By Malia Chang, Apparel Merchandising & Management Undergraduate student Towards the end of October, I had the opportunity as a Student Research Assistant to attend the International Textile and Apparel Association 2022 Annual Conference in Denver, Colorado. I was able to attend several sessions that were offered at the conference. Throughout the conference, many gathered…
Tag: education
Community Outreach with US Wool, Textiles & Demonstrations
During the last week of the LA County Fair in May, I shared US wool research project activities along with my Apparel Research Assistant and recent Cal Poly Pomona alumni, Katia Quiroz. Katia was in my AMM 4630: Apparel Research project course in Fall 2021. Student projects focused on exploring US sheep and wool farms…
New York Fiber Farm Map Launched
Thank you to everyone who has taken time to respond to the New York Fiber Farm map survey. I received 70+ responses, and developed an initial map that is shown below. I will be adding more farms as I get more responses. Please feel free to click through. The map includes farm names, types of…
Volunteering at the Laughing Goat Open Farm Day
This Saturday was an Open Farm day at the Laughing Goat Fiber Farm. It’s an annual event that welcomes the public to see and learn about fiber animals such as angora goats, alpacas, and sheep. It was a great pleasure to attend the Open Farm day as a volunteer with my twin sister, Nidia. When we first got…
New York Lincoln Longwool Sheep! Spinning, Natural Dyeing & Knitting
I recently began to spin and dye with longwool from the Orchard View Lincoln Longwool farm in New York. I love the length and luster of the fibers! Below are some of my knitted natural dye samples. I am currently taking a Natural Dye class and was able to dip my hand-spun yarns into indigo, hopi sunflower,…
Part III: New York Fiberscape Dress Almost Complete!
I previously wrote about my spinning and knitting processes with fibers sourced from the Washington County Fiber Tour. I am happy to say that it is 99% complete! The dress fits my twin sister comfortably. I was worried that it would be too large since my knitting gauge varied based on the yarn. In total…
Season for Fibers – Fingerlakes Fiber Festival!
The Fingerlakes Fiber Festival was my first festival of the fiber season. I got to see a lot of familiar faces and I stocked up on a variety of wools from unique sheep breeds including Hog Island Sheep, Icelandic Sheep, and Blue Face Leicester Sheep. Thanks Fingerlakes Woolen Mill, Trinity Farm, and High Bid Farm! I am…
New York Farm Sanctuary
Today I visited the Farm Sanctuary headquarters in Watkins Glen New York. It rescues and provides a high quality of life for animals that are donated, abandoned or were previously abused in factory farms. On a tour, I got to see, touch the animals, and also hear about their life histories before and after coming to…
Fibers for “Solace”
This fiber flag was made to contribute to India Flint’s open “Solace” artistic project in response to the global and local distresses of the 21st century, including inequality and injustice. “Solace” provides everyone the opportunity to express what gives them comfort, or consolation. My “Clusters of Love” flag is made of local wool and mohair fibers….
Curves of Fibers ~ Half Scale Pre Pilot at Cornell University
Over the past few weeks I’ve participated in the Half Scale Pre-Pilot project that aims to stimulate design creativity through experimentation on a half-scale dress form. Working on a half-scale, rather than a full scale dress form reduces fabric usage in the mock-up stage, and speeds up production time with shorter seams. The Halfscale Forum for Creative Patternmaking is led by…
Exploring New York Fiber Farms @ Washington County Fiber Tour 2015
Visiting the sheep, alpaca, and goat fiber farms during the Washington County Fiber Tour in New York was the highlight of my year so far! Each farm had a unique narrative with fiber animals ranging from Merino sheep to Huacaya alpacas and Cashmere goats. This reflects the wide breadth of fibers available in New York. During the Fiber…
Engagement with Fiber Animals- Connecting to New York City
Animal fibers are “living” extensions of the animals they come from, especially as the animals live long lives on farms. Community members are increasingly being exposed to fiber animals such as sheep, alpacas, and angora goats as farmers bring them to local festivals and provide updates on social media. Farmer’s physical and virtual visibility induces a climate for community and fiber animal…
Momentum towards Fashion Revolution Day 2015
These are some fashion revolution photos posted in the past week (March 30-April 5). Posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram have expanded our reach to international Fashion Revolution Campaigns in Spain, France, Italy, Mexico, Colombia, Costa Rica, Panama, South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, South Korea, and Bangladesh. The next step is writing to brands to increase transparency in…
Fashion Revolution Month Launches @ithaca New York
Fashion Revolution Day was first initiated on April 24, 2014 by global fashion leaders. Fashion Revolution Day invites farmers, mill dyers, seamstresses, knitters, weavers, brands, retailers, and consumers to participate. The purpose of this campaign is two-folded. The first reason is to raise awareness about the places where our clothing is made. We as consumers can…
“Fibershed” as Social Entrepreneurship
“Social entrepreneurship” involves social change, continuous innovation, adaptation, and learning. The Northern California non-profit “Fibershed” embodies the definition of “social entrepreneurship.” Initially, the founder of Fibershed, Rebecca Burgess, collaborated with local fiber producers and artisans to make an “150-mile wardrobe.” The success of the “150-mile wardrobe” project steered the development of the non-profit Fibershed that promotes a local clothing and…
HELEN TREJO 