Eco DIY: Patchwork Blankie (from scrap fabric)

My ever ambitious mom entered me into a craft fair (ohmygawd Mom!), and I have only one month to make a craft booth's worth of eco friendly stuff! I am bracing myself for a month of non stop crafty mania...
and here is the very first project.
I have had this one tucked in the corners of my imagination for a while now, a patchwork blankie of luscious luxurious colors. A blankie made of only scrap fabric, sewn together in a simple way. I got the scrap fabric that was left over from a seamstress friend (it's amazing all the fabric that is left & discarded from people's pillow, curtain, and bed spread decor!)
STEP 1:
I cut a buncha squares the same size (see top pic with my cat Toots in it). I cut enough so there could be four rows of six squares.
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STEP 2:
I sewed squares together - 6 in a row going up and down. (see pic above) I did this four times, making four separate LONG rows.

(NOTE: however you decide to sew them together, the important part is just being consistent. I laid the right side over the edge of the left side of each square and sewed a seam on top. Every time.)
STEP 3:
I took each row, turned them to the under side and made a seam. A seam that would be covered later by the backing of the blanket.

STEP 4:

The backing of the patchwork blankie was just a large piece of fabric i found in the scrap fabric bag. I pinned the patchy part on top to hold it in place, and then sewed a seam on top.

STEP 5:

Once the seam was in place, I evened out the edges of the brown fabric backing, and then cut wide "fringe". Each piece of fringe was then tied into a knot at the bottom.

(this is the knot fringe after it was totally finished- see pic below!!!) Super rustic cute. ;)

FINIS :::::

I like it! I like it!

It was a little hard to do since it was my first time sewing something like this, but it only took me half the day. The hard part is just the tedious monotony of putting it together, not the actual skill it takes to make.

Totally worth the time! Wish I could keep it for myself. :)

Xoxoxo

I've Been Re-Wilding At Firefly

Guess where I have been since Thursday??? Re-Wilding classes at the annual FIREFLY!Firefly is a local Western North Carolina 'gathering' of people (all ages) who want to learn how to do amazing re-wilding, primitive, homesteading, crafting & earth easy skillz --- it consisted of 4 really intense days of classes taught by lovable teachers who don't just know the skillz but live them every moment of their lives.
I arrived at Camp Pinnacle wednesday night for registration, where i was given a canvas name tag and a little wooden bead on hemp string bracelet to show I was now part of the re-wilding tribe. I was then handed a map, with a LONG list of classes to choose from--- so many classes that it was literally agonizing trying to decide....

Classes available were an expansion on primitive ways of life, and survival knowledge... wild mushroom, tree & plant walks, building rafts, tanning animal hides, carving wooden spoons and bowls, basket weaving, slaughtering chickens & goats, trapping animals, debris shelter & friction fire making, flint knapping, sewing with buckskin, making bows and arrows, DIY Oil lamps, pottery (should I really go on?... you can see the list here cause you will want to go next year! )

Before any classes began, there was a short & sweet orientation where a man walked out to start a ceremonial fire with a bow drill, using friction (see pic above) - I seriously thought we'd be there for 30 mins waiting for the fire to start but it could not have been more then 5 minutes that he started a whole bonfire, using just friction & his breath into the smouldering kindling. It was f-en incredible!

CLASSES/STUFF I LEARNED::::::

The first class I attended was spoon carving - a technique that was not easy, but also was shockingly simple. The teacher (Barron, see guy in jumpsuit above) started with just a simple small piece of fresh cut green wood and a hatchet to split it into a thinner piece to begin carving with.

We used tools he had handcrafted himself & our personal knives (cause at this event everyone carries a KNiFe!!) Starting buy gouging out the spoon center, then carving around it....

this is my spoon below, almost finished. Chunky, but oh my gawd I was sooooo proud & love it.

I was really into learning how to tan animal skins, so that I can use them to make clothing and other long lasting items...so I took a BARK TANNING class with Todd (the rad guy who can start fast friction fires!)

This class was also simple, chemical free yet a hard working process - I learned how to use hemlock tree bark & red oak to tan animal hides--- the bark has to be pounded into a powder and then either boiled down or soaked in water. He said if the water is cold sometimes with Hemlock it brings out the astringent tannins instead of the bitter ones, and FOR realZ he had everyone in the class taste the tannins so they could know the difference because the bitter ones work better! I totally only sniffed it... ;)

People not only tasted the tannins he had in jars, but they even tasted the tannins holding the animals skin in the bucket - the tannins are so strong, they kill everything (germs, foot fungus) - the color from the bark made a soothing shade of red on the leather...

He showed us animal skins tanned with and without the fur on too - the smaller critters needed a stronger quicker solution, while the bigger ones, start out with weaker solutions. The coolest part was it's REALLY hard to fuck up this process, the part that is most likely to get messed up is during the skinning and scrapping that is done before the tanning.

A favorite class of mine (mainly cause i was totally loved by my teacher Laura) was the Pine Needle Baskets!!! I have been waiting to learn how to weaves a nice tight basket for along time- and this method was a fairly easy coiling method, using long pine needles. You can use other gathered materials too (I am hoping to make some out of grass, devil's vine, and kudzu).

Using just hemp twine and a needle, we were taught to coil & weave the basket together, in a patterns of circles.

Later on during the night, when I went to decorate my basket with beads, Laura was nice enough to show me how to make OLIVE OIL LAMPS (which can also be done with animal fat and other slow burning oils). Simply by filling a glass or ceramic jar/container with the oil, then taking a wire, coiling it around a nail, then pull the nail out and shove in a cotton wick. Make the large wire circle at the bottom and handle at the top to make it easy to pull out and stand up...

Have you eva' heard of Brain Tanning Animal Hides? A process different from bark tanning, but brain tanning makes the leather so buttery soft (without using any chems) it's hard to believe --- I took a class on how to Sew With Buckskin that had been brain tanned!

Not using needle and thread, but using cordage made from the skin itself and an awl to poke the holes to lace it through - following the contours of the animals natural curves to decide it's best use (AKA does it make a good shirt, skirt, top, or purse). Parts of the hide are stronger then other, like the neck, spine and bottom - and the outfits need to be made with symmetry in order for them not to get out of shape only on one side.

I am still working on my project, but it's going to be a fringe skirt (shown below) and a bikini top(not shown)! wooo!

OTHER ENTERTAINMENT:::::::::::::

FireFly was at a place called camp pinnacle, that had been a summer camp in Hendersonville, NC for the last 80 years. There was a beautiful and warm 17 acre lake to swim, canoe, kayak, dive into- and for some designated areas to even skinny dip in!
At night there were 3 fires going, with drumming, hoola hooping (fire on the hoola hoops!), dancing, singing, and even some fiddle playin'!

Watching the people go absolutely tribal and bazzzurk around the fire made me feel like i was Britney Spears on the side lines of something really different then myself. I stayed an observer, but one who could hardly stop looking.Other types of evening activities consisted of primitive potluck & cookoff, barter fair, and my very favorite the "trade blanket"! No money allowed at the trade blanket, everyone who had something to trade sat in a circle, one by one placing what they wanted to trade on the blanket in the center. Each person had a chance to offer a trade or refuse, some people offered stuff like herbs, mead, massages, fudge, juggling lessons, animal furs, animals antlers, handmade jewelry, feathered earrings, drums, books, clothes....

Firefly runs on a sliding scale ($$$) for classes, and you can go for the entire event or just for a day... It was totally worth every moment, every penny, and every missed wink of sleep (and even the long drive which was difficult for me)!

I highly recommend this event to anyone interested in learning how to really live in union with nature, our natural biology, and our deep need to be true survivor.

XOxoxox

DIY: Crochet Bazooka Boots Part 1

Yay! I got some sheep's wool yarn for X-mas (Thanks Gretta & Kathy!), bought locally in downtown Asheville at the Earth Guild. I decided since it is freeeeezing cold out, the wool would be great for a pair of warm Bazooka Boots. You might be wondering what the hec a 'bazooka boot' is... all I can say it is a name born of the imagination of 1990's teenagers in New Orleans to describe yarn knitted boots from a store in the French Quarter called Kruz. I owned and loved a pair of bazooka boots for many years, even once they sagged and became known as "quitters" after running through an airport to catch a plane. Long gone now, I decided it is time I make my own, DIY style. :)
Step one: I started with a crochet chain (ch) - you can make it whatever length you need to get around your size calf/leg. Bazooka Boots generally run a little large, they are big and not tight fitting.

Step two: I looped my chain (ch) stitch together to make a full circle. This is where you should make a "slip stitch" to continue on. I don't know exactly what I did (a possible slip stitch hybrid?) but i looped it together and kept going upward in a spiral pattern after.
Step three: Once I got the slip stitch to hold the circle together I did one full circle of single crochet stitch (s) and then continued up the spiral with a double crochet stitch (d).
I used the double crochet stitch (d) all the way to the top till I got to the end of the yarn ball and did one last row of single crochet (s).
Step four: Once I tied off the end, I folded down the top and ran a red ribbon in and out the stitches.
Half DONE! What I need to do next is make the footie bottom part for both of the bazooka boots, then attach either a strip of leather or some type of thin shoe sole. That will be in PART 2!!! For now we (me and Lily) needed a break... it was making us cross eyed and wonky... ;)
To BE COnTinUed.....

XoXo

Eco Art: DIY Paper From Junk Mail

Hey! Here is a video of my new eco savvy paper making project- I took old junk mail that is overflowing my recycle bin and tore by hand/cut it up into tiny little bitty pieces to make new art paper with. I wanted my paper to be pretty thick and textured, so that I could paint easily with my Poke Berry paints.
The video will show you the easy steps you can take to making some of your own eco art paper right at home for free!



XoXo

Bird House Gourds (Grow Your Own Eco Crafting Project)

This year some friends gave me a few Bird House Gourd seeds to plant - which is really exciting because I am always on the look out for non toxic crafting projects...and here is one you can grow from start to finish! I am enthralled with the life cycle of most squash varieties and the gourd is one that really mystifies me cause I don't plan on eating it. Here's how it all begins...
These delicate, almost lacy white flowers open up all over the vines waiting to be pollinated. It's best if you let gourds climb up some kind of trellis so that the flowers are more accessible and so the gourd itself will dry out better.
After pollination a yittle tiny gourd will appear! Not all of them will make it, some start to rot before they have a chance to grow and I am not really sure what causes this?! (Does anyone out there know- is it for lack of good pollination, or some invisible infestation???)
I would say this gourd pictured below is in it's Tween stages of life... not small, but not an adult either. Most likely it will beg you to let it listen to Miley Cyrus cause it's SOoOooooooooo bored just hanging there with all these dorks all the freakin' time. I think it's ok to give it this, in moderation - a happy gourd is a healthy gourd! ;)The gourd will get rather heavy and large till finally the vine will turn brown and die back, which is when ya cut it off and take it inside a dark ventilated room - after a long long & nasty time (6 months or so) they will dry out and you can make eco crafting fun with them! If the gourd gets smooshy just save the seeds in it for next year and throw the gunk in your compost pile- only the ones that dry hard can be used. I want to make some of their name sake, and turn them into cute little organic bird houses. I will show ya'll part 2 to this sometimes next year! :)
XoXo

Eco Treasure Hunting at Festivals

This weekend is Belle Chere, the biggest festival in Asheville NC. To overcome my fear of giant crowds, funky smells, and crappy music I decided to turn it into a eco treasure hunt where I would seek out the most eco friendly booths! (For a focused review of the green crafts check out my article at Crafting A Green World). What I was surprised and happy to have found was that 1/3 of the booths were environmentally focused - which signifies awesome change. Upcycling, recycling, saving parks & trees, petitions, native herbs for sale, eco crafts, biodiesel, and unplugged music....


Here is a little sample of what I discovered along the way:
There were recycle bins everywhere! And the there was a whole booth dedicated to surveying people about their recycling habits. Only weird thing was the survey questions asked if I attended church, played video games, watched TV and enjoyed the outdoors. And then they were giving away free bottle openers and pens... I didn't get to ask if they were recycled.

Check out how much this cop is loving his little electric vehicle, he was smiling while he made little circles.

Eco minded Jackpot here! An entire booth dedicated to teaching about biofuels, and what Asheville NC has to provide.

Plus the biofuel "not a concept" car for people to look at- Yay!

The handmade, natural, and organic crafts were abundant. Romantic upcycled clothing, handcrafted soaps with essential oils, sculptures made from scrap metal, handbags with straps made from men's neckties, purses made from cereal boxes, necklaces from bottle caps and paper made from elephant poo! BTW, elephant poo paper has no smell at all.


There was a sampling of booths dedicated to charity & causes , like the "Hats For Humanity" and the "Save the Magnolia Tree".

But then as it seems all festivals can not resist, there are wasteful gigantic air pumped ads like this "Ingles" grocery balloon full of super bad junk food poking out. Sugar, pizza, peanuts and chips! Bleh.

At this point it finally began to get crowded, since I had arrived rather early to beat the expected swarms of people. Yikes, anxiety!

This is what I look like when I feel like there are so many people around that I might throw up, kind of pale and very serious. But check out the pretty wall behind me, and the "blood root" native plant I have in my hand!

Then I saw this happening (pic below)... if you have been to The Oko Box website you have seen some pics with vibrant graffitti in the background - this was that building, and it was torn down to the ground.

But I found these used red cowgirl boots at the second hand store called Madam Butterfly on Lexington Ave ... Yay! I think I will wear them everyday forever. (Btw- the tank dress I am wearing is made of hemp and is by Funk Divine on Etsy.)

Go Asheville, for being mostly green!!!!!