Crafters, or at least the crafters I know, are usually a thrifty bunch, making the most of their fabric and yarn stash, minimising on waste and re-using as much as they can.

Over the past couple of years I’ve been learning crafting skills with the aim to make more things for my wardrobe and our home. When I began I decided I wanted to make as little impact on the environment as I could. It would defeat the point of making my own things if I started buying materials that had wasted energy and caused lots of pollution in its production.

So here are 5 handy ways to craft green that I’ve picked up along the way:

1. Charity shops make good craft shops too

If you buy new fabric from the shops or market do you know what went into making it? Conventional cotton, for example, is extremely polluting and resource hungry so unless you buy organic then you can’t be sure that your pretty hand made item hasn’t contributed to putting all kinds of chemicals into the environment. That’s why charity shops make good craft shops.

You may not always be able to buy fabric on the roll or by the metre at your local charity shops but you can get great fabric from other items like curtains, sheets and duvet covers and turn them into other things like cushion covers, skirts and napkins.

If you’re lucky you might find yarn, embroidery threads, cottons and needles in charity shops too!

2. Look after the odds and ends

You’ve probably heard the saying “save the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves”. Well a similar rule applies to the odds and ends in your fabric and yarn stash or leftover paint from the last time you decorated. Keep those little bits and pieces and when you put them together you can make something bigger. Saving the end of a ball of yarn could go towards a colorful knitting or crochet project like a blanket, fabric scraps could be used to stuff cushions or soft toys and paint could give a piece of furniture or picture frame a new lease of life.

3. Save the template

Save the backs of notepads or cereal boxes to make sturdy card templates for patterns. Drawing on the back of leftover wallpaper does the same job for larger projects like tops or bags.

4. Give to craft class

If like me you pick up second hand fabric from anywhere and everywhere you’ll probably soon come to the conclusion that you’ll never use it all. You could donate the pieces you don’t want to your local charity shop or you might find that nearby craft courses could use them for students to practice their sewing, embroidery, dyeing, anything. Think of it as spreading a little craft love.

5. Take it to your wardrobe

If you haven’t already guessed by now I’m a big fan of charity shopping. I’d always say donate your old clothes to charity shops first but only if they’re in good condition (the sort of condition you would expect to buy). If you have clothes that aren’t good enough for the charity shop, if they’re damaged and beyond repair see what you can salvage before you throw them away like zips, buttons and ribbons. It saves you buying these things from new for your next project. The leftover fabric could then go to a textile bank (some local councils have these at their recycling centres) where it will be cleaned, shredded and used again.

Check out Crafting a Green World for lots and lots more green crafting tips!

Now autumn is in sight I thought it would be a good time to share upcoming green events for the next few months…

Ludlow Green Festival

29th and 30th August – Ludlow, Shropshire, UK
A weekend festival of stalls, music and activities to raise awareness about the environmental challenges facing us all.
Find out more about Ludlow Green Festival

Llanfyllin Workhouse Green Fayre

29th and 30th August – Llanfyllin, Wales, UK
A family friendly weekend with green arts, crafts and music.
Find out more about the Green Fayre at Llanfyllin Workhouse

The Great Big Green Wedding Fair

5th and 6th September – Liverpool, UK
For eco couples looking for ethical and green wedding traders
Find out more about the Great Big Green Wedding Fayre

Ozone Day 2009

16th September – International
Led by the United Nations Environment Programme. The theme this year is “Universal participation: Ozone protection unifies the world”
Find out more about Ozone Day

Eco-Fest 2009

19th – 20th September – Derby, UK
Raising awareness about environmental issues in a fun two day family festival.
Find out more about Derby Eco-Fest 2009

Tree-Athlon 2009

19th September – London, UK
27th September – Leeds, UK
4th October- Manchester, UK
Join in the 5km fun run to raise funds to plant trees in the cities.
Find out more about Tree-Athlon

Festival of Life

26th September – London, UK
Workshops, stalls, music, talks and activities to promote healthy living for the body and planet
Find out more about Festival of Life

Big Green Home Show

23rd – 25th October – Swindon, UK
For self-builders and home-improvers to find out how to make their homes more sustainable.
Find out more about the Big Green Home Show

More Local Events

For many more dates for localised events throughout the UK visit the following websites:
Greenfinder
Ecological Living
Green Events – London

Here in the UK (and beyond) you may have heard about Antony Gormley’s Fourth Plinth art project called ‘One & Other‘. The project involves a different member of the public standing on the empty Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square every hour, 24 hours a day, for 100 days to make a living monument. Each individual may use their hour on the plinth as they wish.

Here in Nottinghamshire a local artist and actress, Hazel Ellerby-Sansom, has been chosen to stand on the plinth on Wednesday 12th August at 3pm. Hazel has decided that she wants to spend her time celebrating women of the East Midlands (UK) and the traditional craft of patchwork.

So, Hazel wants women of the East Midlands to create patchwork squares which will be sewn together to make a quilt. She will display the quilt on the plinth whilst reading out a message for each square. After its time on the fourth plinth the quilt will travel around art galleries in the East Midlands and will finally be auctioned off with the proceeds going to charity. Details of art galleries, dates of auction etc are still to be confirmed as this will be an ongoing project.

If you’re a woman living in the East Midlands of the UK (it really does need to be the East Midlands only please) then how about you send a green message from the Fourth Plinth? All you need to do is create a patchwork square sized 12″ x 12″ of any design with a short message attached. Tell London and the world about how important the environment is to you. Keep it short though (just a few words) as Hazel only has an hour to read them all out.

Please send your completed square (one per person please) to Hazel Ellerby-Sansom, 17a Fisher Lane, Bingham, Nottinghamshire, NG13 8BQ by 1st August to be displayed on the plinth. Hazel will accept squares after this date for the quilt’s longer term plans but they may not be included in the plinth display.

I’ll be making my patchwork square this weekend and I’m very excited to be involved!

The Fourth Plinth project began on 6th July and will end on 14th October 2009. You can watch the footage 24/7 online at www.oneandother.co.uk.

There’s nothing like the sense of achievement when you’ve made something yourself, whether its a lovely meal, a birthday card or a piece of writing, the creative process can be very rewarding, not to mention low in cost and eco-friendly.

The same goes for your wardrobe, making items of clothing or accessories means you can have so much more control over the sourcing of the materials and production of the finished item. That’s one of the reasons I’m learning dress-making skills. Don’t get me wrong, I think we should leave the good stuff to the experts, the makers and designers who do this professionally, but a little self-sufficiency in the wardrobe can go a long way.

I love browsing websites like Modish and Indie Fixx, looking for independent designers. Especially those who use innovative techniques to create clothing and accessories in a responsible and ethical way. However, as much as I love them I can’t always afford them and it leaves my fingers twitching, wanting to make my own goodies.

The fashion industry is huge and resource hungry. The wikipedia entry on cotton tells us that the production of non-organic cotton uses “approximately 25% of the world’s insecticides and 10% of the world’s pesticides and according to the World Health Organization (WHO), 20,000 deaths occur each year from pesticide poisoning in developing countries, many of these from cotton farming”. Cotton is also a thirsty plant and when researching my ‘blue jeans‘ article I found that between 2000 and 6000 litres of water may be used to produce just one pair of jeans.

Now we’re only talking about cotton here, what about other natural and man-made fibres? When you buy a lovely winter jumper do you know where the wool came from and the treatment of the sheep? The source of Polyester is crude oil and do I really need to go into the issues around that one? Then there’s the actual production of the garments, if your gorgeous new jacket isn’t Fairtrade how do you know that the workers were paid a decent wage and given a safe environment in which to work? The issues are many and complex but they shouldn’t be ignored.

Now, consider what would happen if you gained a few sewing skills here and fitting skills there. Perhaps you could treat yourself to some organic cotton and make your own unique summer top. Visit the charity and vintage shops in your town, see the potential of a once loved garment and give it a new lease of life. Compare the resources and energy put into your wardrobe now against the brand new non-organic, cotton skirt from the other side of the globe. There’s no contest.

There are lots of dress-making courses available these days and needless to say picking up these skills will take time but they are transferable, sustainable if you like!

Making and customising your own clothes could well save you money, leaving that bit extra to treat yourself to the beautiful garments and accessories made by professional, eco-friendly dress-makers.

I’m learning my dress-making skills at the Textile Workshop in Nottingham and have set up a blog to share my learning experiences, mistakes and hopefully some progress too. Pop by and say hello at www.victorialouise.co.uk

Nearly all of us have an object at home whose sentimental value far outweighs its worth in cold hard cash. And despite what some may say, savouring your precious object doesn’t make you a ‘Gollum’, and I think it is a really valuable characteristic; one that will help us all to make the most of what we have, and keep it that way for the future.

Most of us are already questioning how our lifestyle impacts on the planet; in particular our consumption of resources such as fossil fuels, food, clothing and household goods. I propose that one of the best ways to reduce our rate of consumption (particularly of personal and household goods) is to invest in objects of quality that last, that we can keep, and that we can share with others.

Having worked in the craft sector for 4 years now, opening Pure Design, an eco-design gallery earlier this year, I regularly visit craft fairs to scout for new eco-design talent. This week I met Amy, a maker who has set up an alternative luxury knitwear brand called ‘Keep & Share’. Her mission is to create a sustainable ‘slow fashion’ label, which seeks to reverse the effects of throwaway fashion by creating ‘best friend’ pieces that will transcend short-lived trends and age gracefully. I thought this was right on the money.

And the great news is, there are many more makers and designers who have a very similar outlook to Amy. Susiemaroon, a Scottish eco-designer takes leather otherwise destined for landfill and creates chic floor hides and cushions. An Alleweireldt from Oxx uses old floppy disks, vinyl records and lollipops she has hoarded over the years to create cutting edge jewellery. What many describe as a labour of love (41% of UK earned less than £10,000 in 2002) drives these artists to create unique and beautiful pieces of design that we can buy and admire every day. Craft also satiates our desire to collect, with individual pieces acting as souvenirs or memories of a person, place or time.

AND as craft is small scale production, designers are able to keep tabs on exactly what goes into their ‘product’. They can source greener, sustainable materials, often using locally sourced, found or reclaimed materials. They can control production techniques, using non-toxic dyes and chemicals. And with so many artists working from home – they can keep their own carbon footprint right down. Weaver, Angela Morley talks about her passion for nature and natural materials in BBC’s Made in England

With these positive eco aspects to craft, and not forgetting the fact that craft can suit all budgets, shouldn’t we all need to take a little more time to measure the true worth of products before we pay out? And with all the economists telling us we need to watch our spending, I think craft for keeps could be a very sound investment…

Elaine set up Pure Design, a social enterprise and online eco-design gallery in October 2007. Its mission is to promote sustainable design and designers in the UK. Pure Design does this largely by providing a platform from which designers can show and sell their work, and encourages exchange of eco-design knowledge between established and emerging eco-design talent. To find out more visit our Pure Design website. www.puredesigncompany.co.uk

Well, Jez and I are now back from honeymoon and back to reality and our wedding day, although only two weeks ago, now seems like a distant happy memory. Wow, it flew by so past but that’s probably because we had such a fantastic time!

This post is just going to be brief but after so many good luck wishes from everyone I wanted to give a quick update on how it all went. My original post, ‘Planning a hand-made, eco wedding‘, gives more details about what went into preparing our big day.

I suppose one of the things about planning an ethical wedding is that many people are curious about what it will be like. I think quite a few of our guests were really expecting something unusual but in fact it was traditional in many ways.

It was great for us that people entered into the spirit of the day so happily, some of our older guests said they enjoyed it because it reminded them of the simple, family weddings they used to go to when they were children. One of our friends even recycled part of our invitation to put into her wedding card.

The maypole cake and chocolate cupcakes looked beautiful and went down a treat. Everyone loved the food and organic wine and nothing went to waste!

On the morning of the wedding we picked up the flowers and took the hall keys to the caterer. Our caterer was excited that she’d bought so much local food from the market that morning and the florist made a point of writing down where the flowers had been sourced – “Flowers and foliage from Leiston Suffolk, Spalding Lincolnshire, Penryn Cornwall”.

For our honeymoon we went to Brussels on the Eurostar and then on to Amsterdam on the Thalys train. We hadn’t travelled on the new Eurostar from St Pancras before and I have to say I was impressed that there was organic and fairtrade food and drink on the menu. Their information also says that they are constantly reviewing their environmental performance, reducing waste and increasing the use of biodegradable packaging. OK, so this statement isn’t quantifiable but its a start, right?

It’s strange to think that after so many months of planning, preparation and creating your day is over in a flash. Of course it isn’t really because it’s just the foundation of a new commitment you’ve made to each other for many, many more days to come.

As mine and Jez‘s big day approaches and most of the preparations in place I thought I would steal a little time to reflect and share my experience in planning our eco and ethical wedding.

Right from the start we wanted our wedding to reflect our everyday values and beliefs, how we live and work. Although we didn’t tell anyone until the summer, our plans started last spring, looking for all of the main wedding necessities – a place to have the ceremony, a place to celebrate and someone to provide food.

Ceremonies & Celebrations

Finding a place to have the ceremony was easy, neither of us wanted to get married in church and the cost of using a hotel or other licenced venue ruled that out immediately. So, register office it was to be. We didn’t choose the one in Nottingham city as it isn’t very pretty and would be further for our families to travel so we chose one in a nearby town which has a walled garden and is just as easy to get to via public transport.

Party Venue
Looking for a place to celebrate and a caterer went hand in hand because of course the venue needed the facilities to prepare and serve food and the caterer had to be happy working in the chosen venue. It took me a little while to catch on to the idea of having a celebration in a village hall, I don’t know why but I think I originally got the idea from an Ethical Weddings blog post. I had spend days and days scouring the internet for a suitable place in Nottinghamshire, again hotels were just too expensive and many places wanted to provide their own food but I was determined to find an ethical caterer of our own.

Ethical Caterer
Luckily after the great realisation that a village hall would be just right for us, I narrowed it down to two possibilities, visited them both and chose one immediately, a charity run hall not far from the register office. In-between times I was glued to my computer searching for a suitable caterer and in Nottinghamshire that isn’t easy. I think in total I found 3 caterers that could provide local, organic and fair trade food but when I called Cate from C8TER I need look no further. Right from the start Cate reassured me with her friendly, professional and flexible approach and her attention to detail. She’s knowledgable about sourcing local and organic food and after sampling her cooking I’m really looking forward to the meal on the day!

Dressing Up

Luckily, finding a dress happened quite quickly, although I expected it to be difficult. In fact initially I didn’t see myself with a traditional wedding dress and thought I would buy a pretty organic cotton dress or something similar. However, wedding fever soon took over and I got carried away with the idea of having a bridal gown. At this point I can’t say too much as Jez hasn’t seen the dress and I don’t want to give anything away.

Oxfam Bridal
Once I knew I was going to get a wedding dress I also knew where I wanted to buy it – Oxfam Bridal. So, last July my mum and I excitedly set off to Leicester where the nearest Oxfam Bridal store is. Unfortuntaly I didn’t find the dress for me on that first trip but I was heartened and encouraged by how nicely they had set up that separate part of the shop and the variety of gowns. The next nearest Oxfam Bridal shop is in Bradford and that shopping trip was the ultimate in making the most of public transport – All tied in with a business meeting and a visit to see some friends I managed to get from Bradford train station to the Oxfam store, pick a dress, try it on, buy it and get back on the train all in about 30 minutes! I was so pleased that I’d found something that was just right and was really impressed with the choice and facilities in the Oxfam shop. The staff there were excited and fussy which made it even more special.

I realise that for some people the thought of buying their bridal gown from a charity shop sounds terrible but its probably the single item that I’m most pleased with and I’m so happy that I did manage to find it at Oxfam.

Bouquets and Posies
I had a mixed experience trying to find a suitable florist for my bouquet. Initially I was going plant some tulip bulbs in the garden, ask our families to do the same and make my own bunch of flowers nearer to the time. Then I came to my senses and realised I know absolutely nothing about keeping or arranging flowers once they’ve been plucked from the ground and decided to seek professional advice.

I spoke to a few different florists, some of whom were sympathetic to the idea of having a green and ethical wedding and others who just looked baffled when I asked about locally sourced flowers. I’m not picky, I think all flowers are beautiful and so I wasn’t going to dictate exactly the type of flower I wanted as long as it was grown as nearby as possible and were roughly in the colours I wanted. I chose a florist called The Rose Bower in the end because they were the most helpful and were willing to find out what seasonal, locally grown flowers would be available at this time of year before I’d even decided to use them. I can’t wait to see mine and Beth’s (my bridesmaid, niece & guest GGG editor) tulip bouquets when I go to collect them on the morning and they will have only travelled from the next county, Lincolnshire.

Invitations & Decorations

After organising the food and venues the rest of the planning was quite easy. I love making things and wanted something individual, so I decided from the start that I would make the invitations, menus, favours, name places and decorations myself.

Bunting!
The village hall is quite typical in that it really needs a lick of paint and looks quite grubby in daylight but I like a challenge and so last September Jez, his mum, my parents and I went off armed with notepads and tape measures to figure out how we could transform it into a beautiful place to celebrate. From then on I spent months finding large pieces of fabric and sheets to drape around the room, some from charity shops and some from ebay. I also bought some pink, yellow, green and white cotton to make my own bunting. I have metres and metres of the stuff and my friends at our craft group, Stitched Up, found it quite amusing that this cotton bunting never seemed to end!

I love bunting, it always seems to cheer me up. I’ve even had a small piece hanging up in the house for a few weeks.

RSVP
Because the venue is near to a maypole (which I used to run around and around when I was little) we’ve ended up with a maypole theme and the spring colours lemon, pink and green. So, I was very lucky when I asked my graphic designer friend if she could design me a motif for invites, menus etc using that theme. What she came up with was beautiful and I just what I wanted. I bought all of the recycled card, paper and envelopes I needed from Eco Craft who delivered it very quickly.

We asked our guests to RSVP via a website we’d built. The website also provides details of transport, directions, local hotels and so on to save from using up any more paper than necessary.

Tables, Favours & Name Cards
Aside from card for invites and menus I bought some lovely recycled paper which has confetti embedded in it. From this I made little origami boxes (which I talked about in my ‘Origami Genius!’ post) and will put in each of them a bulb from my Dad’s garden – these are our guests’ favours.

The name places are hand made, natural fruit lollipops with no artificial colours or flavours from sweetstall.com and I have added little labels to each one for our guests with a little picture. Jez and I have a house rabbit so our labels have loved-up bunnies on them, ahhhh. The others have butterflies, hearts and flowers.

Also, to decorate the tables we painted some plant pots white and decorated them with our colours and theme and soon I will be planting in them primroses or another spring flower which have been grown by a gardener just a few miles down the road.

The day before the wedding myself, Jez and an army of sisters and nieces and my mum and dad will spend the day putting all of these decorations together, hopefully creating a lovely room for eating, drinking and dancing.

Cake, Wine & Water

One of the nicest things about planning a wedding is that people really want to help and be involved. Jez’s mum is brilliant at making and decorating cakes and there was no question that she would be making ours. We decided to go for a traditional fruit cake (with organic ingredients) as well as Fairtrade chocolate cupcakes. Jez’s mum and I spent a lovely weekend making all of the little white sugar flowers for the main cake and hearts and butterflies for the cupcakes.

Guests will will take home slices of cake in pretty white recycled card boxes from The Tiny Box Company. Rachel at The Tiny Box Company was so obliging, helping me to choose the right size box and keep within my budget – This was the very last thing I bought and so I didn’t want to spend too much. It was a very speedy delivery too so I didn’t need to worry about any last minute hitches.

The bubbly and wine is all organic and Fairtrade and one of the types we have chosen is an English wine from Pennard Organic Vineyard.

I’m also extremely happy that we even managed to find eco friendly bottled water thanks to our Green Guy Gareth’s post ‘Bottled Water: Environmental Disaster?‘ . In that article Gareth mentions Belu Water, a carbon neutral company whose profits go towards clean water projects. So, I contacted Belu who very helpfully found me a local supplier, Lee & Fletcher, who delivered the water to my door in just a couple of days!

I Do!

The rings are the last thing I’m going to talk about although I’m sure I must have forgotten something. I’ll probably give an update afterwards anyway so I can show pictures of the decorated venue and my dress, which won’t be a secret by then.

Looking for rings was quite a strange experience. We wanted to get antique or second hand rings because that is the greenest option available – I always work on that principle and used it throughout the wedding planning. I guess we were a little niaive thinking that we’d be able to pop into one of the many antique shops in Nottinghamshire, pick up two gold wedding bands and be on our way. Apparently this isn’t the case.

After going into a few shops, looking at every other type of antique ring but finding no wedding rings one lady told me that they just don’t sell them because people are too superstitious to buy them. She said that if a wedding band was brought to the shop it just got sent for scrap! What a waste! I was so disappointed. However, the internet is a fantastic thing and after a quick search I not only found John Clive Jewellers but two perfect second hand rings in exactly the right size!

When I look back I’m proud of what we’ve achieved. Not everything is 100% green, we’re having a fancy car to take us to the register office and a disco in the evening but all-in-all I think we’ve done really well.

I’ll be in touch again at the end of April to let you know how it all went!

This is a fantastic way to re-use your Christmas cards and in fact any greetings cards.

I know that there are places where you can take your cards to be recycled but if you like crafts or know someone who does then here’s a genius idea. Turn your Christmas cards into gift boxes with the power of origami!

The boxes can then be used to put gifts in next year, especially those small, special items like jewellery. Alternatively you could ask your local craft group if they would like to use them for anything.

If you think that all origami is complicated and difficult then think again. Here is a video that shows you how to make these boxes – it’s very simple I promise.

I’m so impressed that I’m going to make them for our wedding favours. Admittedly I won’t be using Christmas cards, they might look a bit out of place in April!

Give it a try!