On the Textile Beat enews December 2022

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Being able to travel and complete my Churchill Fellowship study tour about regenerating our agency in the wardrobe was a highlight for 2022 and I’ve selected a few people I met to showcase in this enews. It was difficult to choose from the many wonderful people I had the opportunity to meet across two months spent in New Zealand, the United States and the United Kingdom investigating ways that hands-on upcycling can help reduce textile waste and enhance wellbeing. I found that always having interesting clothes to wear, enjoying self-care while working with your hands, and being part of the solution to fast fashion are just some of the reasons people are choosing to become more hands-on with their clothes. Other wonderful projects I was involved with during 2022 include the Painted River Project in Moree, New South Wales, and WornOUT at the Old Museum of Brisbane, and I’ve shared some links in this enews, which you can subscribe to via the right-hand side of the textilebeat.com home page. Wishing you all the best for the festive season and positivity for 2023.

https://mailchi.mp/3bc3b61ba0a6/slow-clothing-regenerating-agency-and-natural-fibres?e=e9c6db392c

Posted in: Churchill Fellowship, Permaculture, slow clothing \ Tagged: , ,

Dress with a good story to tell

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This Art of Planetary Health dress has a good story to tell about how it came to be.

It was created in the field during the 2022 Painted River Project at Moree, run by the Bank Art Museum Moree and led by Dr Leo Robba from Western Sydney University, during a gathering of people at the intersection of ecology, farming, art and health.

Jane Milburn imprints Good Earth Cotton with good earth. Photo by Lauren Marer

It is handmade from carbon-positive, sustainable, traceable, high-quality Good Earth Cotton grown at Keytah farm from seed modified to resist insect attack and under irrigation to enable resource-use efficiencies.

Although the cotton used in this dress had travelled offshore to be spun and turned into fabric, I imprinted it with the good earth on which it was grown before adding marks and fabric paint.

Adding colour and linear design elements to the fabric

Cutting out the dress on the banks of the Mehi River in Moree as part of the making process

The fabric was then cut and stitched it into a dress on the banks of the Mehi River in between conversations about cotton and slow fashion. There is nothing like putting our own energy into making clothes to truly appreciate the time, skills and resources that go into those we buy.

This project was the subject of a feature story in The Guardian by Lauren Marer

Pinning the seams on the river bed for final stitching of side seams. Photo by Sally Tsoutas

 

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