ColumnThe connection between the clothes we buy and the clothes we are already wearing.

Julia Ramsey is intent on sharing an awareness about textiles with others. “I think it’s important to know the connection between the materials and the end product and the human and how it all comes together; a lot of times, I think it’s taken for granted.”

In a recent event at The Textile Arts Center in Brooklyn, NY, Ramsey unveiled her freshest fashion endeavor: Pelt. Textiles and their individual stories are integral to the inspiration and creation process for Ramsey. Pelt reveals an experience that weaves together raw materials, innovative construction, and an intimate relationship with your clothing and shelter.

Grounded in ideas of estrangement, Pelt sought to deconstruct society’s tendency to disconnect from the clothing on your back. “Normally, when you’re wearing a sweater, it’s completely devoid of an origin; since I’m inspired by materials that I work with, I think it’s really interesting to make the materials the center of attention.” Each piece of the creamy, cloudy, milky, and comfort-driven collection harbors the potential to perform as a second skin. “They kind of take on a life of their own, and when you’re wearing them, you feel like you have this second skin; it makes you take on another persona and they almost speak for themselves.” For Ramsey, your “pelt” can serve to shelter you or to give you additional strength. Evolved from observations of animal skins, animal hides, and furs, the cozy pieces make you want to curl up in them and hibernate for a long winter ahead.

While Ramsey seems clearly comfortable in her own skin, being a “fashion designer” wasn’t something she could always easily identify with. Growing up, she loved to sew and make dresses, but fashion wasn’t really part of her life. “When I went to school, I couldn’t look anyone in the face and say ‘I’m going to be a fashion designer’.” In turn, early in her journey as a designer, she contemplated and analyzed the question of what truly makes a garment special. For her, the fabric is key; even if the design is simply cut, an amazing fabric can elevate a piece to another level. Through studying textile design with a specialization in knitting, Ramsey’s curiosity in the fabric behind her fashion has taken her even deeper into an investigation of the naked elements beneath: the raw material.

Pelt was constructed from a collection of unprocessed sheep’s fleece from around the globe. Ramsey’s design exploration led her to discover wool sourced from a little girl who raises sheep on her parents’ organic farm in Connecticut as well as an organic line of super fine merino wool imported from South America by a U.S. trader company. Wherever the sheep were raised, Ramsey’s wool comes practically direct from the animal’s back to yours. The wool is carded and the fibers aligned, but it’s raw and in a sense, that still maintains its connection to the animal. “It’s animalistic, and wild in a way, because it is so close to the sheep.”

By feeling and touching each pelt, it’s possible to realize that it came from a sheep. “You don’t think about that all the time and I think it’s important to be conscious of it.”

Organics go far beyond the materials for Ramsey. Designing is an evolution that unfolds before her in a very free-flowing and intuitive way. “I like to keep it really hands-on and I like to be making with my hands. I think that’s important: to be close to it.” In Pelt, she began working with a Barbara Walker knitting swatch book and let the shapes develop naturally. “Just putting rectangles [of the knitting patterns] onto the form, they kind of take on a life of their own and I can visualize how to build them out.” Guided by the body and a mixture of the material and the body, Ramsey’s work pairs an interesting balance between emotions of strength and femininity.

Drawing upon the embedded concept of skins, animal hides, and fur, Ramsey’s romanticized photo shoot for the collection took an even further look at the significance of coverings and the meanings behind their expressions. The true model in the images exists behind a styled facade, as in reality, she has long red hair. In addition, her freckling from head -to-toe covers her skin and creates a pattern upon her own body. Layers of coverings – animal and human – overlap and almost become entangled in a merging of raw and wild, comfort and spectacle.

Ramsey’s Pelt undoubtedly connects human with animal; the shearing from a sheep’s coat is woven into a covering to shield a human from the cold. We may not generally think so directly about the origins of the fabrics draped upon our shoulders, but Ramsey’s exploration reminds us that our garments contain stories that have already been written before they reach us. Questioning those stories and pondering their intricacies could aid in reestablishing true and authentic connections with our body coverings.

“I think it’s important to have things that people would love to wear, and are actually wearable, even though they stand out and make an impact.” Ramsey says this collection was potentially her Fall 2012 preview. We hope to soon see her creations available at a nearby boutique; whether it be to shield, shelter, or take on a distinct persona, these coverings are utterly covetable.

My mother is a knitter and my closet is full of her chain link necklaces, soft cloche hats and chunky cowls. I love wool, but since reading an article recently sent to me, I’m reminded again of the environmental and ethical complexities of this natural fiber we so adore.

When we think of wool, it’s hard for many to think it could be anything but sustainable, growing off the back of a sweet little sheep. According to the Organic Trade Association, “In order for wool to be certified as ‘organic,’ it must be produced in accordance with federal standards for organic livestock production.”

That means no cruelty, no genetic engineering and as you might imagine, no being dipped in parasiticides (insecticides) to control external parasites. In Australia, super-soft Merino wool rules and mulesling, a painful wool shearing technique, is used on the majority of the sheep to hide-trim strips of “excess” flesh thereby maximizing wool output. This process eliminates the risk of Blowflies launching a full “flystrike,” a process by which flies nest in the folds of an animal’s skin. Feel free to feel ill. PETA narrated by singer Pink which, in traditional PETA fashion, is enough to make anyone think twice about eating lunch, much less buying a sweater.

You may have to do a little investigating to find out if the wool you are buying is mulesed or not as it’s atypical to have it appear on labels, but it will be well worth your time.

Jocelyn Tunney, of O-Wool and Tunney Wool Company, says investing in certified organic wool is comparable to how one should approach organic food.

“One would want to purchase organic wool for the same reasons as one would want to purchase organic food,” she says. “It’s a more sustainable farming solution, is kinder to the animals and is healthier for the consumer. Conventional wool is grown like conventional food – the land and sheep are sprayed and dipped in pesticides as a cheap means to increase salable product. The land organic wool comes from has to go through the same transition and certification process as the land organic food comes from.”

She’s quick to add that she’s talking about “certified” organic.

“A lot of people will label things organic (particularly wool) but organic holds very little meaning unless it is listed as certified organic, which has gone through a governmental certification process,” she says. “Here in the U.S. this is through the NOP (National Organic Program), which is how food receives the green USDA certified organic label. Wool itself can be USDA certified organic, but currently there is no certification process for textiles (yarn, fabric, etc.) in the USA, so a textile product cannot be certified. If you are purchasing something that does not say ‘made from certified organic wool,’ you are getting conventional wool.”

Donna Oakes, owner of vegan boutique Cow Jones Industrials says that because of the lack of accountability when it comes to verifying sustainable standards with animal-based products like wool and leather, she’s been a vegan consumer for 22 years.

“I am not comfortable selling items made from animals for a number of reasons – the most obvious products I wouldn’t sell would be those made from fur, next comes leather items – I don’t eat animals, so why would I wear them and if I don’t wear them, I wouldn’t sell items made from them,” Oakes says. “Wool is the area that doesn’t seem clear for a number of people who come into my shop. I could go on in detail but it really comes down to a very simple issue for most vegans: do we feel comfortable using animals for our own purposes? For me, this is not only an animal ethics question but one that I respond to as a feminist, and that answer is no.”

The Organic Trade Association advises that if you want to buy wool, consider this when you balk at higher prices:

1) Organic wool producers receive a higher price at the farm gate as their costs of production are higher, primarily associated with higher labor, management, and certification costs;
2) The organic wool industry is very small relative to the overall wool industry and does not have the economies of scale and resulting efficiencies of its conventional counterpart, and
3) Federal organic standards for livestock production prohibit overgrazing.  If the price of wool is low, the difference cannot be made up by simply increasing production per unit of land, as is commonly practiced by many livestock producers.

Image: Law_Keven

Women have innately basked their brains in feel good juices since time immemorial to get through tight economic and emotional times. Though dovetailed as woman’s work and not really discussed, for centuries women have enjoyed the calming properties of knitting, sewing, embroidering or even just rhythmically folding or ironing clothes.

When I came across this blog entry from sustainable designer and writer Natalie Chanin, it not only piqued my perception of the positive effects of “women’s work,” but it brought to light a real aspect of how using our hands to do meaningful tasks can benefit our overall health and well being.

Chanin cites neuroscientist Kelly Lambert, author of Lifting Depression:

“Lambert shows how when you knit a sweater or plant a garden, when you prepare a meal or simply repair a lamp, you are bathing your brain in feel-good chemicals and creating a kind of mental vitamin. Our grandparents and great grandparents, who had to work hard for basic resources, developed more resilience against depression; even those who suffered great hardships had much lower rates of this mood disorder. But with today’s overly-mechanized lifestyle we have forgotten that our brains crave the well-being that comes from meaningful effort.”

I asked Chanin myself, with all the women working for her, has she ever heard a remark about how working with their hands helped get them through hardships or that their disposition changed the moment they picked up needle and thread?

“We have had several stitchers remark that they just don’t ‘feel good’ when they don’t have a project to work on. I remarked in Alabama Stitch Book that I sometimes use sewing when I have a difficult decision to make or when I need to brainstorm and find ideas,” says Chanin.

So does the physical act of using your hands to “make,” increase some sort of chemical reaction that basks your brain in feel good, all-natural cocktails that can enhance your sense of well being?

I caught up with a few reliable sources to see what they thought about it.

Abigail Doan, Ecco Eco Founder and Textile Artist

I have always linked crafting with one’s hands to agricultural activities. Having grown up on a small family farm, I was fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with the soil, build fences, spin wool, and learn a variety of fiber-crafting skills. My mother was a self-taught hand spinner, and there is no doubt that the activities that we performed as a hands-on household curbed depression and day-to-day boredom.

I believe that people are currently drawn to these activities as they allow one to feel environmentally grounded and connected to a place, despite all of the uncertainty that presently surrounds us. Understanding the start-to-finish process of any craft-based activity mirrors life cycles and the rhythms of nature. For urban dwellers specifically, this is a great way to stave off the depression that comes from prolonged anxiety and a lack of centeredness. Keeping one’s hands moving also mimics activities like plowing, raking, weeding, or milking. We can lose ourselves in the patterns and textures created, and this for me is extremely therapeutic and restorative. It creates a one-to-one relationship that makes everything else simply fade away. It’s a healthy sort of addiction that replaces other forms of disease.

Jill Danyelle, Occupational Therapist and Founder of FiftyRX3

We are typically more motivated to engage in an activity that has some meaning, enjoyment, or purpose.

As a therapist, I work with children and tend to accomplish a lot under the guise of play, but I am also responsible for handwriting, which is often a dreaded task for my clients. I find the kids are most motivated to write if they can also draw and color pictures and tell a story. This year, I have had two boys collaborate on writing a story, which has motivated them to practice writing for the last two months, as they were excited to add a new phase to the story every session. We just ended it – although they keep trying to add more and more details – and now they are finishing all of the illustrations. They have a real sense of pride about the work, which I am going to publish in book form so they can share it with friends and family.

On the other end of the age spectrum, years ago I worked in a geriatric rehab facility every other Saturday. The clients were not motivated to do rote exercise, so I had to disguise it in activities. I would take all the neatly folded towels that were delivered from laundry and dump them in a pile on the table. Then I’d get two or three clients around the table and ask them to stand up and help me fold the towels. In the process they would start making small talk, so they were socializing, working on standing balance, bilateral coordination, upper extremity strengthening, etc.

In one of my internships with an Adult Mental Health Day Treatment program, I ran several groups including a kind of “talk therapy” group and a crafts group. Interestingly, nobody said too much in the “talk” group, but when they were busy crafting I think they felt less pressured and all sorts of things would come out.

Image: Mr T in DC

Ferm Living offers this colorful felt pillow with humorous and vibrant tufts (it also comes in blue); lean it in the corner of your couch, let it rest on your favorite chair, embellish your bed, or add a little cushion beneath your derriere next time you lounge on the floor. (Don’t miss this charming yellow knit floor cushion either!)

When you need a place to rest your eggnog or absorb the sloshes from your cranberry martini, utilize these felt coasters from Parkhaus (they make a bevy of alluring felted objects). With a slew of saturated color choices to mark your liquids, you’ll never confuse your apple cider for his whiskey. These gorgeous felt coasters are available here for a bargain price of $4 each (plus, you can soak up a little history about felt while you purchase these beauties).

Wool in the summer? Are you out of your mind?! Not at all!

Tanya Aguinigar’s Wool Lace line is created by continuously looping one strand of 100 percent wool yarn into a light accessory guaranteed to dress up any outfit year-round.

The best part of this bracelet? It won’t clatter all over your keyboard as you type.

Priced at $38, the cuff comes in the colors featured, as well as white, and moss green.

Be sure to check out her Jersey Knot Bracelet and dip-dyed, Unraveled Cotton Rope necklaces too.

Will you be in New York this February for Eco Fashion Week? (And do ya like how we’re slowly turning the tables on you, boring old Fashion Week?) The GreenShows should be your major focal point.

Touted as the only “premiere fashion event exclusively committed to eco-friendly, ethically sound, fair trade fashion in New York City,” the venue, now in its second season, has peeled some serious rubber (not to mention, appealed to some really great talent).

Thieves by Sonja Den Elzen, Spring 2010

This time around, notable designers like Samantha Pleet, Thieves by Sonja Den Elzen, cmarchuska and eight others will debut their Fall 2010 lines to hungry eco-press and audiences hoping for something new from the sustainable front.

Designer Samantha Pleet, photo by Jacqueline Di Millia

This is a challenge when all designers participating in The GreenShows have to abide by a “Designer Criteria” which means they have to include some aspect of the sustainable design industry. In this case it means:

1.    Vegan/Animal Free
2.    Ethically Produced
3.    Fair Trade
4.    Organic Materials
5.    Recycled Materials
6.    Ethically Produced Wool
7.    Natural Dyes
8.    Carbon Footprint Conscious

Let’s hope it also means really well crafted designs that don’t play it too safe.

Main image: The Daily Green

The sad truth is the carpets that hold up best to traffic are the ones coated with toxins. And we don’t want those in a place where humans dwell.

If you do have a healthy wool carpet in your home, you can still clean it without harsh chemicals like perchloroethylene – which the EPA has linked to kidney and liver damage. Naphthalene, made from coal tar, is also considered a carcinogen that can harm the central nervous system.

Ask cleaning services if they simply steam to lift dirt or apply shampoos to loosen those hard-to-clean coffee and wine stains. Treatments like Oxi Fresh use an oxygenated method by applying less water and natural ingredients. Some cleaners also use citrus-based products that smell much better than standard chemicals. Just check and see if their products are plant-based chemicals (Biokleen, NatureClean and Seventh Generation’s Natural Citrus Carpet Cleaner) or made with synthetics.

Here are some natural ways to go for maintaining cleaner carpet:

1. For daily maintenance, have guests and family members remove shoes when entering the house if you have carpet on the first floor. Otherwise, remove shoes before heading upstairs. Obviously there can be exceptions, such as when you are entertaining. Guests often complain about taking off shoes for a more formal event. They may have holy socks or need the height so their pants won’t droop.

2. ehow tells us to spot clean with vinegar and water by mixing equal parts into a spray bottle and applying to the stain, then blotting with a clean, dry towel. For tougher stains, you can make a paste of baking soda and water and coat the stain. Let the paste sit for about 30 minutes, then wipe away with a damp cloth. For deeper cleaning, they suggest going with biodegradable cleaners like AFM Safecoat added to a rented carpet cleaner.

3. Do It Yourself recommends regular vacuuming to prevent dirt and pet dander from settling into your carpet fibers, and to sprinkle on some baking soda before your sweep to eliminate potential orders. You can even add spice, such as cinnamon or cloves, in the baking soda before you spread it. Also, let the baking soda sit on the carpet to lift stains and dirt at least 10 minutes before you vacuum.

4. For spot removal, use a clean dry cloth or paper towel to soak up the spill and blot the stain rather than rubbing it. Once you blot it, apply club soda or soda water to dissolve and lift, then blot up the liquid. You also can use hydrogen peroxide and vinegar mixed with water or rubbing alcohol to lift the stains. You might also try making your own spot cleaner with a teaspoon of liquid dish detergent and one to two cups of water.

In terms of cleaning fiber rugs, such as sisal, it is best to just use water or soda water. These can be the hardest rugs to maintain because many products don’t work very well to get out the stains.

Let us know if you have some other tried and true green methods of carpet cleaning!

Image: adriagarcia

Here are some ripe picks from the groovy grape file:

Fruitful Folds: Designer Dror Benshetrit should take pride in his Peacock chair exhibited at the recent ICFF 2009 in New York. Designed for Cappellini, no weaving, sewing or upholstery glue was applied to the comfortable lounge seat with a price tag too high to mention on our site. Hey, that’s art, kids.

Berry Soft: Avalisa hand-tufted New Zealand wool rugs in animal and abstract patterns: Dog, Wonder and Deer. Available in three sizes.

Grape Explosion: Tree Bomb purple wallpaper from Ferm Living. $115 per roll.

Juicy gems: from VivaTerra, gorgeous tones in on-trend shapes and textures. $98-119.

Purple is the New Black: Nouveau Organic Duvet and Pillows from Pottery Barn Teen, $32-$119 in twin and Queen sizes.

Upcycled Mashup: From Etsy, this felted wool pillow was a 100% cashmere sweater in a former life. $35 for the cover.

It’s hard to ignore those cautionary labels (even the misspelled ones). Do we dare wash a delicate garment at home and risk ruining the texture or shrinking it beyond recognition?

Warnings are warnings, but there are exceptions to every wash ‘n wear rule.

With the help of our blog readers, writers and the experts, we have put together a list of myths we are happy to debunk to save you some precious bucks.

1. Washing sweaters will ruin the texture!

“Hogwash,” says EcoSalon’s Caitlin Fitzsimmons, whose mama passed on the tried and true method. “You need to wash in lukewarm water with a gentle detergent,” she explains. “Then lay it flat on a towel with the arms folded in. Fold in the corners of the towel and then roll it up – this lets you squeeze out water, without destroying the shape of the sweater. Repeat with a second towel. Then lay it out flat to dry.”

Image: Moline

2. Dry clean wool because it will always shrink up in the machine.

This one’s for the dogs according to EB, who has been washing his own wool blazers and slacks with a front-loading washer wool cycle for years. “Wool is fairly hard to shrink and doing so requires changes in temperature and agitation  from rubbing, scrubbing and wringing.” No washer for wool? He says use the same temp water for wash and the rinse, a friendly, wool-wash cleaner and minimal agitation. Squeeze dry, roll in a towel and lay out forming the correct shape on a flat surface. I heart this advice!

Image: Romeo’s Mom

3. Cotton really stiffens up when I clean it at home because of the hard water.

We all know hang drying is the most sound energy-saving way to go, but that can produce tough results, as well. Naomi tells us she cheats a bit by tossing her cotton into the dryer with a sheet for a few minutes before hanging dry and it does the trick. And don’t forget, there are some gentle water softeners on the market that won’t give you that Downy chemical rash!

Image: Luigi FDV

9. Dry Cleaning is convenient.

Unless you are as organized as my friend Jodi (keeping schedules is her side career), it could take several months to pick up your stuff at the cleaners. Parking can be hard unless you walk or take public transportation in the city (Carrie Bradshaw did it by cab). And very few cleaners pick up and deliver anymore. It’s just simpler to do most jobs at home.

Image: Flickr

10. Dry cleaning always extends the life of your clothes.

If your clothing can only be sustained by monthly trips to the cleaners, then you are buying the wrong kind of clothing. Our fashion editor, Amy DuFault, is a guru of stylish alternatives and you can follow her resources in the fashion section. Meantime, no one has proven that Perc or other solvents with enzymes are protecting the life of your garment. The truth is, if you are following the guidelines of frugal wash n’ wear experts, your clothes should last as long as they would when doused with toxins and sealed in plastic – perhaps, even longer.

Image: Coolslaw

Main Image : Wm Jas

She’s pushing petals again, that Amy Butler, introducing fabulously feminine and bold wool carpets that are blooming in late August. These are great handcrafted picks for perking up an existing space. You got the sofa, you got the pillows, you got the hot date. Now you need a flirty-perty rug, right?

The new line of 19 patterns in the Amy Butler for Chandra collection borders on the exotic with a modern scale and lively depth of field. If the motifs look familiar, it’s because we’ve shown you her similar bedding designs which smack of India chic. The organic bedding is sold at Bed, Bath and Beyond. The carpets complete the totality of the Butler bedroom.

“I had so much fun designing this line and learning about a whole new industry,” says Butler, otherwise known as the queen of Midwest modern style . “I even got to visit India to see rugs being made and meet the people who make it all happen – it was an amazing experience! I loved seeing each step in the process, the care and detail that goes into each rug is stunning.”

The rugs are 100% handmade from New Zealand Wool and semi-sustainable using no harsh chemical washes, the industry’s safest chrome dyes and natural latex adhesive.

Go to Butler’s site to see a slideshow of the rugs or order a carpet brochure.