‘Clothing’ Category

Grow Your Own Clothes

Posted on August 18th, 2011 by Tonia 1 Comment

I came across this great article on Etsy today, and had to share it because it is about the exact topic that my mind has been on for a while now: making your own clothes from natural fibers you grew yourself.

We all know how I love clothes. I would love love love to be able to make my own- not only by getting better at sewing and knitting, but also by creating the fabric/materials I need.

Photos courtesy Paige Green

This intrigue about fiber arts started when I randomly decided to dye cotton with turmeric to make a skirt. Since then, my mind has been going going going about what else (berries, plants, nuts, etc.) I could use to dye fabric.

The ultimate would be to own sheep, harvest their wool, spin it into yarn, dye it with natural sources, and then make stuff out of it. Our neighbors a couple miles away do this, and she has offered to show me the whole process next spring when they shear their sheep. SO EXCITED!

With that said, go enjoy the article! I’m supposed to be cleaning the house, stop distracting me. ;)

30 for 30: Conclusion

Posted on July 22nd, 2011 by Tonia 16 Comments

You guys have probably been wondering what happened to the 30 for 30 Challenge, huh? Sorry about that. I didn’t get through all 30 outfits like I was supposed to. The thing is, it turns out it’s difficult to get dressed up all cute when you have heaps of chores/gardening/dirty farmy work to get done. As soon as spring hit, we were up to our eyeballs in multiple To-Do Lists with really big items on them like “clear area for all the fruit trees to go.”

BUT! I learned a lot from doing this challenge, even though I wasn’t able to see it through to the very end. If you have been struggling with wardrobe-related-woes {boredom with the clothes you have, the urge to shop-shop-shop, etc.} I would definitely recommend trying this challenge!!

The most important thing I learned is that fashion, for me, is mostly about being able to express myself in a creative way. I find pleasure in fabrics, colors, and patterns. But shopping all the time in order to satisfy this creative-fashion-appetite is neither green nor economical. Remixing the clothes I already own is.

When I get the urge to buy new clothes, which happens often, I go up to my closet and lay out a new combination/outfit. This process puts the shopping-demons to bed for a while. It’s challenging to come up with new outfits from the same 30 pieces of clothing, and it’s rewarding when you hit on one that really works. I have several that are favorites now, and I never would have thought of them if I hadn’t done this challenge.

Also, I shop better now. I look for pieces that can be remixed with a bunch of different outfits. I don’t indulge my every urge to shop, but when I do shop I spend more money for high quality items instead of shopping more often but buying a lot of cheap crap.

Lastly, I used to see my closet in terms of seasons. Summer clothes, winter clothes, etc. and I stashed away the clothes that weren’t in season. I still do this with things like heavy sweaters or shorts, but for the most part now I use pieces interchangeably whenever possible and as a result I feel like my wardrobe has grown in size and I’m able to be more creative with my outfits because I have more to work with.

However, the upside of stashing away seasonal clothes is that you feel like you just went shopping when you pull them back out after not seeing them for months. A combination of the two ways is working well for me.

I feel kinda proud of myself for learning to live within my means when it comes to clothes. This was not easy for me, and although I still have shopping urges when I see things I like, I now have a method in place that helps me control myself. Shopping is not very fun when you feel guilty about it. It’s a big relief to be able to feel good about getting new things when it happens.

And speaking of that, these pictures are of a new outfit that I got for summer. It’s perfect for me because it’s comfy, interesting, and a nice balance between laid-back and feminine. The pants go with everything and are so light that I almost feel like I’m not wearing anything at all. Best part, I got everything on major sale.

Bodysuit: Shabd / Pants: JCrew / Watch and sandals: Target / Sunnies: UO

Gardening Attire

Posted on June 14th, 2011 by Tonia 2 Comments

My mom is visiting, and in typical mom-style she can’t just come and relax- she needs to feel useful. So, we’re letting her weed our flower beds {a project I have been chipping away at for a couple weeks now, but with plenty more left to do.}

Isn’t she cute? I loved her wide-brimmed hat and yellow garden clogs. And her worn-in carpenter jeans had a nifty loop for a hammer or a garden trowel to hang from {she’s been wearing this pair since she was my age!}

In case you’re searching for good-quality, nice-looking gardening attire for the summer:

Cap-sleeved tee with sweet embroidery / Last-forever-jeans / A few different clog options: if you have tiny feet like me, if you’re a lover of vintage shoes {and happen to be a size 7}, or if you want something water-proof and long-lasting / wide-brimmed gardening hat / Tweed gardening gloves / Handmade claw cultivator {a must-have for tough weed-pulling!}

How to Make Natural Fabric Dye

Posted on May 12th, 2011 by Tonia 25 Comments

A close friend of ours got married last weekend, and naturally I wanted something nice to wear to the wedding. Buuuut, we live several hours away from any semblance of a mall. This is a blessing and a curse…on one hand, we are never tempted to run to Target to buy random stuff. On the other hand, I can’t just run to Target and buy a cute maxi dress whenever we’re invited to a wedding. So, I decided that this would be a great opportunity to hone my sewing skills, and make something rather than buy something. I hurried off to the fabric store in town, hoping for a beautiful spring-y colored fabric to jump out and inspire me.

The only fabric store around here is a quilt shop, which carries almost exclusively cotton fabric in quilt-y patterns, if you know what I mean. Not exactly dress material. I was feeling a little woeful until I spotted a bundle of 100% organic white cotton, and it dawned on me that I could dye it to be whatever cheerful spring color I wanted.

With the white fabric in hand {luckily it was a very high quality cotton!} I went home and commenced my research about fabric dyeing, which was a completely new adventure to me. Not only did I want to make sure my finished product would be color-fast so that I could wash it and care for it like normal clothes, I also needed to make the dye from biodegradable and all-natural ingredients. I found this great blog post {on one of my favorite blogs! They have fantastic posts!} about using food to dye fabric, and this list of all-natural dye sources, which lead me to choose Tumeric in hopes to achieve a bright yellow color. It turns out that natural fabric dyeing is actually quite simple, with quick and stunning results.

Supplies:

White vinegar {for plant dyes} or salt {for berry dyes}

Dye source of your choice

Large aluminum pot {aluminum helps to set the dye in the fabric, for some chemistry-related reason I don’t fully understand. Just go with it.}

White or light colored fabric {natural fabric like silk, cotton, wool, and linen work best}

Rubber gloves

{My mom and I found all the supplies, besides the fabric, at the local supermarket in my Grandma’s neighborhood. So easy and cheap!}

Steps:

Wash and dry your fabric according to its type. Mine was 100% cotton, so I washed it on cold and dried it on low. The purpose here is to get the starch out of the fabric.

Once it is clean and dry, simmer your fabric in the large aluminum pot for one hour in a mixture of water and vinegar {four parts water to one part vinegar}. The vinegar acts as a fixative. If you’re using berries as your dye source, use salt instead of vinegar {1/2 cup salt to 8 cups of water}.

{Isn’t my Grandma’s kitchen SO cute? A big thank-you to her for letting my mom and me do this whole project at her house! It was really fun to hang out and make something together!}

Rinse and ring out your fabric thoroughly in cold water until it no longer smells like vinegar, and set it aside- still damp- while you prepare your dye bath.

Fill the aluminum pot with fresh water- no vinegar this time- and heat it up to a simmer.

Add your dye source to it until the water is visibly tinted. I sprinkled Tumeric into the water and stirred until it dissolved and I could tell that the color was opaque enough to stain my fabric. It was about 1/2 cup of Tumeric. You’ll have to just play around with this, there’s no exact measurement since it depends on how dark/light you want your fabric to be in the end. You can dip a tip of your fabric into the bath to test its strength.

Let the dye bath simmer without the fabric in it for 10 minutes, and meanwhile, tie your fabric in any pattern you want with cotton string. Where the string is, the dye will not penetrate as well, leaving white or very light-colored areas for a “tie-dye” effect. This is an optional step- you could just dye the fabric without tying it.

Submerge your fabric in the dye bath and simmer for 15 min. Turn/stir the fabric every once in a while to make sure it is not sticking and burning on the bottom of the pot.

After 15 minutes, turn off the heat and let the fabric sit in the pot for as long as you want {overnight if you want the deepest possible color.} I only let mine sit for 10 minutes because I wanted a soft, pastel color.

Remove the fabric from the dye bath when you have reached a color that is about two shades darker than your desired color, untie the string, rinse with cold water and ring gently until the water runs clean and no more dye comes out. It will lighten about one shade during the rinsing step.

Hang the fabric to dry, or put it in the dryer on “air fluff” until it dries. It will lighten about one more shade as it dries. Now it is ready to be made into whatever beautiful creation you can think of!

My mom took over the project at this point, because it was clear that my meager sewing skills were not going to cut it. She {without a pattern!} sewed me a beautiful pleated, floor-length skirt with a hidden zipper in the back. THANK YOU, MOMMY! I looooove it, and it was perfect for the wedding!