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…
Tag: sustainable fashion
Green Eileen Take Back Program & Higher Ed
Watching sustainable fashion and textile initiatives emerge to address pre- and post-consumer waste issues provides hope that closed-loop, zero-waste fashion will be the norm in the future. Over the past few months, I have been able to learn more about the Green Eileen take back program, a recycled clothing intiative of the sustainable women’s wear brand…
Celebration of Ag and #FashionRevolution
I am lucky to participate in a Sustainable Fashion exhibit in the Jill Stuart Gallery. It was coordinated by the College of Human Ecology Green Ambassadors at Cornell University. The Exhibit includes student, faculty, staff, and local community member contributions. Since my focus on Sustainable Fashion is the intersection of New York fibers and fashion design, I included my…
Natural Dye Exhibit
This Fall I took a Natural Dye special studies course led by Professor Denise Green in Fiber Science & Apparel Design at Cornell. Each week, students presented about different natural dyes including Japanese Indigo, Madder Root, Eucalyptus, Onion Skins, and Gypsywort. It was fun to see the variety of colors, and learn about their seasonality….
Community Empowerment with Sewing, Recycling, and Textiles
GLOBAL IMPACT WITH NAJA The woman-owned lingerie brand Naja reflects ideals of social responsibility and environmental sensitivity. Naja aims to foster a culture where women help and support each other. Naja established the Underwear for Hope Program, and supports an entrepreneurial sewing program that provides single women opportunities to earn an income to support their families in Colombia. A percentage…
Soil to Skin Rebecca Burgess’ 150 Mile Wardrobe
The Fibershed project in Northern California has been extremely motivational for me, especially since it has inspired my Master’s thesis. I have explored fiber farm and mill resources in New York, and received consumer feedback about NY “fibershed” knitwear. (An official “fibershed” has not been established in NY, but it definitely has the resources.) It is amazing to see…
Linking Fashion with “People, Planet, Profit” goals
This year I got the great opportunity to work with fellow apparel design and fiber science students in a sustainable fashion project funded by the Environmental Protection Agency under the supervision of Professor Tasha Lewis, Dr. Park, and Dr. Netravali. The project fused sustainable design theory, upcycling–the process of adding value to cast off, second-hand…
Sustainable Fashion Elevator Pitch
This is a short video about a project I have been working on as Professor Tasha Lewis’ Graduate Research Assistant at Cornell University. Extended video with more details coming soon!
Fashion Academia
In the midst of finishing my Master’s thesis and keeping up with coursework, I have been looking at Academic positions currently available in the field of Apparel/ Fashion/ Textiles. This is a snapshot of the positions currently available and posted in the International Textile and Apparel Association website: Compared to other fields, this is a long…
Fiber Farm Community Supported Ag
I recently became a virtual farmer in support of Sweet Tree Hill Farm in Virginia. The farm has Shetland sheep, angora rabbits, and cashmere goats. I was excited to learn where the the funds I provided would go. They helped pay for 1 month’s worth of hay for the fiber animals. I’m glad I can contribute in…
Adding Value to Care Labels
Clothing tags can often be ignored or cut off after we determine the ideal way to wash/ dry our clothes. Including information about production processes, environmental, and social responsibility is one way companies are giving greater value to care labels. Below we see examples of care tags created by Leafcutter Designs in California. These labels can…
Finished Cashmere Sweater and Memories
I finally finished the cashmere sweater that I mentioned in a previous post. The stitches in this sweater have so many memories and I am so happy that I can reflect back on the time I spent preparing the yarn and knitting. I began working on it in June and finished in August 2013 and it…
Worth of Wool
Visiting the Fingerlakes Woolen Mill was great, especially since I’ve had some contact with people who process their fleeces here. I learned about the steps involved in turning a fleece into yarn from washing to spinning steps. It was very interesting to see the large scale equipment. I was surprised that it takes about 2 weeks…
Hand-Spinning with Meaningful Fibers
I am very excited about this post because it contributes to my interest in New York’s Fibershed. I am taking a spinning class and am very excited to make my first yarn from Spot Hollow Farm roving, which is in Trumansburg, NY. I think it is especially charming how Shepherdess Marie comments about the sheep’s names on her Facebook page and states…
From Watershed to Fibershed
“Fibershed” is a term coined by Rebecca Burgess, it represents regional fiber resources from plants and animals such as sheep, goat, or alpaca, manufacturing mills that process raw fibers into clothing, and a local market. To understand this term, it is helpful to consider better known watersheds, bodies of water that link up to larger bodies…
HELEN TREJO 