Earth friendly fabrics - brain meltdown!

valk_scot

It just so happens I do know how to rett and spin flax, nettle fibres, wool, angora and all the rest. I can knit and I can weave a bit, I can sew very well and I'm fine on natural dyeing from local plants. I could if I wanted to clothe myself and my family....but it would be a long, tedious and time consuming process and many of the garments I would have to produce (Homespun jeans, anyone? Bra or knickers with no elastic?) might be a tad unacceptable to my Hubby and kids! However I could do this ethically from the ground up as were, including sourcing my fibres from local farmers where I can see how they treat their animals. Just so happens I do this last anyway...I can buy a dozen different varieties of wool, mohair, angora (from pampered pet bunnies!) and even alpaca from local ethical producers, and I also make use of fibres that are often just disposed of as non-profitable in the case of some sheep fleeces. If you want to learn any of the above I suggest you contact your local branch of the Guild of Weavers, Spinners & Dyers and start saving for a second hand spinning wheel and loom. It's not difficult but it is fairly specialised knowledge, it does take practice and there's a bit of a learning curve. But it can be done.

For the rest of your clothing wants though I would say that charity shops are the best option. You can buy anything you want there secure in the knowledge that your money is going to a good cause rather than a profit-making and possibly non-ethical company; you're avoiding making an unnecessary new purchase with consequent use of resources and of course you're recycling textiles that might otherwise be disposed of wastefully. Low inpact living....and of course you can buy good quality clothes that last there, or put them back into the charity shop if you change shape or tire of them.

funkymonkey849

Thanks everyone for your fab replies!

Where can you buy Jacob Sheep wool?

GreyQueen

My background is in textiles and costume (GQ is a de-frocked costume designer) and there's some excellent stuff up here from all the other posters.

I can knit, spin on a drop spindle (dead boring) and weave but if you go into such extreme OS you'll do almost nothing but manufacture cloth to produce clothing. Prior to powered spinning and weaving, the average family spent as much time producting textiles for their own use as they did producing their food.

Stunning to think about, isn't it? I'd suggest living as lightly as possible by purchasing good quality used clothes secondhand, preferable from natural material (I find cotton/ linen blends very comfy but also wear a lot of linen, all charity shop finds). Look after them well and repair as necessary, look at remodelling them and getting every last drop of use before the rag bag.

Most of the environmental load of a garment, regardless of the textile, is in the laundering, so if you keep this infrequent you lessen your footprint on the planet.

I have a handknit Guernsey made by my mother 20+ years ago from undyed wool from briown sheep. I love it.

:T I think it's great that you're thinking so deeply about this, the total opposite of disposable clothing. Go, you!

Seakay

Also, remember the newer materials made from natural substances - viscose, for instance. http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-viscose.htm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A593732
or tencel
http://eartheasy.com/wear_tencel.htm
As well as buying garments to wear at once from charity shops you could think about upcycling to create new pieces
"The reuse of clothes is promoting a new breed of designer. NoLoGo are a team of volunteer designers set up by Oxfam who restyle donated garments and fabrics, selling them on at some Oxfam shops. "

Penelope_Penguin

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