Try Handmade

Shopping blog featuring products made by people not factories.

Tell Me Something Good

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When stress or boredom starts to take its toll on me, I ask my fella to “tell me something good”. More often than not, he rolls his eyes and carries on with what he’s doing. I don’t take it personally, though; who can be expected to think up “good stuff” on demand? This week, however, he surprised me with something good – an email containing a link to Hello Rewind’s t-shirt upcycling program. It was the first that I had heard of the fledgling organization and I was immediately impressed. Not only is it something good for the earth, it’s something good for survivors of sex trafficking in New York City.

Here’s how it works: you have a favourite t-shirt that you no longer wear, but can’t bear to part with. Rather than let it langish at the bottom of a drawer, you contact Hello Rewind and tell them that you want it made into a sleeve for your 13“, 15“ or 17“ laptop. You pay them 49 bucks and in a few days you’ll receive a prepaid envelope, which you fill with the aformentioned shirt and drop back into the mail. They stitch it up into a custom, padded sleeve and before you can say “upcycle”, it is back in your hands. Not only will your laptop be cozy and happy, you’ll be happy knowing that you’ve helped women get off the street and back on their feet. How cool is that?

Hello Rewind got its start as a simple idea – take an old t-shirt and make it into something new and usable like, say, a laptop sleeve. The social/rehabilitation aspect of the business came into the picture when the company formed an alliance with the founder of Restore, NYC; an organization which provides support and housing to women victimized by the international sex trade. Soon, the ball was rolling and the company is becoming a source of support, training and income for women trying to break free from prostitution rings. The young women, mostly in their 20s and 30s, are taught to make the custom laptop sleeves, paid a fair wage and given a safe and viable option to a dangerous and marginalizing lifestyle.

The $49 that Hello Rewind charges for the sleeves is, in their words, a “break-even” price. The money that they receive is spent on training and wages for the women in the program, materials, shipping and operational costs. If there is anything left after that, it is used to sustain the business itself. From the sounds of it, no one is getting rich over at Hello Rewind. Not financially, that is.

Check out the Hello Rewind blog for more info on their background and what they do. To read more about what Restore, NYC are doing to help integrate ex-sex trade workers back into society, visit their site.

Silk Dyed Easter Egg Kit from The June Bride

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These Easter eggs from The June Bride { previously featured here and here } look like a million bucks. I’m not sure who first figured out that you could use silk prints to dye your Easter eggs, but that person deserves some sort of prize.

The problem for me, and those like me who would love to try this craft, however, is that I don’t have a bunch of patterned silk items laying about the house. I’m pretty sure that my husband would not look kindly upon me slicing and dicing his ties for the good of the eggs.

Enter The June Bride who has put together a kit containing 16 thrifted/recycled silk scraps that can be used (and reused, the scraps work more than once) to create ART eggs. Also included are the additional supplies you’ll need for this fun and surprisingly easy project. No hunting all over town and through your closet for sacrificial silk and no more ordinary pink and blue eggs for you and your kids! You’re going to have so much fun!

The June Bride also donates $1 from the sale of every kit to the American Cancer Society.

Clothing to dye for

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Tie dye is classic hippy style, but I don’t actually always like it. I think it works best when you’ve got subtle shades of the same colour happening, rather than as many different bright colours you can throw onto a t-shirt at once. Shades of pink from bright to pale to white looks girly and pretty and can be quite fairy-like. Ocean blue greens look lovely together and remind me of summer holidays and mermaids.

When I was pregnant with my first child, we were kindly given lots of hand-me-down baby clothes, including several baby-grows and vests that were once white, but were now stained and looked a bit grubby. Apart from that, they had plenty of life left in them, so we bought a couple of packets of dylon and set to work making various patterns. Not yet knowing the sex of the baby, we went for purples. We got so many compliments on those baby grows – I wish I had set up a hand-dyed baby grow business there and then. Oh well! Never mind, other people thought of it too and you can now buy some fabulously dyed outfits for babies.

A dark colour and black always looks good too; especially purple or red. This often has a pagan or witchy feel about it and is great on long dresses.

You’ve also got to be careful of the pattern. My preference is when the fabric has been scrunched and dyed for an all-over random effect. Lines across the item of clothing usually look good, but be warned of circles – the technique where you put a marble or something into the material and tie up the area around it so that afterwards you’re left with circles spreading from a central point. For some reason on men’s t-shirts, the point is right in the middle, highlighting even a slightly over-weight stomach. On women’s tops, two circles seem to always highlight the nipples – fine if you’ve got the confidence for this eye-catching look, but not so good when one of the tie-dyed circles is a bit wonky!

Sources: Mountain Girl Clothing, Singin’ a Sweet Song and ilovewaterlily.

Blue Pumpkin Corsetry

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Blue Pumpkin Corsetry: I’ve been making corsets professionally for three years now. I was studying the construction techniques and pattern manufacture for two, previous to that.

I really do believe that a good quality corset is comfortable and wearable. I also believe that a corset can be made for any occasion, not just formal or bedroom occasions.

I have made corsets for clients all over the World and for all manner of reasons. From underwear, to office wear and day-to-night corsets.

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