Helz Yeah Rule #3!

Rule #3 of my eco-fashion project is to sew more of my own clothing, and after starting with the rules in February, I've finally actually made myself a dress!

This weekend was my good friend's wedding, and I decided a long time ago that I would try to design and make my own dress to wear to it. That way I've made something for my lovely rule #3, and also wouldn't have to spend $$ on a new dress. Of course even though I had this plan in my head for months, I didn't start the dress until a week ago, and I finished it the night before the wedding. It's OK though, it worked out great! I got it done!

Sewing late into the evening...

The first thing I decided to do before making this dress (and probably the reason I procrastinated so much) was to make my own slopers. For those who might not know the sewing lingo, a sloper is essentially a very basic pattern that fits my exact size. I make it customized to my measurements, and then I can alter the sloper to draft more complicated patterns. It ended up not being as hard as I imagined, and now I have something I can use again and again to make clothes that fit me perfectly!

The next step was to start drafting the pattern for the dress. The final design might not look too complicated, but believe me it took some working out. Let's just say that pattern drafting is a really good way to practice your fraction adding skills.

Stella was helping by, um, keeping all the patterns safe?

Then putting it all together was pretty straight forward, no major problems. I used this very pretty blue and green patterned polyester fabric my friend no longer wanted. So except for a couple of hours of my own time, the dress was essentially free. Oh and I conquered my fear of invisible zippers! I honestly don't know how I didn't figure them out at MassArt, but all I did was watch a youtube video and it was the easiest and most amazing experience. The zipper just disappears! Magic. Highly recommend.

And tada! The final product! I was pretty happy with it (as you can see by my grin - though that might also have to do with the awesome wedding, and a few glasses of wine).

 

 

Thanks to Eric for the photo!

This Week's Eco Boutiques

So I just moved to Porter Sq two weeks ago, and lucky for me there are a few awesome stores in the area. I'm going to focus on two that are definitely eco-friendly.

Greenward
www.greenwardshop.com

Greenward

This store is pretty much as eco as you can get. They have everything from jewelry to house hold items to bike accessories in their store. It's definitely not a clothing store - more of a one stop shop for all things green. They even have a little drop off center for recycling in the back. I'm planning on returning to safely dispose of a broken compact florescent light bulb I have at home.

When I was there I bought two of these fabulous cloth food bags which are perfect for bringing lunch to work without using plastic bags or tin foil. They are washable and totally cute! Now if I can just get myself to actually pack lunch in the morning...

Sudo Shoes

Sudo Shoes
www.sudoshoes.com
They post a lot on facebook: www.facebook.com/sudoshoes
Sudo is a all vegan shoe store, which means every part of the shoe (including the glue) is animal free. So the shoes are ethically conscience (no animals hurt) and also sustainable since most shoes are made of microfibers... Ok, to be honest I'm not really sure why a microfiber is considered to be sustainable. When I went into the store the women called the shoes "eco-friendly" and I wished I had asked her exactly what she meant. I think it's because producing leather and using other animal byproducts uses a lot of natural resources and creates harmful emissions, while microfibers do not. 

What I like most about Sudo is that while they have some incredibly expensive (albeit gorgeous) vegan shoes, they also carry brands like Steve Madden and Saucony as a cheaper alternative. I didn't buy any shoes when I stopped in Sudo (because I was still dealing with my Berk's Groupon dilemma at the time), but I think this would be a great place to shop when I need a new pair of shoes.


I have to say I love having these eco options so close to home!

Instant Impluse Shopping

Hey ya'll, sorry I've been MIA lately. I've had a lot of stuff going on, moving my apartment being one of them. But now I'm all moved in and happy in my new place, hurrah!

So I think I'll go on a little rant today, because, well, why not.

I realized I have an issue with this new fad of internet email deals like Groupon, Ruelala, Living Social, Gilt Groupe, etc.. I feel like every morning when I go to check my email, it's just filled with bs emails about bargain buys. I can see why consumer like these companies, you can get great deals on all sorts of things. However how often do we really need what we end up buying? They are all impulse buys. I'm not planing on buying a new french cookware set, but there it is on Ruelala at such an amazing discount, how can I not? Because they do it under the guise of being helpful, these companies have figured out a way to invade our brains without us realizing it, and it ends up making us spend money on things we never would have purchased otherwise. It's instant impulse shopping. No longer do you walk buy a shop window and frivolously buy the shirt on display, now you can purchase whatever you want with one click. The purchase is so instant that we don't even think about it. Because of this blog I've been thinking a lot lately about not buying things I don't need, and these websites honestly just keep pissing me off. I find myself searching Ruelala every day hoping I might find something eco-friendly to buy, and then I step back and say, why? What do I need? If I need something specific, I should go to the store and buy it, not hope it shows up on this site. Plus not to mention that practically everything I buy online doesn't fit me or looks different once I get it home... and how often do I return it? Yeah, exactly. So you know what I just did? I unsubscribe from Ruelala, Yelp Deals, Groupon, and Urban Outfitters. It was actually kinda scary, but I tried not to think about - I just did it instantly with one click. 

Time's running out!

Of course I leave things to the very last minute... I just realized my Berk's shoe Goupon is going to expire TOMORROW May 24!! That means I have to find a time to get over to Harvard Sq by the end of the day tomorrow (or I wasted $30), and I still don't know what I should buy that's eco-friendly!

My friend Rebecca shared a few good links that point out a problem with the structure of Toms Shoe's charitable giving. Since they produce the "give away" shoes elsewhere and give them out for free they are taking away business from local shoe manufacturing companies and are wasting money and resources by shipping the shoes to these communities. Basically they are hurting the economies of the communities they are supposed to be helping, plus all that extra shipping and wasting resources is definitely not eco-friendly.

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2011/4/27/shoes-local-toms-pair/

http://goodintents.org/in-kind-donations/toms-shoes 

I think I'm going to take Toms Shoes off my list of companies that are OK to buy. Instead I'll buy a pair of Reef or Teva flip flops, as both companies just launched eco-initiatives. But let's see if I even make it over there to use my Goupon!

I've been a busy bee lately and not posting much, but I'll get back to it soon. I'm moving my apt this week so after that's over I'll have some more free time!

An eco-shoe dilemma!

So I have a Groupon for Berk's Shoes in Harvard Square. Great right? Well now that I've started doing my eco-fashion thing, it seems buying shoes isn't so easy. Especially when I'm limited to a particular store.

Let me start by saying that I find the eco-friendly shoe world to be utterly confusing. It's hard enough for a consumer to determine if a clothing garment is eco-friendly, but for shoes? It's even more difficult! There are a variety of different materials used such as leather & plastics, production involves chemicals and glues, and while some of the leather may be from Italy and "handcrafted" the other half of the shoe could be made in China with who-knows what kind of materials and working conditions.

Walle and his plant in a shoe - he knows what's up

Because of this there are many different criteria under which a shoe could be considered "eco." I found a good list of eco-friendly shoe brands on this site: www.planetshoes.com/Eco. Planetshoes considers shoe to be eco-friendly if they meet one of these criteria:

• Made from sustainable natural materials that can easily be recycled or biodegraded.
• Made from recycled materials.
• Made of vegan materials.
• Fair Trade and/or ethically produced.
• Energy used to make the shoes come from renewable resources like wind or solar.

For my sanity, I'm going to also use Planetshoes's criteria, because my own "rules" seem a little too stricted in the shoe department.

I've been trying to research the eco-friendly practices of some of the brands Berk's carries. And actually (I'm not surprised) Berk's is pretty good. They sell quite a few eco-friendly shoe brands.

Eco-friendly brands Berk's does carry: Arcopedico, Birkenstock, Chaco, Kigo, Merrell, Naot, New Balance, Reef, Teva, The North Face, Wolky.

Some of these brands are really great! But they aren't exactly what I'm looking for - I don't need sandals, and I don't wear the chunky style of many of those brands.  Unfortunately the brand I like the best from Planetshoes's eco list is not carried by Berk's, but you should still check them out: Naya.

One thing Berk's does carry is Tom's Shoes. I was sort of on the fence about Tom's because they aren't specifically eco-friendly. They say they use Earth and eco-friendly materials whenever possible, and although they manufacture their shoes in Argentina, China, and Ethiopia, they say they require their factories to adhere to their standards of fair wages and good working conditions. These things don't exactly fit my rules, but I think their philanthropic mission makes up for it. If you don't know, for every pair of shoes purchased, Tom's donates a pair to a child in need.  Pretty awesome.

Hmmm and cute!!

So what does everyone think? Can I buy a pair of Tom's shoes and stretch my eco requirements since I have a credit to Berk's? I vote yes, but I'm curious to see other's opinions... 

Also I stopped into the vegan shoe store Sudo Shoes near Porter sq this weekend and was very impressed. I plan on going back and giving you a full report!

Mobius Wearable Art Show Pics

So the show last night went really well! There were a ton of people and a lot of really interesting and innovative designs. Here are some photos of my "Little Red Re-design."

Yay! Success!

Little Red Re-design

So after a few weeks of procrastinating and a few days of hard work, I've finally finished the garment I'm submitting to the Mobius Wearable Art Show this Friday May 6! Yay!

Thanks to my fabulous friend in her modeling debut: Rebecca Woodbury! 

The idea behind this garment was very eco-fashion inspired. I wanted to take normal objects, especially ones that are broken or ready to be thrown away (like the umbrellas), and give them new life by transforming them into something interesting and unexpected.

If you remember my previous post about this show I was planning on making a dress out of only the two broken red umbrellas. Well I pretty much made the dress (see photo below), but I thought it turned out way too normal-looking and boring. I didn't feel that it qualified as "wearable art" so I decided to re-think things a bit. The skirt I ended up using I made for a school project a few years ago. It's made of 1800 red rubber bands. I had always really liked the skirt never really liked the top that I made with it. So I ended up cutting up the umbrella dress, adding a hood, and now I have a new, better (I think), wearable art garment!

the umbrella dress as close as it ever came to existing...

Details on the show!

Mobius Wearable Art Runway Show

Where: Mobius, 725 Harrison Ave, Boston MA

When: Friday May 6 @ 7pm

Suggested Donation: $10 general, $5 friends of Mobius, students & seniors

http://www.mobius.org/events/2011-mobius-wearable-art-runway-show 

My designer friend June Monteiro won the Word Art contest and will be showing two pieces in the show as well! It should be a fun and interesting night!