a little bit about how we hang dry our clothing year round
(which basically involves finding a permanent spot for two of these)
image via Mate the Label
well...that's motivating!
a little bit about how we hang dry our clothing year round (which basically involves finding a permanent spot for two of these) image via Mate the Label
0 Comments
Last evening we experienced a new kind of abundance in the garden. We had a swarm of about a hundred dragonflies swoop + zoom over our garden for an hour or two. They were apparently feasting on our plentiful mosquito population, which we were happy to share. :) What a magical sight (after we realized that they weren't some other big, gross bugs)! This morning, I experienced a different kind of abundance out there. Sungold tomatoes are ones that always grow best for me where we live. When I've tried larger varieties of tomatoes, I was lucky to have a few make it to a full, juicy, red. Sungold are plentiful enough to share with the squirrels + chipmunks...to eat as many as we want fresh...and to preserve enough to last all year. I planted four pepper plants this year. The jalepenos (there are three of them in that bowl) + the one that grows these red ones have been the stars. Both have provided throughout the summer. Today there are enough to enjoy fresh, to share + to preserve. I wasn't sure we were going to get any cucumbers this year, but a few of them have finally shown up. They haven't all been very pretty, but they make delicious pickles. I've used my quick, easy pickle recipe + added a piece of jalepeno to each jar instead of the pepper flakes. Yum!
Love, Jane Last week I made our last smoothies with this blender. A few seconds after I poured the liquid over the frozen fruit, that liquid drained right out the bottom of the pitcher. I've been making-do with this blender for a decade. It has functioned as a blender, food processor + hand mixer in my trying-to-be minimal kitchen. It's only problem is that one little rubber gasket broke into pieces + ended up in our smoothies years ago. When I contacted the manufacturer for a fix or a replacement part, they offered no solution. I couldn't even purchase a new pitcher without buying a new base.
So, I made do...until I couldn't make do any longer. Once we decided to replace the blender, I considered donating it to a thrift store. I didn't want someone to purchase it thinking it worked perfectly, so I would have added a note about the problem. The thrift stores always ask that we do not donate broken things, so I wondered if (after reading the note) they would have just dumped the blender away. I finally decided to offer it free on Craigslist (noting the problem) + had two offers to come pick it up within minutes. I really wish I could have fixed it myself, but in the end it felt good knowing that it would be useful to someone. Letting things go responsibly often involves careful thought as to where the item has the best chance of getting used rather than ending up in a dumpster. Dropping off a car load of stuff at the thrift store is often easiest, but that doesn't alleviate us of the responsibility we took on when we decided to purchase all that stuff. Love, Jane Tackling zero-waste on a personal level is more about thoughtful choices than about the stuff involved...but there are some things that can be useful helpers. These are the items that have proven to be my most useful things in the pursuit of zero-waste:
I most often think of waste as what ends up in my trash can, but creating disposables is hugely wasteful in itself. Resources have to be extracted, refined, manufactured, transported from the source + to every stop along the manufacturing process + then to the warehouse + then to the coffee shop, take-out joint or grocery store. All so that we can use it for a matter of minutes...and then send it off to the landfill where it may take 200 years to disintegrate altogether. Worse yet, it might blow into a tree or drainage ditch + be carried off into the ocean. We are using some of the items on this short list a little differently during the pandemic. For example, we can't use our reusable water bottles at a cafe, but we can still use them to keep water handy + cool in the house + at the park. The baggers at the grocery store won't put our groceries into our reusable bags, but we can. Our most recent addition to this list is the reusable mask. I can't imagine how many disposable masks our family of four would have used by now, if we hadn't chosen to use reusable ones. It's pretty cool to remind myself that just a few reusable items (most of which I have been using over + over for more than a decade now) have saved so, so much waste from the landfill! Using these things is just habit now, so I don't often stop to think about the impact our teamwork has had. We don't need a whole lot of stuff to move toward zero-waste! Love, Jane I've been considering adding a crisp, white button up shirt to my wardrobe. This is not a crisp white shirt. :)
As always, when it comes to adding a fair garment to my wardrobe, I mainly look to these three choices: buying secondhand, making it myself + purchasing a fairly made garment new. It was difficult to find a secondhand, white shirt that's free from stains online. I considered sewing one, but couldn't find just the fabric I wanted to use. Shirts are very detailed + involve quite a lot of work, so I value + am willing to pay for a carefully constructed, fairly made shirt. I found one online, but when it came in the mail this week it was too sheer. Finally, I decided to venture out to a thrift store for the first time during this pandemic to extend my search for a secondhand shirt. I didn't find a white shirt, but did decide to take this one (+ one more) home. This shirt is quite oversized, made from a crisp fabric, inexpensive + already existed (so no new resources needed to be used). When I got it home, I decided to remove the collar + sew the stand closed. I was reminded of both Jess Brown's lovely shirt + the beautiful shirt I posted yesterday, which confirm this as a look I love. Not only do I like the style, but this men's shirt's collar was a bit oversized on me. Removing it makes it look less ill-fitting. With sleeves rolled up + the bottom buttons left open, I like this shirt over shorts (or as a sort of morning cover-up) now...and imagine it will layer well over almost everything later. Now it looks like my shirt...and I like it very much. (+ I might still keep my eye out for a white one next time I go to the thrift store.) Love, Jane Every so often I go through my fabric scraps with a thought toward making them into something useful. There are often long quite large scraps left over from garment sewing...pieces that are too big to throw away, but not often big enough for other garments. These are great pieces for sewing masks, but I also had a couple of long, skinny pieces of fabric that I wondered about being able to make into something a little bit more permanently wearable. The free Peppermint Peplum Top pattern turned out to be a perfect pattern to squeeze onto these leftover bits (especially in a smaller size...just right for my girls). There is a pieced shoulder that makes this an especially stash busting pattern. I had no idea there was a whole top hiding in my scrap bin!
Love, Jane This month was a good one for letting go of a few things + getting them into the hands of people who will use them. It's nice to make a little money (especially when it's tight), but I try to hold that somewhat loosely. I've already spent the money to buy the items in my home, so any money I make is something more than nothing. I'm more focused on getting the things that are no longer serving me back into service elsewhere. Some of the ways we moved a few things on this summer:
Just a few reminders:
Love,
Jane Last summer, I tried on a pair of shorts at Madewell. While Madewell does have a few pieces that are made in a fair-trade factory, those shorts were not part of that collection...so I did not make them part of my wardrobe. This summer, I found those short secondhand + since I knew that I liked the fit of them...I did not hesitate to buy them (secondhand)...twice.
I decided to try dyeing one of those pairs of shorts in indigo to make them a deeper, richer blue. The indigo dye obscured the varigated nature of the original fabric which was not the look I was after. Since these shorts fit well + don't come in any other colors, I decided to sacrifice this pair of shorts in order to make a sewing pattern. Many sewists are able to make rub-offs of beloved pieces of clothing without taking them apart. I want a precise fit, however, and I find that the best way to achieve that is to have a precise pattern made up of the actual pieces of the garment (b). I used the scraps from a pair of happy pants that I made a few years ago to make the first pair of shorts from this "pattern". I had to piece a couple of pieces together in order to make these shorts. The print camouflages this well enough for me (f). I didn't have enough fabric for the pockets + made them out of gingham fabric left over from another pair of pants (e). I used the elastic from the original shorts in these (b + c). These shorts fit like a dream, have pockets (!), sewed up relatively quickly + feel like a zero-waste win! I'm looking forward to making a few more of these + think this whole progression is at least part of what slow fashion is all about...keeping a piece in use, keeping resources out of the landfill + being creative all the while. Love, Jane When I started this indigo project, my main goal was to dye these two white tanks. They are lovely when white (and I still have one that I kept white), but a little sheer. I envisioned a deep, rich indigo for them. I lost count of how many times these two were dipped, but it was a lot. :) This was a lovely project that took a some time...time spent under these trees on not-too- hot, summer days. I loved the process...dye dripping on my legs...laughing with my girls...experimenting + learning...creating something new. I am going to love wearing these tanks. They feel infused with sunshine + earth...in a way that they always were...now more evident to me. It's a real joy to be part of the making of one's clothing...whether forming the cloth through knitting or quilting...putting the pieces together through sewing...prolonging use through mending...or simply adding some depth of color through dying. Forging connection to what we wear is never a waste of time.
Love, Jane It's been almost five years since I used indigo dye last, so the process is more an experiment than a skill at this point. Like most of my experiments, some results were better than others. :) What looked like a deep, dark indigo straight out of the vat often washed out to a lighter patchy blue. So back into the dye it went...again + again. It's hard to know what color has been achieved without washing the pieces, so it took a few rounds of dyeing + washing + dyeing again to achieve the color I was hoping for on most things. The bandanas, however, were a sort of one time opportunity (since we did shibori with them)...so I'm glad that we didn't dye them all at once. I was able to use my observations on a second round...re-dipping those pieces several times for richer color. These will make lovely, zero-waste, gift wrap! A couple of pieces feel like fails. I thought that the blue blocks on the tea towel would get darker when dyed + still stand out. Instead the pattern just disappeared. I thought that the shorts would also retain some of their varied coloring, but now they are just a very solid blue. Boo. There were a few happy accidents too...like the resist pattern that developed on this bandana.
It feels really good to just play + not take any of it too seriously. Love, Jane |
on a journey toward zero-waste, simplicity, + compassion :: daring to choose fair one choice at a time
|