The Landlocked Sailor

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Check out this post from inhabitat.com. The pieces are made from the demolished Coney Island Boardwalk, and the designs really evoke the amusement park vibe.

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• uhuru design’s cyclone lounger from reclaimed Coney Island boardwalk (alternativeconsumer.com)
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• ANNOUNCING: Inhabitat’s 2010 BKLYN Designs Green Awards! (inhabitat.com)

Cute, cute cute. These little stuffed fish are stuffed with natural carded wool and have wool felt and cotton embroidery thread eyes, no plastic or glass!

SewnNatural is a mother-daughter team based in Ontario, Canada. The shop is full of wonderful upcycled and all-natural gems for the whole house. Check it out!

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This is about as simple as it gets: I cut the torso part off a sweater (forgot to take “before” photos, oops!), stuffed it to within an inch of its life, and sewed the top and bottom shut. Ta-Da! A super soft, huggable accent pillow.

Measures approximately 19″ wide by 10″ high.

Last night in the 6:00 hour (Pacific time) this lovely treasury by KarmaKarma was featured on Etsy’s front page!

Here are the items featured:

*Dryer Pillow Sheets by zJayne

*Book Head Sculpture by Kenjio

*Personalize This Paper Cup Cozy by KnitStorm

*Recycled Glass Necklace Madreperla Series by Metamorphosi

*Green Flower Bottle Bowl by bent bottle

*Recycled Paper Striped Bangle by Hippie Kingdom

*Organic Slouch Beret Hat by Adorable Organics

*Organic Sandwich and Snack Bag Set of 2 by OrganiLuxe

*Soap Saver- Natural Bits by laksaware

*Ecological Felted Bracelet from Lithuanian Local Coarsewooled Sheep Wool and Linen by

*UpCycled ReCycled Quart Sized Ball Jar Light Fixture by BootsNGus

*Comtesse de Soissons freeform melange dusty green and beige crocheted choker with beads by Hypericumfragile

Fabulous!

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What is Waste?

You are probably familiar with these two definitions (from my Oxford American Dictionary):

waste |wāst|
verb
1 [ trans. ] use or expend carelessly, extravagantly, or to no purpose

adjective [ attrib. ]
1 (of a material, substance, or byproduct) eliminated or discarded as no longer useful or required after the completion of a process

The second is especially noteworthy because we tend to think of “discarded” and “waste” as garbage and trash, ready to go into a landfill. However, does the fact that something is “no longer useful or required after the completion of a process” mean that it has no more usefulness at all? That it should be completely destroyed or buried deep in the ground, never to be thought of again?

Think about this: Plants produce oxygen as a waste product. It’s “waste” because it’s a byproduct of their process of photosynthesis. They don’t need it, but guess who does? We do. Without it, we’d die. So, what is “waste” to one group or process is useful for other groups or processes.

Watch this Terracycle video on Love and Trash. It will change the way you look at trash!

Instead of seeing trash, garbage, or waste everywhere, start seeing raw materials. Start seeing beauty. Start seeing potential. There are very few items that you need to have as new, straight from the factory. Almost everything you need, you can make, find used, or purchase from someone else who had made it from discarded items.

For more of the truth about consumerism and garbage, check out The Story of Stuff, Don’t Recycle, Upcycle at ecofashionworld.com, Style, Grace, and Upcycling at paystolivegreen.com, and Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things.

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Upcycling is everywhere. You already know that you can purchase both upcycling supplies and finished upcycled products on Etsy. You should also already know that you can sell your own upcycled products on Etsy! And here’s one more cool thing to do with your upcycling projects this month: Enter contests and win stuff!

Makers Online is having a Trash to Treasure Upcycling Competition. (UK residents only, 18 and over.) The prize is £200, and the deadline is next Friday (23rd July) so hurry hurry hurry!

Lil Blue Boo’s The Great Ugly Knit Upcycle Challenge has been extended until August 15th at midnight (Pacific Time). You can make anything at all out of ugly knits, and there are some great prizes, so it’s time to go out and hunt for the ugliest knits you can find!

And, of course, there is the Landlocked Sailor’s Jersey Knit Upcycling Contest, which has been extended through August.

Stumped for ideas? Check out some of the amazing things people are doing:

• Style, Grace, and Upcycling at Pays to Live Green

• DIY Wine Cork Trivet on Care2 make a difference. Includes instructions!

• Repurposing Simple Everyday Objects on PlanetPals. Really cool ideas for old records, books, and more wine corks.

• Birdhouses from old shipping pallets on Inhabitat.

• Amazingly beautiful jewelery from a plastic bag at Hooked Yarn. I can’t believe I never thought of doing something like this!

• Nike Shoe Fish Aquarium on Animal Planet’s The Daily Treat. Even if you don’t have a pet fish, you have to admit it’s pretty cool!

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• Etsy Find: Upcycled Flower Child Headband – $10 (thebudgetfashionista.com)

The July refashioning contest, Jersey: It’s Not Just For Cows Anymore, is being extended through August! So you have some extra time to get your upcycling groove on.

In case you missed it the first time, here’s the deal: 1. Find some jersey-knit fabric to rescue. 2. Take a photo of the fabric in its current state. 3. Refashion it into something else. 4. Take a photo (actually several photos) of your finished project. 5. Submit the “after” photos to The Landlocked Sailor along with a little story about why you did what you did, how you did it, and why you should win the contest.

Easy Peasy.

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If you’re looking for how-tos and patterns for kids’ clothes, I’m sure there are books and magazines out there that you could buy, and your local library probably has some, as well. But there is a whole world full of free information and inspiration, right inside your computer! It’s called the blogoshpere!

Here are a few of my favorite blogs having to do with making children’s clothing.

1. Tin Whistle is an amazing site. Milly makes clothes and other items for her kids and for a shop in Perth, Australia, called Red Feathers and a Hula Skirt. Some of her blogged projects are made from adult clothes, many from new fabrics, but that’s the great part about kids’ clothes: you don’t need much fabric, so they’re easy to fashion from adult clothing. Make sure you check out these cool appliques while you’re there.

2. Lil Blue Boo is an adorable blog full of ideas, tutorials, patterns, and great photography. Don’t miss the Pirate Matryoshka tutorial!

3. EcoSalon is a site for all things Eco-Friendly and Green, from fashion to food to travel to technology. This post about 7 inspiring children’s clothing designs is a must-read! The featured items were all found on Etsy, so make sure you check out the sellers’ shops for more goodness!

And one more: Threads and Snippets by Rebecca of Chirp and Bloom on Etsy. This blog is about a little bit of everything, and definitely worth a read. Be sure to check out this post about kid-friendly vacations.

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If you’re hunting for fabulous textiles to salvage, the first place to look is in your own closet. But sometimes, there’s just nothing there that’s really exciting. In fact, you may find some things that need to be hauled off to the thrift store. While you’re there (at the thrift store, not in your closet), look for inspiring fabrics. Not finding anything in the endless racks of clothing? That’s ok, move on to the sheets, pillowcases, curtains, and blankets. You’re almost certain to find something in the housewares area that’s just begging to be made into a great new bag or skirt.

But sometimes you just can’t find the perfect fabric anywhere locally. What then?

There are several Etsy sellers who offer vintage fabrics, or just fabric for upcycling (not necessarily old enough to be “vintage”). For example, check out The Do Dad Chick’s selection of wool and cashmere sweater pieces. She’s already washed and dried the sweaters (to begin the felting process) and cut them into rectangles for you! The sweater pieces are organized into beautiful color groupings, and approximate measurements and total weights are given.

UpCycledArt offers overdyed silks, cottons, linens, wools, and some fiber art kits that include fabric, wool, and beads.

Wisteria Cottage sells vintage fabric fat quarters, entire linens such as pillowcases and bedsheets, as well as some really cool vintage sewing patterns.

Rope: Supplies for Making Stuff is a shop you won’t want to pass up. Not only can you find all those great prints you remember from back in the day, but they’ve also go awesome names like Dreamsicle and Mum’s the Word.

Last but not least, you have to check out Blonde’s Backyard for some extra special finishing touches. Karen has done the hard work of turning vintage fabrics into bias tape for you. Also look for some fabric bundles and amazing fabric-covered buttons.

These are my top 5 sellers of salvaged textiles, but Etsy has many more! Do a search for “upcycle fabric” under “supplies” on Etsy’s main page.

Do you sell rescued fabrics on Etsy? Let us know in the comments!

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I’ve heard entirely too many stories about people “multitasking” while driving. Aside from the classic “applying eye makeup” and “reading a book,” there are a surprising number of reports about people knitting, changing clothes, and painting their toenails behind the wheel. I know it’s funny when Mr. Bean does it, but c’mon people.

Since this is the last leg of our roadtrip to California, today’s post is dedicated to projects you can do in the air or on the road–but not if you’re the one driving!

Be safe. And, like the Coast Guard, be always ready.

Knitting

Yes, you can take knitting needles on airplanes again. You can also take scissors, as long as they are under 4″ long. (Of course, airport security issues are always subject to change, so check with the TSA for updates and specific regulations.) Circular needles are easier to keep track of than straights (you can’t lose one, since they’re attached!) and they are less likely to poke your neighbor while you knit.

For portable knitting, look for small projects like socks, arm warmers, and hats. You will probably want to stick to solid colors or self-striping yarn. A big tangled intarsia project is no fun in your carry-on.

Two of my favorite small-project pattern collections are Three Season Mitts by Minimalist Knitter and Knit 1 for the Road by Margaret Knock. (Affiliate Links) I especially like these two because I can put them on my Kindle DX and go. There are also a ton of patterns available on Ravelry and in your local library that you can print or copy out.

Crochet

If you’re crocheting, as opposed to knitting, you’ll go through yarn more quickly, and you’ll probably have to carry more yarn with you for a similar sized project. Look for the same kinds of projects mentioned above– hats, mittens, etc. My favorite things to crochet on the go are motifs, like the red starfish for my Sailor Girl Starfish Clutch. When you’re making a bunch of tiny things, instead of one big project, you can always make a bunch and ship them home when they get too bulky for your handbag.

Sewing

Again, think small. (And think hand-sewing.) The last time I got bored on a trip, I raided the local thrift stores and came up with a bunch of really cool vintage T-shirts, a large pair of scissors, and some straight pins. Add my little sewing kit and a template made out of newspaper, and I made myself a skirt while watching a PBS special in my hotel room. Ok, a skirt is kind of a big project compared to a hat or a starfish, but I didn’t have to pack a bunch of materials into my luggage, and I didn’t have to find a fabric store, and it was kind of fun sewing it by hand.

Some smaller sewing projects to consider: Pincushions, pillows, dolls, applique, or embroidery.

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