Maybe it's just me, but is seems like more and more people are thinking crafty=green.  I'm really happy to see people taking an interest in this old earth of ours, and I'm also glad that we are having a good old fashion 1970s-type craft movement.  But how the two have come to mean the same thing just does not add up.

If you crafty ones out there want to be truly green, you must get yourself a stash - a fabric stash.  The photo above shows part of mine, and for the sake of honesty I did not even try to straighten it.  My fabric stash is 95% used and vintage.  I find it at yard sale and flea markets, on eBay and etsy, in thrift stores and antique shops.  The only problem with a fabric stash is that it gets bigger and bigger, so to keep it under control, you have to use it.

The wonderful thing about a fabric stash is that you are ready when the urge to make something strikes.  There's no need to hop in the car and drive to the fabric store to buy fabric from China.  Just go to the stash and be inspired.

I'm not saying people should not buy new fabric.  There's not much I love more than a trip to my favorite fabric store, Mary Jo's, in Gastonia, NC.   The fabrics now are just beautiful with so much choice.  It's a good time for sewers.  But new fabric is not green, any more than new clothes are green.  Unfortunately, the domestic fabric industry is in deep decline.  You can find great fabrics made in the USA, but look at the bolt ends and you will see that most of our fabrics are imported from China, Japan and India.  Beautiful, but not green.

Tomorrow, a project using a damaged cashmere scarf and vintage cashmere fabric.

 

 

i do get you but i also wonder how much we can help save the planet... you know, some similar issues about whether being a vegan helps and all that. if i alone stop eating sharks fin and turtle meat and foie gras, will one less mammal escape the fate?

i personally haven't been shopping much in malls and such. while i take my 'grocery' bag while out in flea markets, i don't practise the same when i buy takeout lunch and drinks. i was in tibet once where people practically dump where they eat. i really can almost hear our earth weep. but i can't seem to do more already.

i don't really have a point to make. i just want to hear what people think about these issues.

I totally agree that when you sit and think about the condition of the earth, it seems to be overwhelming. In today's world, it is very difficult to always do the things we ought to, especially where packaging is concerned.

And I guess I should say that I know that all our choices cannot be green. If you need a small appliance, you have to buy one made on the other side of the world because that is where they are all (or at least it seems that way) are made.

And my real point is that "green" has become a selling point in the marketplace. Big companies and small-time crafters are all bragging about how their product is going to save the earth. I just don't see it, especially when most of the crafts I see for sale are made from commercially made materials. I'm cool with that, but don't try to say your item is good for the earth just because you "made" it by hand.

More on this topic in my next post...

I buy most of my fabrics in ordinary fabric stores. When I see fabric that is made locally and I can actually afford it, this makes me happy and I'll much rather buy that than fabric that had to be shipped half-way across the planet.

I would like to be able to use more thrifted or vintage fabrics. Sometimes I do that. I have taken bits and parts of old clothes (particularly notions and buttons) and have used old curtains or bedsheets. But I have a really hard time finding nice, good-quality thrifted fabric. I don't live in the US, I live in Vienna, Austria, and the few thrift stores I know around here are pretty bad and don't offer a great choice & if I bought fabric on e-bay or etsy (which I have never done - I don't even have a clue how to judge the quality of fabric properly from only seeing a picture online) then there is usually a large shipping cost - and let's face it, having fabric shipped from the US to Austria is no way greener than buying Chinese-made fabric in my local store.

Maybe you have some tips on how to thrift fabric - online as well as locally - because I would really love to do it more. It would be good for the earth, good for my conscience, and good for my wallet. :)

Anyways, I totally see your point about the good-for-the-earth-just-because-I-made-it-myself trend and I'm annoyed with it too. But on the other hand I also don't want to just make something in order to be green. I want the things I sew to be green and beautiful.

thanks for the enlightenment, ladies!

Stephanie, You's enspired a blog post! I'll give my tips and thoughts, but I'm not sure how much of it will be useful to you in Austria.