this just in from Treehuggers.com - thought you'd enjoy (especially SewGreen friends!):
While its true that brand new eco apparel (see posts below) can help turn around the highly polluting and wasteful ragtrade', it is also a very valid green option to not buy new threads at all. And this past week we had a couple of stories that drive that point home. FoundClothing is a blog cataloguing 2.5 years worth of clothes discovered on the street and rescued from landfill, with nought but a simple laundering. And should dumpster diving not be your thing, fear not. You can learn to sew with the practical new book, Sew It Up , a manual for beginners. As one commenter put it "This would be a great book for me, as my current practice is to throw out shirts if they lose more than 2 buttons." --- On Mon, 10/27/08, Wendy Skinner <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > From: Wendy Skinner <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: [SustainableTompkins] SewGreen News, 10-27-08: Even the Queen > Recycles Fashion > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED], "Sustainable Tompkins County listserv" > <[email protected]>, [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Date: Monday, October 27, 2008, 9:20 AM > SewGreen News, Oct 27, 2008 > www.sew-green.org > > SewGreen is a not-for-profit community program that > encourages sustainability and reuse in sewing and fashion, > through education and a fabric reuse project. > > CONTENTS > ~ Classes & Workshops > ~ Sunday Open Sews > ~ Teen Sewing Club > ~ Hospicare Sewing Day > ~ Still Time to Apply for ReCraft Fair > ~ Support SewGreen at Alternative Gift Fair > ~ Even the Queen Recycles Fashion > ~ Sewing Machines for Sale > ~ Words of Thanks > > ******************** > CLASSES & WORKSHOPS > > All classes and events are held at the Women's > Community Building, 100 W Seneca Street, downtown Ithaca. > Contact is Wendy at [EMAIL PROTECTED], 607-277-7611. > > ~ RUG-A-RAMA, Nov 1 > Don't miss this opportunity to share skills and learn > about making rag, braided, and woven rugs from re-used > materials. Bring your finished rugs to show and explain, or > just come to learn. Saturday Nov 1, noon to 3pm. Free. > Pre-registration is requested. > > > ~ HOW TO SEW USING A PATTERN, Starts Nov 6 > Learn the essentials of reading, laying out, and sewing > from a simple pattern. This three-session intermediate class > meets on Thursday, Nov 6, 13, and 20 from 6 to 8pm. For > teens and adults. $45. Scholarships available. > Pre-registration is required. > > > ~ BEGINNING MACHINE SEWING, Nov 12 > Learn to use a sewing machine and complete a simple > project. Thursday, Nov 12, from 6 to 8pm. For teens and > adults. $15. Scholarships available. Pre-registration is > required. > > ~ FELTING WORKSHOP, Nov 15 > Learn how to use felted wool, a beautiful material made > from shrunken wool sweaters or other garments. Presented by > artful artisans Lynn Leopold and Valorie Rockney, 2 to 4pm, > Saturday Nov 15. Free. Pre-registration requested. > > ~ MAKE A GIFT ON "GREEN" FRIDAY, Nov 28 > Come to a free workshop on Nov 28, the day after > Thanksgiving. Make a gift, reusable gift bag, fabric holiday > card, or other project with all reused materials. A relaxing > antidote to the holiday shopping craze, the workshop is > offered for kids from 10am to noon, and for teens and adults > from 1 to 3 pm. All materials supplied. Free. > Pre-registration is requested. > > > ******************** > SUNDAY OPEN SEWS > SewGreen's *Sunday Sews* are open to all. Bring a > project you're working on, or make something for > SewGreen. You may use one of our machines or bring your own, > and we have materials you may choose from. This is not a > class; some sewing experience is expected, but participants > tend to share knowledge and learn from each other in a > comfortable social setting. Free, but donations are welcome. > Noon to 4pm, every other Sunday. Three more this year: Nov > 9, Nov 23, and Dec 7. > > ******************** > TEEN SEWING CLUB OPEN TO ALL > "Fashion UFOs" meets Friday nights from 6 - 9 pm, > at the Women's Community Building. Open to all teens, of > both genders, UFOs offers a time to work on your own > projects, learn from each other, meet new friends, and have > a great time refashioning and doing creative reuse sewing. > Sewing machines and materials provided. Free, but donations > are welcome. Contact club supervisor Katie Sullivan for more > information, [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > ******************** > HOSPICARE SEWING DAY, NOV 22 > If you can sew, even a little, you're invited to help > SewGreen make needed items for Hospicare and Palliative Care > Services. SewGreen has adopted Hospicare as its > "charity sewing client." On Saturday, Nov 22, from > 11am to 4pm, we will be at the SewGreen classroom making > tote bags, placemats, napkins, and coasters from all reused > materials. The goal is to have items to deliver in time for > Thanksgiving. Bring your own sewing machine or use one of > ours. All materials supplied, or bring something from your > stash (nothing purchased new, please). You are also invited > to make items at home. See the SewGreen website, > www.sew-green.org, for ideas. Hospicare (www.hospicare.org) > works to enhance the quality of life for those dealing with > serious illness and provides support following the death of > a loved one. > > > ******************** > RECRAFT FAIR APPLICATION DEADLINE IS OCT 30 > A few places remain for artisans of earth-friendly arts, > crafts, apparel, homewares, gifts etc. at the ReCraft Fair, > Dec 13 at the Women's Community Building. Vendors who > have registered so far are offering creative products of a > very high quality. As a counter-action to conventional > holiday craft fairs, where (often) non-eco materials are > turned into non-eco products, SewGreen is sponsoring this > green alternative. Local and regional reuse and redesign > artisans who work with earth-friendly and reused materials > are invited to participate. A 10 x 10-foot booth is $35, > which covers a full day of sales, as well as publicity and > promotion. Contact Wendy to reserve your space, > [EMAIL PROTECTED], 607-277-7611. Last day to register is > Oct 30. > > > ******************** > SUPPORT SEWGREEN AT ALTERNATIVE GIFT FAIR, DEC 6 > The Ithaca Alternative Gift Fair returns for a fifth year > on Saturday Dec 6, 10am to 4pm, at the First Presbyterian > Church, 315 N Cayuga St, downtown Ithaca. The Fair offers > holiday shoppers a way to buy gifts that don't add to > the mounting pile of "stuff" that's usually > exchanged. Instead, shoppers buy gifts of donations for > specific charitable purposes. Each gift is accompanied with > a card and an insert that explains what the gift will > provide. Gifts are priced $5 and up, and are offered by 30 > local non-profit organizations. SewGreen is offering $5, > $10, and $15 scholarships for sewing classes, as well as an > open-ended gift for general support. Visit the Fair's > site www.ithacaaltgiftfair.org/ for a complete list of > organizations and gifts. > > > ******************** > EVEN THE QUEEN RECYCLES FASHION > CNN called it "credit crunch couture," and > several other news agencies reported that Queen > Elizabeth's wardrobe for a recent trip to Slovenia > included a dress made from existing fabric. Instead of > buying a new gown, Britain's queen asked the royal > tailor to dig into the royal fabric stash. Her couturiers > used a 20-year-old bolt of brocade to make a gown worthy of > a state dinner. The Queen also wore a daytime dress she had > worn on another trip six months ago. > > ******************** > SEWING MACHINES FOR SALE > SewGreen has several clean, restored, and ready-to-sew > classic machines for sale. Please contact Dianne, > [EMAIL PROTECTED] for more information. > > > ******************** > WORDS OF THANKS > The season for expressions of gratitude is approaching. > SewGreen volunteer Rebecca Rich Goldweber offers this thanks > to SewGreen, which in turn thanks her and all our > volunteers, contributors, and supporters. "SewGreen > speaks to people at such a deep level, bringing together a > community to share and learn and explore ideas that look > both to our future -- in developing our skills to become > more self-sufficient and ecologically minded -- and to our > past -- encouraging us to remember our grandmothers and > aunts, mothers, fathers, and uncles, and the knowledge they > held and how it shaped their lives. Thank you for creating a > space, a forum, for us to meet and reach one another across > socio-economic, town/gown, and cultural barriers." > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > > > To be added to or removed from the SewGreen News > distribution list, contact > Wendy Skinner, SewGreen Coordinator, [EMAIL PROTECTED], > 607-277-7611 > _______________________________________________ > For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins > County area, please visit: > http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ > > RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: > [email protected] > http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins > free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org _______________________________________________ For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area, please visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: [email protected] http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org
