Upcycling Textiles with a No Waste Apparel Design Approach

Erin Smith Author

04/01/2021 Added

22 Plays

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Advisor: Dr. Sandra Starkey Creating garments using non-clothing textile waste.

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[00:00:03.610]Hi, I'm Erin Smith.
[00:00:05.370]For my UCARE research
[00:00:06.620]I chose to explore Upcycling Textiles
[00:00:09.100]with a No Waste Apparel Design Approach.
[00:00:11.800]This is a necessary field of study
[00:00:13.560]as there is a lack of research being done
[00:00:15.530]about no waste practices
[00:00:17.370]for upcycling non-clothing textiles.
[00:00:20.140]Non clothing textile waste
[00:00:21.690]shouldn't be overlooked and needs to be included
[00:00:23.860]in the broader discussion of textile waste.
[00:00:26.740]Let's get started.
[00:00:30.670]Upcycling is defined as a process
[00:00:32.359]of transforming by-products, waste material,
[00:00:35.440]or unwanted products into something new
[00:00:37.930]of better quality and greater value.
[00:00:40.380]By using existing materials
[00:00:41.970]we save energy, water, chemicals,
[00:00:44.490]and other resources required to make new virgin materials.
[00:00:48.600]Most consumer textile waste includes apparel
[00:00:51.370]and household textiles like towels, sheets, rugs
[00:00:55.180]that are discarded by consumers.
[00:00:57.360]It also includes carpets, window coverings, hotel linens,
[00:01:00.850]upholstery, and other textiles used
[00:01:03.410]in commercial settings and discarded.
[00:01:09.290]When people have textile waste,
[00:01:10.880]they need to understand their options for discarding it.
[00:01:13.740]Environmental awareness and the push towards recycling
[00:01:16.720]arose in the late 1960s.
[00:01:19.150]Recycling programs had their start on college campuses.
[00:01:22.660]With the beginning of recycling
[00:01:23.900]there was a need to educate people what the difference is
[00:01:26.600]between items that are unwanted and items that are waste.
[00:01:30.390]The confusion between these two terms
[00:01:32.760]leaves the recycling of post-consumer waste
[00:01:35.200]as the weakest link in the recycling infrastructure.
[00:01:41.860]Luckily, there are designers both in small companies
[00:01:44.530]and at an industrial scale
[00:01:46.620]who are interested in using this textile waste
[00:01:48.750]to create products.
[00:01:50.250]People who are looking to use post-consumer waste
[00:01:52.770]in their designs, run into similar roadblocks along the way.
[00:01:56.770]One problem is that designers struggle
[00:01:58.480]with securing a predictable flow of materials.
[00:02:01.150]Once they determine
[00:02:02.300]where they will collect their supplies from,
[00:02:04.800]they might struggle with an appropriate space
[00:02:06.670]to store the textiles.
[00:02:08.440]Designers often lack access to a studio and studio space
[00:02:12.330]to store large amounts of post-consumer waste.
[00:02:15.460]A designer's next struggle
[00:02:16.750]comes when they are seeking financial
[00:02:18.410]and business management support for their upcycled business.
[00:02:22.720]This lack of support then leads to a lack of support
[00:02:25.080]for marketing and sales.
[00:02:27.130]The lack of support may have to do
[00:02:28.700]with suspicious ideas towards the material they are using.
[00:02:32.110]Consumers may struggle with the idea of purchasing items
[00:02:34.750]that are made from textiles that have already been used.
[00:02:39.800]There are some other disadvantages
[00:02:41.380]that are associated with using post-consumer waste.
[00:02:45.130]When sorting through post-consumer waste,
[00:02:47.580]the assumption is that the textiles are dirty.
[00:02:50.540]When textile waste is discarded
[00:02:52.830]with regular household waste,
[00:02:54.740]it is hard to distinguish
[00:02:55.980]if the stains came from the use of the textile,
[00:02:58.740]or if the stain occurred
[00:03:00.670]when the textile encountered other waste.
[00:03:03.200]When using post-consumer waste,
[00:03:05.280]the textiles need to be sorted by hand.
[00:03:08.370]Items may have damage or staining
[00:03:10.300]which can only be spotted by someone
[00:03:12.220]looking at each piece individually.
[00:03:15.380]Although the textiles are required at a low or even no cost
[00:03:19.300]the amount of money needed to process the waste
[00:03:21.950]may end up equaling the cost to purchase new textiles.
[00:03:29.200]First, I looked into companies of all scales
[00:03:31.710]that design with upcycled materials.
[00:03:34.100]On Instagram designers sell their designs
[00:03:36.330]which are made of post-consumer waste.
[00:03:38.620]I have some of the accounts listed here
[00:03:40.240]in the next few slides.
[00:03:50.130]These Instagram accounts were very transparent
[00:03:52.560]with their design process
[00:03:53.680]and their passion for saving these discarded textiles
[00:03:56.040]from the landfill.
[00:03:57.570]I found designers who were strategically using
[00:03:59.960]as much of the textile as they could
[00:04:02.270]and then using the scraps to make things like belts or bags.
[00:04:10.550]I interviewed Jackie
[00:04:11.650]the owner of Glam House Black Market Clothing Exchange.
[00:04:14.930]She informed me that they collect 700 pounds
[00:04:17.240]of textile waste a week
[00:04:18.910]and have about 32,000 pounds of textile waste
[00:04:21.490]currently in their warehouse.
[00:04:23.720]I also noticed an article
[00:04:25.740]about a woman using plastic bag waste
[00:04:27.810]to create beds for the homeless here in Lincoln.
[00:04:35.670]My next task was to look at upcycling on a larger scale.
[00:04:40.510]I found companies such as HOTEL, Eileen Fisher
[00:04:44.260]both who upcycle textiles and resell them.
[00:04:47.160]I also found Linens N Love, The Renewal Workshop
[00:04:51.070]and The Green Hotels Association
[00:04:53.140]who are trying to combat post consumer waste
[00:04:55.470]on an even larger scale.
[00:05:04.330]I made a few different trips to thrift stores in Lincoln.
[00:05:07.150]I noticed a large variation in price and in contents
[00:05:10.040]between thrift stores.
[00:05:11.560]Some of the most common items were bedding,
[00:05:13.790]tablecloths, curtains, blankets,
[00:05:16.480]small decorative items like hankies or table squares,
[00:05:19.410]cloth napkins, and aprons.
[00:05:21.410]I noticed most secondhand items
[00:05:23.070]appeared to be in good condition.
[00:05:27.900]After gathering textiles,
[00:05:29.520]I began the design process.
[00:05:31.490]I decided that I needed to design on my dressmaker form
[00:05:34.240]rather than sketching out my designs first.
[00:05:37.010]I found this to be a more successful way
[00:05:38.930]to design around small stains
[00:05:40.580]or imperfections in the textiles.
[00:05:43.350]Due to the imperfections and post-consumer waste,
[00:05:46.380]I concluded that a zero waste design
[00:05:48.430]would be nearly impossible to achieve.
[00:05:51.160]I decided I would try for minimal waste
[00:05:53.200]and would save my scraps.
[00:05:54.960]My design process is a mix of using pattern pieces
[00:05:58.180]and draping the textiles on the form to create garments.
[00:06:03.550]The first ensemble I designed
[00:06:05.100]was made from a bedsheet, heirloom quilt top,
[00:06:07.870]and a pair of men's jeans.
[00:06:10.120]A quilt top is created
[00:06:11.330]by sewing many different pieces of fabric together.
[00:06:14.100]And therefore has lots of seams and loose strings
[00:06:16.630]on the underside.
[00:06:18.150]Because of the unfinished nature of a quilt top,
[00:06:20.710]I needed to find a suitable fabric to line it with.
[00:06:23.910]I selected a bed sheet which would wash and wear well
[00:06:26.580]as the lining of the pants.
[00:06:28.980]Creating these pants
[00:06:29.990]taught me some specific things about upcycling.
[00:06:33.330]When using an heirloom material,
[00:06:35.520]I learned that a sewing machine needle
[00:06:37.510]makes a larger hole than it would
[00:06:39.320]if I was using a new tightly woven fabric.
[00:06:42.640]I also learned that when you're using a quilt top
[00:06:44.940]that is hand quilted, the hand stitches are very delicate.
[00:06:49.620]Hand stitching is a traditional way of construction
[00:06:52.660]which results in seams that are loosely connected.
[00:06:56.100]When these hand stitches seams are cut
[00:06:58.480]the seams easily unravel.
[00:07:00.770]When seams begin to unravel,
[00:07:02.250]they need to be reinforced with machine stitching.
[00:07:06.190]To complete the look I used a pair of men's jeans.
[00:07:10.000]Although this wasn't technically post-consumer
[00:07:13.320]household textile waste, it's still post-consumer waste.
[00:07:18.320]The jeans had a stain on the knee of one of the legs.
[00:07:21.600]It was a bit visible from the outside
[00:07:23.350]but more visible from the inside of the pant leg.
[00:07:26.250]Through this process, I learned it's okay to use a textile
[00:07:29.010]that has an imperfection.
[00:07:30.890]I decided that it was okay
[00:07:32.510]if there was a bit of the stain you could see
[00:07:34.120]from the inside.
[00:07:36.110]I was able to cover up the stain on the outside
[00:07:38.770]by strategically placing some of the gathers
[00:07:40.970]over that section.
[00:07:42.620]I learned the benefit of using post-consumer textile waste
[00:07:45.860]even if it has an imperfection.
[00:07:48.650]The jacket closure is three large hooks
[00:07:50.810]which were purchased new.
[00:07:57.480]The second ensemble I designed
[00:07:59.080]was made from a quilt, a tablecloth and a towel.
[00:08:02.610]I learned through this process
[00:08:04.030]that the beauty of the final product
[00:08:05.870]is created by where you choose to place the pattern pieces.
[00:08:09.310]I wanted the bottom of the bodice
[00:08:10.820]to line up with the red quilt binding,
[00:08:13.120]so, that determined how long I could make my jacket.
[00:08:16.830]The sleeves were made out of fabric that was left.
[00:08:20.250]The length and the width of the sleeves was determined
[00:08:22.720]based on the remnant of the quilt.
[00:08:25.210]I learned through this process
[00:08:26.800]that when you are designing with an heirloom quilt,
[00:08:29.200]there are benefits and drawbacks.
[00:08:31.210]The benefit is that the quilt is finished on both sides
[00:08:33.760]and does not need to be lined.
[00:08:35.870]The drawback is that you end up with very bulky seams
[00:08:38.870]that can't be turned and stitched.
[00:08:41.150]For these bulky seams the most useful finishing technique
[00:08:44.460]is to cover them with bias tape and hand stitch the edge.
[00:08:48.920]I created a shirt out of a tablecloth
[00:08:51.360]and I created a pair of shorts
[00:08:52.880]out of a vintage towel.
[00:08:54.730]Through this design process
[00:08:55.950]I learned that the amount of material you have
[00:08:58.430]determines your final product.
[00:09:00.620]The towel I had was a hand towel
[00:09:02.560]and therefore had a certain width and length.
[00:09:05.420]In this case the hand towel
[00:09:07.100]determined the size of the shorts.
[00:09:09.730]These shorts were altered
[00:09:11.070]when going through the critique process
[00:09:12.830]and the fringe was removed.
[00:09:17.750]The third ensemble I designed
[00:09:19.330]was made from two cloth napkins,
[00:09:21.160]two pillowcases, a tablecloth and a bed skirt.
[00:09:24.430]The jacket was created
[00:09:25.560]out of a matching pair of pillowcases.
[00:09:27.810]I didn't see any flaws
[00:09:29.050]and therefore determined I could use the pillowcases
[00:09:31.440]however I wanted to, for my design.
[00:09:34.180]The pillowcases had a lovely cuff on them,
[00:09:36.160]so I determined I would place the cuff
[00:09:38.090]strategically at the end of the sleeves
[00:09:40.060]and the bottom of the jacket.
[00:09:43.140]When the sleeves and the body of the jacket were attached
[00:09:45.720]I began to plan the color.
[00:09:47.810]I went back through the materials I had sourced
[00:09:49.810]and found two napkins that complimented the pillow cases.
[00:09:53.000]I created a color with the napkins.
[00:09:55.830]I then designed the dress out of a tablecloth.
[00:09:59.820]This particular design process
[00:10:01.380]was a lot of folding and pinning prior to making any cuts.
[00:10:05.490]Once I decided what I wanted the dress to look like
[00:10:08.150]I removed it from the form
[00:10:09.290]and stitched the folds to create the final piece.
[00:10:12.990]I decided to use a bed skirt,
[00:10:14.800]which had a continuous ruffle around the bottom
[00:10:17.080]to line the dress.
[00:10:19.170]The volume of the bed skirt added to the dress,
[00:10:21.750]made it more youthful.
[00:10:26.680]Here are my completed garments.
[00:10:37.800]Through this research process
[00:10:39.240]I have learned the value of post-consumer waste.
[00:10:42.300]I think without understanding the value
[00:10:43.930]still left in discarded textiles,
[00:10:46.290]people won't take the extra amount of time needed
[00:10:48.410]to properly discard of them.
[00:10:50.970]They won't understand
[00:10:52.130]the time needed to prepare them for reuse.
[00:10:54.870]With proper education and training,
[00:10:56.500]more makers could learn
[00:10:57.650]the value of designing with post-consumer textile waste.
[00:11:01.080]This value needs to be shared
[00:11:02.480]with the general public and with corporations.
[00:11:05.450]With proper education, consumers would understand
[00:11:07.940]how to discard their textiles
[00:11:09.770]and we could reduce the number of textiles
[00:11:11.460]going to the landfill.
[00:11:13.440]The goal after educating people
[00:11:15.100]would be setting up collection sites for waste
[00:11:17.240]on large and small scale.
[00:11:19.950]There is much research that needs to be done
[00:11:23.450]not only in post-consumer textile waste design,
[00:11:26.540]but in many other areas of design.
[00:11:29.540]The research we do today will help inform
[00:11:32.190]our design decisions for tomorrow.

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Upcycling Textiles with a No Waste Apparel Design Approach

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