Coronavirus is a catalyst for change. The world has shrunk and supply chains are under threat at this time of global disruption. Local manufacturing is coming into its own, and being niche, nimble and natural are key ingredients for success, says Kerrie Richards from Merino Country.
“We are people of action, and actions speak louder than words. It is not who you are, it is what you do and how you make a difference in the world,” Kerrie says.
Discombobulating, a one-word descriptor of this pandemic lockdown experience. My earlier shift to a more holistic way of living and working proved useful. Yet it still feels like the rug was pulled asunder. I am grateful for what I have. More On the Textile Beat May 2020 here. If you wish to subscribe there’s a link at the right-hand side of the Textile Beat home page.
During this coronavirus lockdown, Meriel Chamberlin has had more cold contacts than ever before about her local cotton supply chain Full Circle Fibres which provides beautiful, ethical and traceable fabrics, fibres and yarns. Meriel works directly with cotton growers at St George in south west Queensland, Glenn and Rebecca Rogan, from Australian Super Cotton, and then with local manufacturers for every stage.
As #15 in the ARISING from Disruption conversation series, Meriel chatted with Jane Milburn about adaptation, resourcefulness and self-sufficiency during this time of pandemic.
“This disruption of supply chains and our dependence on them has caused a lot more people to think about buying local and supporting local. Designers, brands and makers think customers are going to want Australian made and we have had practical benefit from the Aussie dollar value and cost of freight (air freight has gone through the roof) which means my offer has become more economically sustainable than before, especially in the category of ethical and sustainable fabrics.’’
“While Australia’s textile industry was much larger 20 years ago, it is quite some time since the nation focused on making the most of single-origin traceability. There is one stage not here yet, which is the spinning to turn the fibre into yarn that is still done in Manchester, UK. Usually Australian fibres are shipped overseas and mixed with others in the global supply chain. I decided that I would like to know where my fibres come from and that others would like that too.’’
One of main opportunities for Meriel during lockdown has been to take a hard look at how we do PPE (personal protective equipment) and the colossal waste in the system. “Along with responding to an increase in interest in my classic products, it is abundantly clear we need to do something radically different, smart and clever, and be even more protective than the PPE available out there. We need equipment that can be reused and to protect people from great shortages, as well as creating local manufacturing opportunities. ”
Listen to the conversation here, or read the notes below.
What Meriel Chamberlin said:
Katrina Rodabaugh feels incredibly grateful for the one-acre of land in upstate New York that has become the whole world for her husband and two children as a place of shelter, nourishment and learning during this time of pandemic.
Her journey to this place was meandering. After agitating for an environmental studies major, working in art organisations in big cities, studying creative writing and beginning her slow fashion awakening, Katrina moved cross country to now be homesteading in the Hudson Valley where her work and life are holistically cocooned.
What began as a personal project called Make Mend Thrift in 2013 has evolved into an inspirational career of making, writing and teaching others about mending, slow fashion and sustainable living by sharing her values, experience and skills documented in her book Mending Matters.
“I am this hybrid of having informal training in fibre arts and folk art heritage from land-based practices a couple of generations ago … through to conceptual and community-based art … and now homesteading. It is this funny space of being from the urban world and the rural world as well.”
“It is meaningful and touching to work with the plants and the seasons, and expand my knowledge of plants that I can identify, and expand their uses, their place in the ecosystem … I am interested in the triple power plants – plants that are edible, medicinal and dye plants.’’
Her creative projects just now are ones she can pick up and put down, that can be interrupted around children. ‘’I can grab my knitting while doing home schooling and knit a few rows. Mending and plant dyes are good too. We are turning to the garden a lot, prepping our garden for spring, starting our seeds, pruning our trees.
Tips: There is just something really important and beautiful about a daily rhythm is, whether it is meditation, exercise, or creative practice – whatever that thing is we can show up to on a daily basis and see how it changes, that can really be meaningful and truly transformative. So I walk, I garden and I stitch, then I’m on the computer, then I’m trying to help my children.
Changes: My worry is there will be such an economic crisis, the focus will return to building the economy by any means necessary. The model of profit over people is how we got to this mess environmentally to begin with, by forgetting our limitations and core values of taking care of people and the planet. On the other hand, the incredible interest in baking, gardening, raising chickens, homesteading and handcrafting is powerful and meaningful for people, and I hope it has staying power because it is so important to sustainability.
Find out more about Katrina here, read full transcript below.
Full transcript of what Katrina Rodabaugh said:
While she doesn’t knit or crochet, Amy DuFault has discovered a sense of making by putting colour on cloth. She’s been a journalist for decades and now evolved into a regenerative thinker and storyteller about farming, history, food, and textiles. Based on Cape Cod in Massachusetts, USA, Amy is used to working from home unless travelling and everything still feels normal right now until she leaves the house or reads news about the pandemic. I was due to visit Amy for my Churchill Fellowship study tour, but we made do with this ARISING from Disruption #13 conversation as a Virtual Churchill until overseas travel becomes possible again.
Amy says DIY is arising. “Many people are gardening, they want to grow their own food, make face masks or do natural dyeing. Everybody is doing things. I am patching things, working on a denim jacket with patches sewn on and it spurs on all kinds of ideas. I’ve written about this in a ‘Foraging for Self’ article in Taproot magazine. I can’t knit, I can’t crochet but I can do natural dyeing. Putting colour to cloth, you can be proud of yourself. This is my form of making. Now I am making things, my shirt is dyed from madder root and most of my wardrobe is naturally dyed right now.”
Tips: I want to say slow down but I am having a hard time doing it. Read poems, drink coffee, listen to morning birdsong. It is important to keep moving our bodies, to be quiet, to stretch and listen, to realise we are not the only person going through something.
Changes: I am hoping regional supply will become more important to people. I hope we look at our communities as support systems – for emotional support, for food and for fibre. There may be a massive push, after being told you can’t, for crazy shopping and to live life in excess as a form of rebellion.
Listen to Amy DuFault in conversation below, or read notes at the bottom.
The timing could not have been better for Erin Lewis-Fitzgerald to publish her book Modern Mending and open an online shop for mending supplies as the coronavirus pandemic sent the population into lockdown, with time to mend.
As a Melbourne-based former journalist, editor and photo journalist who’s been teaching mending at workshops for six years, Erin had the skill set to produce this book she knew was needed to address modern-day mending for items such as jeans and t-shirts.
Mending has three magic factors happening at the moment:
Listen to our ARISING from Disruption #12 conversation, or read the notes at bottom.
An academic survey of crochet that went viral worldwide and attracted responses from more than 8000 people in 80 countries has reported significant positive impacts on wellbeing. It also showed that crochet made people feel useful and part of society, and was important for connection across generations, said research Dr Pippa Burns from the University of Wollongong.
Pippa and a research colleague studied how the handcraft of crochet may assist with mental health and wellbeing, following the lead of Betsan Corkhill in the United Kingdom who had found positive impacts of knitting on wellbeing.
“At the end of survey we had a free text box asking if there was anything else people wanted to tell us. Over 50 percent shared their experience of using crochet to get through high-stress times, but also for connection across generations, a sense of producing something for future generations, or materials passed down between generations,’’ Pippa said.
“People were saying there were connections to it being a mindful process, counting stitches, being in the moment and not thinking about stress or burdens. Handcrafts at present are a very useful way of being in the moment … there is something about using your hands and being in the moment which helps still racing thoughts.”
Listen to the conversation with Dr Pippa Burns below (or read notes at bottom)
Emma Friedlander-Collins applies design process and creative thinking to help solve wicked problems such as sustainability issues around what we wear. Her tools include crochet hacking, remaking and sharing tutorials via Instagram which she juggles alongside lecturing, writing books, teaching two small children and nurturing a tiny backyard ecosystem during lockdown.
Based at Brighton in the United Kingdom, Emma used a design process to adapt their family living space, moving two boys into one room and converting other room into a tiny office and studio by painting the walls white. Emma’s used to working around the children, always adapting her work to the needs of the family.
“I did a Masters’ degree in sustainable design and learned how we can use design as a problem-solving tool. To apply creative thinking process to wicked problems, such as sustainability and what’s going on with our planet. Using this visual process, I teach a fashion communication course and talk a lot about changing how we think about fashion. I use my Instagram feed consciously to make sustainability look gorgeous – rather than how we expect it to look which is green, grainy, earthy and wholesome. That’s the traditional visual narrative but I want to make it cool, using an authentic voice.”
Emma says it has been really transformative to see how we have connected with each other all of a sudden during the lockdown. “We’ve gone from disparate busy lives to slow-paced connected lives and I would love for that to stay here. I hope we keep the beautiful change allowing for nature to come back into the world as we have stopped driving and flying, and found other ways of communicating by phone instead of gallivanting so much. I hope we remember the real positives coming out of this and hold on to them – including the ability to change our clothes as we grow and evolve.”
Listen to Jane Milburn’s conversation with Emma in the video below, read notes below the video, or find out more about Emma on her blog or on Instagram @steelandstitch
Artist and sewing pattern maker Sonya Philip, from San Francisco in the United States, said she is equal parts stressed and relaxed at this time of global pandemic.
‘’I have always had homebody tendencies so it is not a struggle to stay home but on the other hand, I miss not having coffee with friends. There is also sadness seeing visits and plans, and teaching being cancelled and crossed off the calendar.“
‘’We are making do with what we have, being thankful for what we do have, rather than always thinking we need to have everything at our fingertips.” Click on the arrow to listen to our conversation. Read the notes below, or visit Sonya’s 100 Acts of Sewing website for more information. See other ARISING from Distruption stories here
What Sonya Philip said:
“I’m equal parts stressed and relaxed. The news (about coronavirus) and the lack of response in the US is stressful. I have always had homebody tendencies so it is not a struggle to stay home but on the other hand, I miss not having coffee with friends. There is also sadness seeing visits and plans, and teaching being cancelled and crossed off the calendar.“
