Remnants, Scraps, Salvage

One of the most prohibitive parts of crafting is sourcing supplies. Yarn is expensive. Fabric is expensive. This is why so many of us have to find ways to monetise our hobbies. The thing we love to do to relax and unwind (pun intended) gets tarnished by pricing, self promotion and the nitty gritty of running a business, taxes, packaging, printing labels, admin.

But they don't call us crafty for nothing! 

I learned to sew with my sisters scraps, left over from her costume and hat business. Cutting them up and leaving even smaller bits behind. I am 12 years younger and our mother died when I was 3 so my big sister was my hero. I loved spending time in her studio and being useful. I used to cut pieces for her hats, sew linings, flip and stitch to finish things off, iron tags, the list of little jobs goes on. 

Although my sister was always Adult sized to me, she was only in her late teens and early twenties when she started running a business that ending up supporting my family from when I was 12, when my Father went bankrupt. By then I was already making my own hat designs and mittens. We also made beaded and macramé necklaces which we sold at markets and in small shops. I rarely saw any of the profits, so ultimately I was contributing to my own upbringing from a very young age. I loved it though, being with my sister. Making stuff, being creative together.

​I had a very strong, creative, talented woman entrepreneur to look up to from being a very small child and that has moulded me into who I am today. Make stuff, sell it - is in my coding. Although I always prefer the making part. 

My sister was excellent as sourcing supplies from the darnedest of places. She got a load of left over polar fleece from a Pet Bed company that used huge machines to cut the shapes they needed and what was left was plenty large for hats. She had rolls and rolls of tapestry fabrics that she had gotten from an auction. I used to love to look at it all and think about what to make.
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When I started weaving I still had several cones of yarns left from our weaving days with Baie Slings and my first projects used several of those. I am lucky to have a close comradery with Firespiral Slings, we always saw each other as allies rather than competition. They sent me all of their weft yarns that where less than 2 kilos, and not enough to use for their future weave orders. I also recently connected with the Russian baby wrap company Mokosh-wrap, they offered me their smaller yarn remnants too and as we all used the same UK mill they came to me in a large glorious box of goodies.

I am also happy to be part of the circle of salvaging scraps. A bundle of my smaller fabric scraps went off to Winter Girl Wolf Artwork and she transformed even the smallest bits into new beautiful artwork.

If you love to make stuff I would love to hear about it and if you have an extra creative way of finding you materials even more so!