Janelle from Tchotchke Attack! has a photo set up from a project she's been working on to embellish recylced jeans for an organic denim clothing line. I mention it here first and foremost because I'm totally in love with it, but second because this kind of thing is very "domicile-y," by which I simply mean that we do a fair bit of the sewing/reconstructing/recycling round our house.
Both Martin and I have our own sewing machines, something which seems to tickle some folks when they see them set up in their dueling glory, however we both have very different approaches to sewing. Martin is the master reconstructor/recylcer where as I'm more inclined to start from scratch. Often for me that means taking something totally apart to pillage its fabric and then reworking that into something new, or simply starting with old bedsheets and scraps acquired at yard sales/thrift shops/from friends. Martin is more inclined to just sit down at his machine with a garment and have at it with the stitching until he comes out with something he's happy with. He does this with nearly every single pair of jeans he owns (or maybe actually every pair), something which caused me mild heart failure the first time he starting tooling around with *expensive* jeans, but which certainly seems to work out for him 9 times out of 10.
We've also been trying to use recycled materials in our house project wherever possible. Alley finds, castaways from friends and found objects from the massive "ark" that Martin's father maintains on their property full of likewise scrounged goods have helped us both save a fortune on our household projects (often being the only thing that actually makes them doable in fact), while also challenging us to work with the materials we've got rather than spending time to seek out the "perfect piece."
I'll admit some days when it comes to both clothing and renos I find myself daydreaming about an endless budget and just what money could buy -- like my own personal drywalling minion -- but at this point in my life I'm pretty happy with our approach.
. How nutty is that? 
is a business book for women looking for advice to start or run a successful small business. The book features advice from some pretty smart gals including Jenny Hart (Sublime Stitching), Grace Boney (Design Sponge), Alex Beauchamp (Another Girl at Play), and many others.
thanks for the bit emira! This project was awesome, and honestly I had a real 'block' for the first week(I had 2 weeks to complete it) I went to some fiber art shows and got inspiration. I was still nervous - cutting up such costly garments, but I had to just ignore that and go for it. I tried to plan some things out. . but I find the more planning I do with recycled garments, the more stressful it is. I just make an initial move and then follow it. . then there can be no disappointments, every step is a challenge and exploration. After each phase, I would feel satisfaction - which would then give me confidence for the next step.
Was that really too 'deep' and corny to talk about sewing? hahaha. . . xojanelle
Posted by: janelle | July 18, 2006 at 06:57 PM