recycled wool

some thoughts on 2019, slow stitching, recycling, using up and paying attention

January 10, 2019 by Birdbrain 2 Comments

It has been over a month since I’ve written here. What was once a daily adventure for me, writing my blog and connecting to readers, has become a rarity. As I’ve told you before I’ve been posting on instagram and enjoying the connections and inspiration there. It’s quick and fun to hear from others and see what they are doing. Slowly I’ve been giving slow stitching, sustainability and reducing waste more and more thought. So, it’s time to share some of my musings and projects.

Several years ago I was on a cycling trip in Austria when we came upon the Geiger mill. Geiger, like Marimekko, is a brand I have loved since my teens. I was thrilled to visit the factory and to purchase some remnants. You can see the blog post here with the photo of the pile of beautiful boiled wool remnants.

I’ve been sewing in the last year, using remnants from my bins and the Textile Museum sales. (I line my leather bags with the off-cuts I find there.) There was a time I sewed all of my clothes, actually wove the fabric first and then sewed. But then a career and a family intervened. I sold my looms and packed up my sewing machines. After I retired I started rug hooking and then making leather bags. And then over the last couple of years I started slowly to make some of my clothes from the remnants I had on hand.

One of the big differences now is the global sewing community available online. Below are two pieces I made from a pattern designer in the UK, Tara at Paper Theory, using her versatile LB Pullover. I encourage you to read Tara’s reflections on ‘slowing fashion down’ and buying ‘ethically’. I’ve written here before about my principles of buying second-hand or handmade from local artisans. This year I have added to that by beginning once again to make my own fashion using recycled and remnant fabrics. I hope you’ll follow me here on my journey.

The tops below are from the Geiger boiled wool and I’ve been wearing them non-stop in frigid Ontario January. The pattern used is Paper Theory’s LB Pullover.

And below is a new day bag for an order. It is made from a recycled leather jacket. The first photo shows the jacket before being cut, the second the finished bag. The quality of the leather is high and it was a pleasure to sew with and to give it new life.

progress on village hooking

January 7, 2018 by Birdbrain 1 Comment

I am taking this piece to a textile retreat this coming week, so will work on the sky and water once I am there. But I wanted to share this updated photo with you so you can see how it is coming together. I hope I’ll get some ideas for stitching/embellishing the sweater pieces from the others at the retreat.

I am also hoping to have my travel bag done in time to take on the trip. Fingers crossed, I’ll post a photo of the completed bag tomorrow. And I have a third project to share with you before I go. Until tomorrow…

rughooking with sweater patches

January 4, 2018 by Birdbrain 5 Comments

For some years now I have been making mittens, scarves and headbands from recycled sweaters. Using beautiful discarded sweaters and scarves fits in to my goal to buy only second hand or hand made clothing. I decided to try to incorporate pieces of these sweaters into my hooking, further extending the use of repurposed fibre. As you can see from the photo below, I sewed sweater rectangles on the linen backing before hooking. I love the rich colours of the cashmere as well as the random stripes.

Here are my thoughts at the half-way point. I think I might double the sweater pieces next time or add a gentle padding underneath to bring them up to the same height as the hooking. I’d also like to experiment with stitching/embellishing the sweater patches in contrasting colours. I may still add some green sweater pieces for the trees–and break away a bit from the geometric shapes.

I’ll keep working away at this and post again at the end of the weekend so I hope you will check back. It’s a perfect thing to work on these cold dark January days. Colour and texture always cheer me up.

getting ready for the show

November 24, 2017 by Birdbrain Leave a Comment

My favourite model is featured here wearing some of the Birdbrain goods which will be available at the upcoming show: wool and cashmere headbands and scarves as well as a couple of the bags and totes.

sewing a headband from recycled sweaters

December 17, 2016 by Birdbrain Leave a Comment

A couple of days ago I posted a pile of headbands which I had made from recycled sweaters. Following that, I had requests for instructions. These headbands are very easy and need no special equipment other than a pair of scissors and an average sewing machine.

I like the combination of colour and pattern, so I use a variety of felted (washed and rinsed in hot water) sweaters cut in pieces about 3.5 inches wide. I sew these pieces putting wrong sides together to make a strip which goes around your head comfortably. I then cut a second piece of sweater the same size as the pieced strip and sew this piece to the pieced strip, right sides together, making a long tube. Then I turn the tube inside out, press gently and sew the ends together first with machine and then finishing by hand to make a neat join. This is a great way to continue to wear your well-loved sweaters which are past their youthful best. Cashmere, of course, makes the very best headbands, warm and soft.

Here are a couple of close-ups: headband-2

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recycled wool and cashmere headbands

December 12, 2016 by Birdbrain 2 Comments

I find it addicting, fooling around with colour, pattern and texture. This is, of course, why I love rug hooking. But making these headbands from sweater pieces is also a perfect exercise. I set myself a challenge to make as many headbands as I could in a day, using only what I had on hand. I made headbands a few years ago, backing them with fleece–but I had no fleece in my cupboard. So…I decided to back them with pieces of black cashmere from a lovely old cardigan. Sometimes scarcity produces the best results. These are super cozy and much warmer than those made with synthetic fleece. The little label that you can see peeking out is one of my vintage handwoven ribbon labels embroidered with a little bird. Perfect. headbands-1

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recycled mittens

December 9, 2014 by Birdbrain Leave a Comment

This pair of Birdbrain mittens described by their owner as ‘necessary for my ride to class’ was photographed in Victoria BC. Made from recycled wool sweaters and recycled leather and lined with recycled scarves. Toasty warm!

Below are the mittens photographed just before Sunday’s sale. Thank you to everyone who came and made this, the 5th and last Birdbrain show, the best yet.

The two pairs of warm mittens in the final picture are available for sale in the store. If you are interested click on the online store button under navigation on the right.

recycled cashmere and wool

December 5, 2014 by Birdbrain 2 Comments

I’ve saved pieces of my favourite sweaters for the past few years and this last day or two I’ve been having fun combining them into into headbands and then lining them with fleece. Cosy! At bottom you see them paired with infinity scarves which are made from pieces of cashmere–deliciously warm and soft!

and more mittens…

October 4, 2014 by Birdbrain 2 Comments

We have been having warm and sunny weather in Ontario for the past couple of weeks. In fact, much nicer weather than we had all summer. But in spite of the sun and warmth, I’ve been thinking about winter and the pile of mittens in the studio is growing. I’ll admit making these mittens is mildly addictive–combining colour, pattern and texture to make something useful and playful. I’ve been making these mittens for several years now, and I love to hear people who have bought them tell me that their hands have never been so warm.

It is getting much harder to find good quality wool sweaters and scarves now; there is so much machine-made fibre, a sad substitution in every way. So for many of these pairs of mittens I am using the last of my favourite wool remnants (with some gratefully received donations from friends).

Below you can see the components which combine to make a pair of mittens: outer wool shell, wool scarf lining, wool and sheepskin cuffs. This pink is from a remnant I was lucky enough to purchase at the Geiger Mill in Austria this past spring where they produce beautiful boiled wool fabric. I have some other pieces in different colours–not sure yet what they will become.

gearing up

October 1, 2014 by Birdbrain 3 Comments

Things are gearing up in the studio. First, a photo of Carissa modelling the PT backpack in action. This bag flips easily from back to shoulder. It is great for getting to work on your bike and then transforming into a more business-like shoulder bag when there. At 11″ wide and 10″ tall with a base of 5″, we think it is big enough to hold all your essentials. Carissa, an important part of the design team, is testing out this new bag and from there we will refine the details.

Below is the first spate of mittens. Making these is one of my favourites, combining the textures and colours to come up with each pair. My studio right now is strewn with sweater pieces as I search for the perfect combo of weight, pattern and colour. As always, these are 100% wool–recycled sweaters on the outside and recycled scarves on the inside. Cozy and colourful–perfect for the fall and winter winds around the corner.