it was Leslie’s quest to try natural dye that got me to take a second look at Aurora Silk’s Hemp Yarn.

At first look this yarn from Aurora brings to mind all the stereotypes that Syke talked about when she profiled hemp fabrics. But no it is Not Marijuana.

Hemp yarn is derived from the growth of industrial hemp, a different species of it’s more famous cousin. Industrial hemp grows fast without the need for much pesticides or herbicides. The fiber harvested from the plant is more commonly known as bast. Bast fibers are long and very strong and can be woven or spun to make fabric, rope or yarn.

Aurora offers three hemp yarns: Bulky 3-ply, Sturdy Singles and Very Fine, Fawn 2-ply. All of Aurora’s yarns are harvested in Europe with organic practices and spun in the United States. Their yarns come in their natural color and they encourage experimentation with natural dying processes and kits.

My favorite is the 2-ply. It is soft and fine and makes me want to get in my kitchen and try a natural dying process. It also looks to be perfect for lace work or a fine shawl or scarf pattern. Their Sturdy Singles is perfect for macrame, among other uses, and the Bulky 3-ply definitely has the “traditional” hemp look but is much softer than other hemp yarns.

Image credit: Aurora Silk

Recycled T-Shirt Crafts (Without Fusibles)

Skye Kilaen — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 16:54:27 +0000

Ah yes, the souvenir t-shirt… too silly to wear, but what do you do with it?

I know Leslie’s probably going to be rocking us with recycled t-shirt projects from Generation T for quite some time, but I’ve also been racking up a few t-shirt craft ideas that I wanted to share. (Yes, we seem to have “fads” among the CAGW writers sometimes. First jeans, now t-shirts. Next up: socks?)

Specifically, I’ve been looking for t-shirt crafts that do NOT rely on fusible web. Since I wrote my two-part post a while back on how to think through the “green-ness” of your craft supplies using fusible web as an example, I’ve been less than enthusiastic about ever adhering the yucky stuff to a piece of fabric ever again. (In case you missed it, here’s the part on craft supply safety and the part on craft supply environmental impact.) I have one t-shirt quilt already planned, with the fusible web already purchased, but after that I’m done.

So what to do with cherished t-shirts after that?

The fabulous designer and crafter Betz White has a great idea for using embroidery hoops and t-shirts. Check our her post for examples. This idea seems like it would work as well with picture frames. In Austin, you can get scads of frames at thrift stores, so that would be cool.

I don’t think the recycled t-shirt bag at Martha Stewart would be too practical for heavy objects (sacks of flour, for example), but maybe I’m wrong. I guess it would depend on the shirt? It would definitely be great for turning children’s t-shirts into child-size bags. Etsy seller zJayne makes t-shirts into shopping bags and then turns the sleeves into little bags. Yay!

There’s a tutorial on Savvy Seams for making a recycled t-shirt pillow that doesn’t use fusible web for stabilizing. Instead, they recommend stay-stitching on the edge where the zipper goes, but other than that just using a knits needle and not stretching the material with your hands as you sew.

You may have already seen it on Craftzine, but I’m loving this tutorial for a kimono top made of recycled t-shirts.

Again, no mention of any special preparations for working with t-shirts. I’m starting to wonder if the fusible thing for t-shirt quilts is really just convenience more than necessity. Since it’s marketed as an “easy” project particularly for non-quilters, I can see why it happens, but I’m not sure it’s worth it. The great thing about t-shirt quilts, unlike the projects above, is the sheer number of t-shirts that are consumed, so it would be nice to find a middle ground.

Katy, who blogs at Creating Misericordia, had this possible idea about working with t-shirts that could help reclaim the t-shirt quilt for eco-crafting while keeping its status as fairly easy:

I haven’t tried this method, but since shoulder seams on knit/jersey garments are often sewn with tape for stability, you might be able to tape the seams of a t-shirt quilt to keep it from stretching, rather than using fusible interfacing.

I’m intrigued by this. I know exactly the stuff she’s talking about from seeing it in finished clothing, but I have no idea what it is. Anyone?

In any event, I mentioned in my post on the Amish approach to quilting that recycling t-shirts often creates waste - the back and sleeves, specifically. Crafting A Green World reader Anitra sent us her solution for t-shirt scraps. She’s a fellow Generation T fan, and she’s found a way to use even the smallest scraps of t-shirt fabric left over from a quilt. She sent us this photo and a description:

It’s made of scraps left over from a T-shirt quilt I made for a friend. It’s great because it keeps my rocker from scuffing the floor, and it inspired me to start getting religious about saving all my usable fabric scraps, not just the bigger pieces. Now I keep everything in a big box under my sewing table.

Yay, Anitra! And thanks for sharing your project! For any t-shirt project you undertake, quilt or not, those extra bits can really add up. In my house, we use them for washable baby wipes, but that’s nowhere near as fun.

Fabulous Fabrics: Wildrose Farm Organics

Skye Kilaen — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 15:43:05 +0000

OK, so the penguins in top hats are a little cheesy, but I’m always pleased to find organic cotton PRINTS. There’s a wealth of solids out there, but few prints. And since it was over 100 degrees for more days than EVER last month in Austin, I’ll take cool thoughts where I can get them. (In case you like the penguins, though, it’s a 54 inch wide organic cotton jersey knit.)

Penguins aren’t all that Wildrose Farm Organics has to offer, though. They have a range of fabrics available in either blanket form or by the yard, since their primary business is making clothing and rugs from organic and sustainable textiles.

Their color grown organic cottons come in solids and patterns in cream, tan, and a dusky green found in nature. Their organic cotton canvas comes in black, medium grey, periwinkle, and denim for only $9 per yard, which is a pretty good deal. Check out their full page of fabrics for the complete selection.

Wildrose Organic Farms states their goal as follows:

Wildrose Farm’s goal is to use the most environmentally sound resources available, manufacture them into quality products in a safe and clean setting, and discharge no toxins from the process.

To accomplish this goal, they have a zero waste policy for their clothing production. They reuse larger scraps to weave into rugs, and smaller scraps are made into paper. They are also involved with local organizations supporting sustainable agriculture, so that the environment is respected at both ends of the production process.

Beach Trips make Good Sea Glass Pendents

Kelly Rand — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 17:30:52 +0000

One of my favorite things about summer, hands down, is the beach. I grew up very close by so my summers were always very beach filled. I’ve also been very lucky that throughout my adult life, I’ve had the same privilege. I might not be as close as when I was in school, but through a little bit of coaxing I can usually get a friend with a car to take the drive to the shore.

The beach is such a wonderful place. The waves, the sand, the sun, the wind and the veritable treasures that the ocean provides is a wonderful sensory smorgasbord! I love tide pools and the small vignettes of life found within. I love picking up and looking over beautiful pebbles, shells and sea glass.

I usually don’t take any of the small treasures that I find, often admiring them then giving them back to the waves. But one time, I found this amazing piece of sea glass. It is small and rounded and it is tinted this great soft green. I’ve kept hold of it for a good long time in my jewelry box thinking that one day I’ll do something with it.

In some random internet searching I came across My Sea Jewels and Lake Erie Sea Glass (pictured above.) Both shops have great sea glass pendents, among other wonderful sea glass jewelry. I feel like it would be great to take my piece of glass and turn it into a pendent like the ones pictured in these shops. To do that I learned that I can either wire wrap the glass or I can drill a hole in it so wire can pass through it and be linked on a chain.

I found a great video on how to do wire wrapping. It’s a bit long, but accurately explains the wire wrapping process.

As for drilling into the glass itself, I came across a couple of useful links.

All of these directions give caution on speed and heat and require a special drill bit; something that I have not purchased as of yet. There is also the possibility of breaking the glass which is not something that I want to risk with the piece of glass since I have had it for so long. Have you made something out of sea glass? Have any tips and tricks for us? I think that I am going to try out the wire wrapping and see what I can do. I’ll be sure to post the results.

Related posts:

Image Credit: Lake Erie Sea Glass

DIY: Make Natural Non Toxic Dye

Leslie Richard — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 13:54:32 +0000

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 can not 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

I began by skinning the plums and using only the dark burgundy red skins - I left the fruit for the wild critters, and kept the seeds and planted them - in hopes to grow some of my own plum trees.

I used salt as a dye fixative, since I was using fruit for dye but if you are making your dye from flowers, leaves, plants etc - then it is suggested to use vinegar.

The recipe I found was this:

SALT FIX: 1/2 CUP SALT TO 8 CUPS COLD WATER
VINEGAR FIX: 4 PARTS COLD WATER TO 1 PART VINEGAR

I simmered my fabric in the salt fixative for approx. 1 hour, then rinsed and rung out - before putting the fabric in the dye. Once the fabric had the fix in it, I went ahead and dumped the plum skins in some fresh water and simmered those for another hour. It was so amazing how red and beautiful the water turned within minutes of light warm simmer! Even though these are long stretches of time, you do not have to loom over the cooking process those few hours, you can cruise the Internet and read Crafting A Green World posts while your dye is brewing.

I strained out the skins and returned the dye to the pot and then start dipping the locally woven organic cotton into the plum dye! How freakin’ awesome, cause it started turning almost hot pink right away and stuck right to the fabric. Then I let the fabric simmer lightly in the dye for a richer color for about an hour, all steamy, hot and sooooo pretty!
I allowed the fabric to sit in the dye overnight to make sure it had the darkest outcome possible since when it is rinsed and dried the color will be alot lighter.

Isn’t it pretty in pink ?!? (Almost as pretty as Molly Ringwald but I like my naturally dyed fabric even better then her prom dress!) All that from a couple discarded plums, Yay! It’s really easier then it looks and the whole process was totally relaxing and fun- not to mention I felt like I was part scientist, part witch! There are fantastic lists of natural stuff you can use for dye in just about every cool shade of color you can imagine. Go to Pioneer Thinking for a complete list of plants, berries, nuts and bark that can make a rainbow of fun, safe colors. For even more pigments a simple google search for “make your own natural dye” turns up plenty a colorful brew waiting for you to experiment with.

Have you ever tried a natural or non toxic dying process? What has been your experience?

The Carnival of Green Crafts Begins!

Skye Kilaen — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 02:05:32 +0000

Crafting A Green World is thrilled to announce the new Carnival of Green Crafts!

The Carnival of Green Crafts is a twice monthly online celebration of all things eco and crafty. Whether it’s a full-fledged tutorial or your personal musings, photos of projects in progress or completed, great thrift store finds that are destined for a craft project, or a love letter to your favorite environmentally friendly craft supplies, we want it! We hope that this Carnival is a place to show off, inspire, rant, rave, learn, and support each other as we find ways to create beautiful things while protecting the Earth.

If you’re not familiar with blog carnivals, here’s the scoop. A blog carnival is basically a traveling event, a regular series of posts that collect links to recently posted content on the carnival’s theme. Most carnivals move from blog to blog, with each edition hosted by a different blog. Crafting A Green World is kicking off the Carnival of Green Crafts and we’re giving it a home base, but we invite the green crafting community to jump in and make this carnival what you want it to be.

Submit Your Posts to the Carnival of Green Crafts

Our goal for the Carnival of Green Crafts is to make it a true community event and project, so we invite everyone to submit your own work or suggest great posts you’ve seen elsewhere. Since not all green crafting content online is published on blogs, we welcome submissions from online zines, forums, and communities as well. Whether you have an online mega-zine or a tiny blog, if it’s about green crafting, please feel free to submit! Part of the fun of a carnival is discovering new voices, so don’t be shy.

Recently published blog posts, forum posts and discussions, and other online articles are accepted on a rolling basis. If it doesn’t make the deadline for one edition, it will be forwarded to the next carnival’s host. To submit your own post for the Carnival of Green Crafts, please use the Blog Carnival submission form so we know we have permission to include it. (Depending on your browser, you may have scroll way down to see the form.) To recommend someone else’s post, please email greencraftscarnival (at) gmail.com so we can touch base with the author and make sure it’s ok to include their post.

Carnival of Green Crafts Schedule and Hosting

If you are interested in hosting the Carnival of Green Crafts, please email us at greencraftscarnival (at) gmail.com. Even if you’ve never hosted a carnival before, let us know if it sounds intriguing. We’re happy to help you figure it out. Crafting A Green World plans to host every other edition while the Carnival gets up and running.

July 24: Crafting A Green World

August 7: TBA
August 21: Crafting A Green World

September 4: TBA
September 18: Crafting A Green World

October 2: TBA
October 16: Crafting A Green World

November 6: TBA
November 20: Crafting A Green World

December 4: TBA
December 18: Crafting A Green World

Yearn Worthy Yarn: Crafty

Kelly Rand — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 17:30:58 +0000

I think I have an obsession for bulky yarns. Especially yarn that is hand spun and hand dyed with fantastic color ways. I find myself lusting over the most heavy and super bulky yarns in the hottest dog days of summer; a time when I’m supposed to be knitting and thinking only about lightweight yarns and projects so I won’t sweat to death. But when I came across Crafty Yarn, the shop just fed my obsession and I needed to learn more.

Most of Crafty Yarn’s bulky weight yarns are hand spun recycled yarn made from mill ends and scrap fiber. The other available skeins are made from reclaimed sweaters that have been frogged for their yarn. An avid knitter and recycler, Molly Bachelor, owner of Crafty Yarn, was interested in material reuse and doing something that was about the hand made process. She had always loved fiber and working with it so she learned how to spin and started to sell her recycled yarn a little over a year a go.

Finding good quality sweaters is key for Bachelor. Sourcing much of her material from large clearance centers and thrift stores, she is mostly drawn to natural fibers; especially wool. If a synthetic fiber is of particular interest she will buy it and “if it’s cashmere, I’ll grab it,” she said. She searches for fiber by sorting by type then looks to the sweater’s construction since she deconstructs it for reuse. She ends up with only about 5 to 10 percent of what she originally picks out.

For her hand spun yarn she gets most of her materials through the Sheep Shed Studio, which sells mill end rovings. The materials are the leftovers from mills and are literally what is picked up off of the floor. Bachelor said that you can find some interesting things other than fiber in these leftovers. Things like bits and pieces of leaves and dirt or in one case a friend found a bit of loom.

The hand spun skeins sport great names for their color ways. I love Dr. Seuss (pictured above) and there is something so great about the oxymoron that is Swamp Princess.

Crafty Yarn has a nice mix of both frogged yarn and hand spun even though Bachelor has been favoring spinning of late stating that spinning involves more of the creative process. She doesn’t count frogging out all together though, agreeing that it can be an art entirely of it’s own.

Crafty Yarn also offers more than just skeins of my obsession of bulky and super bulky. Bachelor includes a nice range of weight all the way down from worsted to lace weight.

More Yearn Worthy Yarns:

Image Credit: Crafty Yarn

Not Marijuana.

Autumn Wiggins — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 20:01:32 +0000

I did not pick up this magazine at my local book store because I was half-baked and looking for a quick giggle. No, my dears, the header of “Food as Celebration | Passionate Gardening | Nostalgic Crafts and Stitchery” was just as eye catching.

Mary Jane’s Farm , a publication of Mary Jane Butters, appears to be Martha Stewart Living for organic farm girls, or those of us who wish they were organic farm girls. Usually, I have a big problem with putting one person’s name and image all over things that were the combined effort of many talented people. However, my distaste of personified brands was trumped by aesthetically charming, recycled pages awash with useful content, and the company’s dedication to recycling and alternative energy usage.

The indie craft community has made an incredible group effort to distance itself from the country craft persona. The irony of what we refer to as “country crafts” is that at the height of it’s popularity, the corporate powers that be regurgitated it’s themes into manufactured crap. Mary Jane’s Farm magazine shows us what REAL country crafting is: functional, resourceful, feminine, sustainable. All without ducks in bonnets or apple basket motifs.

In it’s current quarterly issue, there are a myriad of sewing projects for vintage white linens, including an inventive plastic bottle bag. Their perspective on remixing thrift store finds and every day disposables is refreshing… a notable departure from the retro-kitsch trend. I fancy their effort to combine DIY with gardening too. You’ll find instructions for planting a vegetable garden in an old file box, and creating a kitchen compost bin for your organic food scraps.

The accompanying website leaves a lot to be desired. Navigation is confusing, and they really want to sell you some books, which I look forward to reviewing. This shouldn’t deter you from picking up the magazine though, and their thriving online community, The Farmgirl Connection, is worth checking out as well. It’s like the Craft Mafia, just not as badass.

To sum it up, what I like most about Mary Jane’s Farm is how inclusive they are to those of us in cities and suburbs. Many articles are written with urban farming in mind, and address the gentle process of creating a life free from the pressures of mainstream consumerism.

So, go pick up a copy today, and kindly excuse immature onlookers who make pot jokes about it.

Image Credit: Mary Jane’s Farm available for subscription on their website and at news stands nationwide

Additional Shout Out: Thanks to the infamous NotMartha.com blog for inspiring my title.

Fabulous Fabrics: Kirin & Co (Australia)

Skye Kilaen — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 16:23:09 +0000

Kirin & Co is the online shop of designer and textile artist Lara Cameron of Melbourne, Australia. Cameron produces limited edition, hand screen printed fabrics as well as handmade items such as super-fab clutch purses.

Cameron prints on two types of fabrics: a cotton/linen blend printed with environmentally friendly inks, and a new hemp/organic cotton blend. The cotton/linen blend isn’t as green as we usually look for in the Fabulous Fabrics series, but Cameron is definitely making efforts to green her fabrics and we respect that. It isn’t always easy or possible to green everything overnight!

Kirin & Co sells fabric by the metre as well as in fabric packs. Since the fabrics are limited edition, the fabric packs as well as the fabric itself can sell out.

Read her blog, Kirin Notebook, for updates on when new items are going into the shop. You can also drool over the portfolio pictures of her fabrics on her main website or the sold items list on her shop website, lamenting that you did not see them in time to buy them. Seriously, y’all, this stuff is gorgeous.

All of Cameron’s fabric is machine washable, and she explicitly gives permission to use the fabric in commercial projects. All prices on her website are in Australian currency, but those of us outside of Australia can use the currency converter she links to on the site and pay with Paypal.

[Image from Kirin & Co website.]