UPPERCASE magazine

I am thrilled to be included in the current issue of UPPERCASE; a magazine all about creativity, design and art. My 'Grandad's Sweater' is featured in a a special section called Scavenger Hunt - creations made from recycled materials. My piece features a refashioned foot stool using granddad's sweaters and clothing.

Issue 24 is all about textiles. It features sections on modern weavers; visible mending; quilt design; the cultural history of vintage feed sacks; tattooed artists and discovering flea market treasures. Each cover has a swatch of vintage feed sack fabric hand-applied to the cover.

UPPERCASE publishes books and magazines for the creative and curious: products that spark the imagination and inspire creativity. Our eponymous magazine, now in its sixth year, is loved by readers around the world and has been recognized for its design excellence. Our books profile up-and-coming artists or explore emerging trends in design and creativity.

We view everything we publish as an opportunity to create something special, so each product has high production values and attention to detail. A playful exploration of creativity, an affinity for vintage ephemera, and a love of typography are some elements common to many of our publications. -publisher / editor / designer Janine Vangool

For a preview: http://issuu.com/uppercaseyyc/docs/uppercase24-issuu?e=0/10878770   (I'm on page 64!)

http://uppercasemagazine.com

Make Do and Mend

 

The original meaning for “Make Do and Mend” was created between 1941 and 1949 in Britain during World War II. Adults were rationed to a small number of clothing coupons per year, the price fixed by law. If you had money, but no coupons, you could not buy, although an illegal black-market grew up of traders willing to supply at a price. The repairing and reinventing of clothing and everyday objects that would normally be discarded due to shortages and rationing began in ernest. Wartime rationing of textiles led to the famous campaign which encouraged women to be frugal and clever to clothe themselves and their families. A ‘make-do and mend’ ethos grew up, recycling old clothes, unpicking the wool from old pullovers to darn socks, for example.

The Make Do and Mend booklet was intended to provide housewives with useful tips on how to be both frugal and stylish in times of harsh rationing. With its thrifty ideas and advice on reusing old clothing, the book was an indispensable guide for households. Women were advised to create pretty 'decorative patches' to cover holes in warn garments; unpick old jumpers to re-knit chic alternatives; turn men's clothes into women's; as well as darn, alter and protect against the 'moth menace'.
There are many blogs, artists and businesses that are using the Make Do and Mend philosophyin the present times as a means to recycle, reuse and save materials that usually go to waste.

http://www.makeitandmendit.com
http://www.battleofbritain1940.net/document-3.html
http://www.wornthrough.com
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Shilpa Chavan

Shilpa Chavan, Mumbai milliner, stylist and designer has transformed objects such as empty plastic bottles, children's toys, rubber flip flops and  underwear into spectacular sculptures that rest upon the body.

“It’s got less to do with being Indian,” she says, “than it is about looking at shapes and objects differently. When I find a shape, be it a rubber slipper or a paper kite, the first thing I think of is how it could be worn on the head. Then I think downwards into jewellery and other accessories like badges, belts…but it really starts with the shape.”

"I don't plan the collections," Chavan says. "I pick up things because I feel they are interesting and then I hoard them. I let them lie for a while until I start feeling strongly about what I can do with a piece, and it can take years to figure that out."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18430735

http://www.littleshilpa.com/

from somewhere clothing

What happens to all the waste fabric in the fashion industry? At the end of each season there is often much fabric waste; offcuts, pre-consumer surplus, end of roll and damaged fabrics.This waste usually ends up in the trash and then a landfill. In 1997 two designers had the idea to create beautiful clothing using these pieces of unwanted and discarded fabrics. Using high quality fabrics: cashmere, silk, and tweeds From Somewhere rescues and upcycles them into their stunning collections.

www.fromsomewhere.co.uk
http://www.facebook.com/pages/From-Somewhere/113444485162

speedo story

When Speedo launched its LZR Racer swimsuit in February 2008, it was a sensation. Designed in collaboration with Comme des Garçons and tested in Nasa's wind tunnel facilities, the suit's high-tech fabric repelled water and increased flexibility. 'When I hit the water I feel like a rocket,' said Michael Phelps, the US swimming champion, before going on to win eight gold medals in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. 'It's really exciting for swimmers,' said Jason Rance, the head of Speedo's Aqualab, the company's research and development facility in Nottingham. 'They say they feel like Superman.' Ninety-four per cent of all Beijing's swimming golds were won by athletes wearing the suit.

But then in July 2009 Fina, swimming's world governing body, banned the LZR on the basis that it gave its wearers an unfair advantage. The LZR would never be allowed again in a major swimming championship. The decision left Speedo with a significant problem: 18,000 obsolete swimsuits, most stuck in a warehouse.

Speedo gave the swimsuits to Orsola de Castro, 44, the founder of From Somewhere, a fashion label specializing in recycling off-cuts and 'waste' into new garmets.

De Castro sources lengths of fabric that manufacturers discard: beautiful silks and jerseys, all off-cuts from the fashion industry.
By September she had created a 10-piece collection from the swimsuits, turning bottoms into elegant sleeves, and legs transformed into a pleated skirt.

http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/news-features/TMG8254833/Sri-Lankan-upcycling-factory-makes-waves-in-the-fashion-industry.html?sms_ss=blogger&at_xt=4d5bf734ecd23dfe%2C1

 

http://www.fromsomewhere.co.uk/index2.html