teresa rosello

I have not trying to grow outside my zone (7) yet, but I found this article very interesting for future plans....  :)

https://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2020/04/fruit-trenches-cultivating-subtropical-plants-in-freezing-temperatures.html

I just joined a challenge through my Chesapeake Fibershed, where you have a year to make a textile that was sourced entirely from within your fibershed.  I was aware of Fibershed but just learned that there is a Chesapeake one through my weaving guild.  I liked the idea of a fibershed challenge, as though I want to grow my textiles, I'm in no way set up to do that right now.  But with baby steps, I can support my local community and challenge myself to learn more about growing and processing my own fibers.  

Anyway, it got me thinking about learning to grow your own clothing.  I wonder if there would be more interest in making from scratch if people didn't have to grow their own?  I mean, we are growers and makers, but I can see many of my weaving guild members aren't growers.  I would love a course on growing my own clothes, but starting out with smaller challenges/classes about making your own from raw fibers could be good as well and reach more people.  

That said, as excited as I was about the fibershed challenge, there were only 16 people in the zoom meeting.  Four of them were presenters.  I don't know if the interest is not there or simply that the marketing isn't.  I think they plan to use this challenge to help market more, to make people aware of how much effort goes into making clothing.  

For Raven, I'm throwing out ideas to help her consider the market and directions she might want to go.  For anyone else reading, go check out fibershed.org and see if they have created a fibershed affiliate near you.  I'm hoping that over time they will grow and have options out there for sourcing local materials, or even the potential for business opportunities/customers for those who want to sell local fibers.  

If anyone is interested, I signed up for the Maiwa natural dye class next month.  I'm happy to report back on how it goes.  I also learned about a clothes fitting class by Gina Renee Designs, which I might take to up my sewing game.  Raven, while there are lots of classes out there on making clothes, dyeing, weaving, etc, I have yet to find any place that brings it all together.  I'm trying to piece together my own education.  There have to be more people out there.  Makes me wonder how hard it is to grow cotton inside (i've heard it could be a houseplant) so that more people out there without land that want to grow their own clothes could pull that off?

I love this!  I'm so glad you documented it so others can see as well.  Thanks for including both videos so we can learn more about the team behind the project!

I would be interested in such a project!  I read your stuff on Permies with great interest and have a goal of eventually growing my own clothes.  I'm trying to take it slow - I've managed to get to weaving cloth for a shirt and shorts (I don't love my finished products so far), and may invest in a wheel over a spindle in the future.  My handwoven clothes are a work in progress, though.  I need to get my sewing skills up.  And my spinning up.  Oh, and learn more about weaving cloth that works as clothes....  :)

I don't know how many people in the world are as fiber nerdy though.  I like the idea of reaching out in pieces, perhaps to the spinners, gardeners, sewists, etc.  And offering a whole course.  Definitely some type of community so we can all talk through it.  Heck, I'd just love a place to find tips on sewing with handwoven clothing.  

For me, at least, I'd be interested in what people can grow in their backyards.  It would reach a larger audience, too.  I live in the 'burbs, and while I might try growing fiber, I'm not getting sheep.  I can definitely see your idea of cheaper weaving helping, as not everyone has a loom.  Backstrap weaving could work there, though that seems to be more of a thicker fabric (or at least that's what happened when I did it).  Spindles.  Even handsewing tips perhaps.  

It's a really exciting idea.  It could go in a zillion different ways.  For me, it's annoying when I want to find something helpful out there about making handwoven clothes and end up with crickets because the information is so hard to find.  Having a community and knowledge out there could be really helpful.  I know there are other people out there who would be interested.  You would just have to find them!

I'm not an expert, but I've been playing around with different types of wheats and mixing them into my sourdough breads.  I have inconsistently been trying things (and feeding my starter poorly), so I can't say anything for certain.  But I have been trying to add ww flour in different percentages to see what works best.

A ww loaf won't rise as much as an AP flour one will, because all the little bran particles will slice through the rising dough.  I have tried sifting the flour but didn't see much different yet.  I plan to get a finer sifter to pull out the larger bran particles and either re grind or just discard them.  

I would look into buying some hard white wheat to play with.  They say it has a milder flavor.  My inconsistent loaves means I can't say if I found that true or not.  I can say my einkorn wheat has a stronger flavor.  

So, to sum up, try a milder wheat.  And look into getting a sifter (I have the 30, but plan to get the 40).  Add small amounts of fresh ground wheat at first, and build up from there!  

I'm in the middle of a move, but once I get settled, I'm hoping to be more scientific about my sourdough and grinder!

After living overseas for 5 years, I'm moving back home to my little suburban paradise next month!  We have 1/3 acre or so, with lots of shade and two septic fields.  So it will be a challenge, but I'm really excited to grow what I can there.  Plus I can bike to the farmers market.  I'm hoping to make my yard an example for others.  All I know is that I'm excited to put roots down (literally).  I love all the big projects being done with bigger permaculture farms, but I think the suburbs are underutilized and wish more people would use the land they have.  We chose our neighborhood because there were no restrictions, and I'm excited to see the chicken laws have gotten better in the last 5 years!  I've read a lot, but lack the practical skills right now.  When we lived there before I had tiny kids and used them as an excuse to not do much.  This time will be better!

My alpines were not supposed to runner.  I liked that, as I wanted them to stay put as a border.  I moved, so I don't have them right now but hope to try again next year.  They were supposed to be plants that could be divided eventually, so I have dreams of having a really tasty border in my front yard.  Alpine strawberries are ridiculously tasty.  

I grew some Fragaria vesca (alpine strawberry) from seed a few years ago and had success.  I think I bought the seeds from the Strawberry Store.  They have a germination guide at https://thestrawberrystore.com/files/Germination.pdf.  

Spin Off Magazine highlighted shifu in their Spring 2020 edition.  Handwoven Magazine continued the fun in the March/April 2021 magazine.  

In Spin Off, they talk types of paper and then how to cut them.  They make lots of parallel cuts but don't separate the "threads" at first.  Then they dampen the paper, and roll it.  I don't understand what they mean by rolling, but I imagine every tiny "thread" is hand rolled, then they carefully pull the threads apart so it ends up one continuous thread.  They are then spun on a Japanese spinning wheel.  I find it hard to understand even with their diagrams.  

In Handwoven, they bought paper thread and wove it into towels.  They used a cotton warp and paper thread.  He says it has softened with use.  He puts it in the washing machine and the dryer!

I haven't tried it myself, but if/when I do, I'll see how thin I can make the strips first, moisten the paper, and see how the spindle works.  I don't have a wheel!