Slow Fashion October rages on, to my great delight. Here are some highlights and related links for this week—
– Best, funniest slow fashion-y tale of all time: the conclusion of Eight Yarns, One Sweater (and yay! Kay and Anne are blogging again)
– Lots of people discussing/questioning the kids’ clothing aspect of all of this; I wanted to highlight this blog post of Wilfumina’s ; see also @brienne_moody’s great IG post as well as @xilary’s
– Loved this personal history from Fancy Jaime, one of my handmade heroes
– and seeing the Kollabora team jump in
– Thoughts on slow fashion from a fast-fashion employee
– An episode of Craft in America (recommended by Karin Marie in comments), which I haven’t had a chance to watch but sounds fascinating, Threads
– Same goes for this podcast interview with the founder of Zady (recommended by Beatrice)
– And I’m eager to catch up on the latest contributions on this topic from A Playful Day and Curious Handmade (I need to figure out to work podcast time into my life somehow)
– Favorites from the #slowfashionoctober feed this week include Bristol’s hand-me-down sweater and this extremely dapper fellow (and so many more — please check out the full feed!)
– Two newly launched ventures I want to mention: Sifted aspires to be a slow-fashion directory/resource, and Martha McQuade’s @fiberdestash will help you re-home your stash. I’ve also seen talk of attempts to put together a fabric stash exchange of some kind. Will you all please note any and all resources like this in the comments below?
I also want to congratulate my friends Sam Lamb and Elizabeth Duvivier of Squam fame on the collaboration that’s resulted in their first sewing pattern, the West Water tunic — which felt especially sweet to me since I met Sam at my first Squam (which was also her first Squam) and my cabin (and Anna’s) was West Water. Love all these ladies. Also brand-new are the Fancies’ Fen Pattern, which I’ve been impatiently awaiting for months, and Jen’s Tamarack Jacket. Can I please have a week to do nothing but sew all day and knit all night??
OK, speaking of known-origin, artisan-made goods, I’m happy to announce that these beloved Bookhou large pocket pouches are finally back in stock at Fringe Supply Co., in a couple of new print variations. Arounna of Bookhou is one of my heroes. She draws her designs, screenprints her fabric, and does all of the cutting, sewing and leatherwork, all in her Toronto studio with the help of her mother on the production end. Beauty, quality, utility and artistry — the whole package. I love being able to say that your support of Fringe Supply Co. not only makes it and this blog possible but also helps to support small maker businesses like Bookhou. Thank you so incredibly much to everyone for that.
I’m off to my very first Rhinebeck!! Have a great weekend, wherever you are.
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PREVIOUSLY: Elsewhere, SFO edition 1
Photos left to right: @brienne_moody, Anne Shayne, @bristolivy
Thank you so much for the links! I’ll save them for some cozy Friday night reading time!
Thank you so much for linking to my post. Achievement unlocked!
Thanks so much for addressing the kids’ clothes aspect and for sharing that link about knitting baby sweaters. The first time it occurred to me that kids’ clothes could be part of slow fashion, I was reading a vintage sewing book (I believe it’s this one https://img1.etsystatic.com/074/0/5263438/il_340x270.825109963_snd9.jpg) that had tips on using pintucks as both a style choice and an easy way to adapt clothing to children as they grow. Vertical pintucks across the shoulder can be unpicked as the kids grow, as can horizontal pintucks around the hem of a garment. The only thing you’d really need to be sure of is that your fabric is sturdy enough to take years of washing and kids rolling around in it. Pretty clever!
So much goodness in one post!! I’m in the Hudson Valley already and so impatient to be in the midst of Rhinebeck fun tomorrow! Off this morning to visit Sew Woodstock. I feel the same way about wanting a week to do nothing but sew and knit. So many new wonderful patterns that I’m feeling were designed just for me and trying to be very conscious of what I add to my wardrobe. See you soon!
I love these posts and at the same time become overwhelmed with all the resources to check out….
Nice problems, as my dad likes to say:)
Thanks for mentioning @fiberdestash !
Yay Karen! I’ll be at Rhinebeck tomorrow too! Hopefully we will run into one another! You are going to have the best time!
these were such great reads, every single one of them! and thanks so much for your super kind words and the pattern shout-out. i have such fond memories of that first squam trip, and love that west water was your cabin.
Late to the party as always but really enjoying catching up on your posts this week, Karen. Obsessed, too, with black yarn and sweaters. Can’t decide, though what to make. One problem with the dark yarn is texture (like cables) getting lost in the darkness… But black sweaters are a staple piece and one that I’m missing. Thank you for sharing my girl and her knits here and for putting some thought behind slow fashion and kids digs.
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