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While Going Green, Sustain, and Create New Mixed Media

I love the durability of cloth and clothing and have some pieces I made or bought years ago. If created right, they can last for a long time. If they are cared for like the unique pieces that they are, they can be passed down through the generations. 
Old becomes new again

Vogue just recently had an article talking about sustainability and upcycling fashion. As the fashion industry lost money last year, designers took note of what people experienced during the pandemic. What they found was that people go back to their closets and clothing to recreate something new. 


Sustainability means to maintain something at a known rate or level. Or you can say it is to avoid the depletion of natural resources and maintain the ecological balance. Therefore, the community would use less of everything. 


To upcycle is to reuse discarded objects or materials in such a way as to create a product of higher quality or value than the original. Case in point, these white tees are hand dyed and are now white and blue. Once dried, these old shirts become your favorite new shirts. 


Upcycle also can mean that you use the object to create a brand-new piece. Ribbons, neckties, and buttons that would have been thrown out when a shirt wore out can be taken off and made into necklaces and or molds. 
Necklace from buttons, ribbons and neckties

In the spring collections this year, more designers said they used leftover fabrics from past collections and some of them even spliced their vintage garments to create new ones. Circular fashion is clothing that re-enters or upcycles and is definitely in the future. 


Young adults are and have been into fashions found at thrift and vintage stores. Buying and using things that are upcycled or recreated is a fashion trend that is here to stay, and uniqueness is finally cool again.  


Shibori Cloth Dyeing
The Saturday after Earth Day, April 24th, 2021, will be my Shibori Cloth Dyeing class












On May 22, 2021, we will be Making Buttons and Gems from Polymer Clay  You can bring your vintage buttons to mold for that class.

vintage buttons