Ode to Spring Quilt Series

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 You might recall that I dedicated January of this year to finishing my big pile of unfinished projects. I was plowing along nicely, but the weather didn’t cooperate.

When I decided to embark on the UFO-busting project back in December, I imagined myself sitting in my sewing room on cold, wet winter days, looking at the rain and enjoying the warmth of hearth, hot beverage and cloth. In reality, however, January was dry and warm, spring like. Some days the temperature even went up to the higher seventies. So I couldn’t just stay inside the entire time. The garden was calling. I went out to garden.

When in the sewing room, though, I stuck to UFOs. Until February came by, that is. Another month of warm and dry. I kept finishing UFOs, in between gardening days, but the spring flowers blooming in my garden–in the middle of winter, no less–also propelled me to start a new quilt series. I worked on it in between UFOs, and called it Ode to Spring.

Ideas for quilts come about in different ways. Some quilts I plan long in advance, and take even longer to execute. Interdependent, for example, took almost six months to complete. Sometimes I plan a quilt series, but it takes several years before I actually get to it, if at all. I’ve been meaning to make a series about The Seven Lives of Trini, following the quilt I made for my sister, to try different techniques. I might eventually get to it. Or not… Some quilts happen quickly. Something triggers an idea, and I have to make it a reality right away. Let the Mending Begin jumped into my head while listening to Joe Biden’s victory speech, for example, as did Enough!, which followed yet another mass shooting. They both came together rather quickly.

Somewhere in my very messy sewing room there lies an actual list, pen on paper, with quilt ideas I want to try. Some have been on the list for a while. I thought I’ll refer to that list (if I can find it, that is), once I complete the UFOs. But then the Ode to Spring series popped out, as if from nowhere, and pushed itself to the top of the list. I wasn’t planning to make this series. I’m not exactly sure where it came from. All I know is that it was there one day, forcing me to take a break from the UFOs, becoming the first new series of 2021.

The quilts in this series are flower-inspired yet abstract. They are all 13″ x 17.” While making them, I enjoyed playing with vibrant fabric colors, and also indulged in my new, colorful 12-weight thread. All four quilts incorporate a strip of yellow silk I had left over from one of my UFO totes. They all have six repeating leaf shapes, and are all quilted in various-sized straight grids. One day I will mount them all onto canvases…

Magenta Arctotis

Amethyst Centaurea

Golden Arctotis

Red African Daisy

And here they are, all together. Ode to Spring quilt series, my first series of 2021.

Which of the four do you like best?

A Kantha Inspired Spring Jacket

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Just in time for spring, I completed a Kantha inspired spring jacket!

The Inspiration

A few years ago my husband travelled to Bhutan, from where he sent us daily pictures of breathtaking scenery, interesting architecture, gorgeous handicrafts and things he knew would interest me, like this traditional loom.

Before coming home, he visited an artisan market like the one in the picture below, and got us some souvenirs.

For me, he bought four panels of beautiful Bhutanese hand weaving, which he picked right off the artist’s loom.

I wanted to save then for something special, and decided to use them (or some of them) for jackets. About a year ago, I picked one of the mauve panels, and started collecting matching textiles from my stash. But then life derailed for all of humanity, and the panel, with those matching fabrics, ended up in my UFO pile.

The Planning

I forgot all about this project until I went over my UFO pile in January. If you look at the blog post describing my resolve to finish everything in that pile, you will see that I included it in the inventory I originally took. Since I haven’t actually started working on it, however, and since I now completely reconsidered which fabrics to use for it, I decided to not officially include it in my Finishing Unfinished Projects series.

I actually returned many of the textiles I originally selected back to my stash (many were much too heavy for spring), and auditioned new fabrics instead. 

I also decided to incorporate a patchwork scarf I made several years ago as a part of the jacket-to-be.

The Execution

In January of last year I made my first patchwork jacket and learned a lot from it. I decided to use the same pattern for this new spring jacket. However, since this was supposed to be for spring, I wanted it more lightweight, and decided to have two layers instead of three. Whereas in my boro jacket I layered all the patches onto a base fabric raw-edge style, I decided to piece the outer layer of this jacket instead.

I designed the entire piece around the Bhutanese panel, and sewed the outer layer as one complete piece:

Then I sewed the entire lining:

I put them right sides together, and sewed the seams of the sleeve edges.

I turned the jacket over so that the layers were wrong sides together, and prepared for the long haul of hand stitching.

For my fall boro jacket, I incorporated Sashiko stitches with some fun patterns. For this one, I decided to stick to straight stitch only, more in line with kantha style.

I selected a variety of threads in matching colors and different weights:

And then sat down for an entire WEEK of hand stitching. I really enjoyed the slow, meditative work, and also had a blast listening to Textile Talks all the while (if you like textiles, you might enjoy listening to some yourself!). I basically stitched the top layer right onto the lining.

When most of the stitching was done, I folded the jacket to its final shape and stitched the side seams.

I then folded the bottom hems under, stitched the jacket shut, and attached the scarf as the collar. It took a week and a half start to finish, but the jacket was done!

The Outcome

And in action:

A jacket worthy of spring!

Do you think I did that Bhutanese panel justice?

On Abstract and Narrative

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I went to an arts high school, where I learned drawing, painting and sculpting from teachers who were artists themselves. We learned art history, too, but our art history teacher was also an artist. She taught us to look at art from the point of view of artists: to analyze a piece by looking at its composition, colors, proportions.

In college I majored in art history and East Asian Studies. My art history professors had an entirely different approach to art. They looked at art, and tried to find hints to traumas in the lives of the artists who created it. They tried to apply stories and shallow psychoanalytical interpretations where they didn’t belong. In other words, they tried to enforce a narrative on something that addressed entirely different concerns. I never warmed to this approach, and so I ended up specializing in Chinese history.

Now, as a textile artist, I feel most comfortable with abstracts, but some of my pieces have a narrative, too. Many (though not all) of my abstracts are just that, however: a play with the different components of art. One such series was the Spark series, which I blogged about a while back. I had no underlying story when I created this series, no big idea I tried to express. It was all about colors, shapes, lines, play. I didn’t even name the different pieces, just gave them numbers.

The Question

I shared parts of this series on social media. When I came to Piece No. 7, something interesting happened.

Spark Mini Quilt Series, Quilt #7

Someone commented as follows: “It reminds me of an opulent bedroom in a castle somewhere in Europe. 🏰”

I never thought of Piece No. 7 as a bedroom in a castle, but once this person said that I could see what they meant. All of a sudden, this piece made ME think of Elsa’s ice castle in the movie Frozen. After that, whenever I looked at it that’s all I saw.

So I decided to share it in one of my favorite Facebook textile artists’ groups. I posted the picture and asked a simple question: “What does this make you think of?“

I expected fellow artists to talk about colors and shapes, but got none of that. People were looking at my abstract piece, the little game I played with myself and my scraps, and saw different things. Surprisingly, many of them agreed on what they saw, and the great majority aligned with that first comment above.

The Answers

More than a hundred people commented on my post. I found their answers so interesting, that I decided to analyze the first 100 responses. I copied them all, and divided them into general topic groups.

Dwelling

Of the 100 people, the great majority–87 people–saw a dwelling of some kind in my abstract. This included a house generally, a bedroom or bed (with a significant minority seeing Van Gogh’s bedroom), a dwelling associated with water, other kinds of dwelling or a trailer/caravan.

General Room or House

Of the 87 dwelling-seers, 37 saw a general room or house. A few didn’t project any emotions onto the houses they saw:

“An old house.”

“House with the window. Actually just the side.”

“Student living.”

“Room with a view.”

Some attached a positive feel to the house they imagined:

“A cozy house.”

“A door and a window to something lovely.”

“An empty house with possibilities.”

“Home, the acceptance of things in life not being perfect, the familiarity of the imperfections of your own life – they are yours, you own them and accept them. Peace.“

“A house, worse for wear, but home, a refuge.”

I include in this groups the four people who were reminded of an elderly relative’s house, mostly a grandparent.

Others saw sinister tones:

“Abandoned house.”

“Broken home.”

“A room that a tree crashed into.”

“A derelict abandoned house.”

“The texture and feel has a very camouflage kind like something wants to hide in greens or mountain and the roughness of edges gives a very broken feelings for me it reminds of war times broken houses and people in camouflage suits.”

“It reminds me of a still from a scene in an Alfred Hitchcock type movie … an attic bedroom with the bedhead, and a dagger.” 

“Bombed out houses with remnants of domestic life exposed.”

Bedroom or Bed

Twenty six people saw a bedroom or a bed. This number includes seven people who were reminded of Van Gogh’s painting of his bedroom. Six people saw a poster bed. Once again, some associated positive feelings with this bedroom or bed: “A bed surrounded by tapestry in a movie set in medieval times…,” “A warm, comfortable bed to snuggle in when it’s stormy outside.” Others had more negative associations: “Fear of the marriage bed.”

Water Dwelling

Eleven people imagined dwellings near or on water. These included entire cities or towns, like Venice or the Philippine town of Ukay on the island of Bohol. Others saw a cottage by the sea, a shipyard, a boat house or a cabin on a boat.

Other Kinds of Dwelling

Eight people were reminded of other kinds of dwellings or structures. Those included the South African city of Soweto, a Chinese village, a fishing or hunting cabin, a barn or a yurt.

RV/Caravan/Trailer

Finally, five people thought of a caravan/trailer/RV. Here, too, opinions ranged from positive (“looks cozy to me. Maybe in an RV“) to more negative (“Trailer abandoned“).

Other Associations

The reminder thirteen people thought of other things. Those included positive things like aerial/drone views, landscape, or the Golden Gate Bridge, and negative things like winter, life’s obstacles, Godfather Part 2, and murder. One person was especially nice and wrote : “It makes me think that you’re a great artist.” Thank you for that!

Thoughts

I found all the answers really interesting, especially as they were coming from artists. I was wondering what made people see things in my own work that I myself never thought of. Was it the question I asked, that implied there WAS something to see? Or perhaps it was our inherent human need to reflect our own narrative on art? Could it be that people see their own experiences even (or especially) in abstract? It could be me. Maybe my college art history professors were right after all, and it was MY experiences, as an artist, that were reflected in my work, to be seen by others but not myself?

I don’t have answers to this. But here is a thought: I created this art in December 2020, A year plagued by Covid 19, marked by lockdown after lockdown. Most of humanity was locked up at home for nine long months by the time I created this piece, and almost a year by the time I shared it in February 2021. Is it really that surprising that most people saw my work and thought of dwellings? Could people have reflected their own enclosed experiences, both positive and negative, on what they saw? Did I, sub-consciously, reflect my own lockdown experiences in this series, too? Would people’s answers have been different had I showed them this piece during a normal year? In summer?

I’ll leave that for you to decide 😉

Finishing Unfinished Projects (UFOs) Part 2: Patchwork Totes

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I dedicated January of this year to working on my unfinished projects. If you’ve been following me for a while, you might recall that the majority of projects in my UFO pile were totes. Twenty three totes, to be precise (out of 58 UFOs). Three of those were patchwork totes, but each was different than the others.

First Patchwork Tote: An Experiment in Piecing Upholstery Fabrics 

A few years ago, early in my bag-sewing adventure, I started experimenting with piecing upholstery fabrics as if they were quilting cottons. As a part of that experiment I created two patchwork panels, which I intended to turn into messenger bag flaps. The experiment didn’t go very well. Home décor textiles, it turned out, were nothing like quilting cottons, and piecing them was more difficult and time-consuming than I expected. My experiment started and ended with these two pieces.

Shortly afterwards, I stopped making messenger bags. The two pieced pieces went straight into my UFO pile, where they lay for years. A couple of years ago, a good friend visited me and braved the mess in my sewing room. She saw these pieces and suggested that I combine them into a tote instead. It took a while longer, but I finally did. 

Here it is. Tote number 1:

And from back:

I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. My friend was right 🙂

Second Patchwork Tote: From Busy Work to a Memory Piece

In January 2019 I visited my parents. I really enjoyed spending time with them, but I was used to working with my hands, and really needed some fabric to stitch and keep my hands busy. My dad had a pile of torn jeans he no longer wore, so he gave me one, along with some rags. I started stitching Sashiko-style patches, just for fun. When I returned home, I added a few pieces from my scrap piles, with the intention of eventually making a tote.
 
Two months later my father passed away unexpectedly. I couldn’t touch these patchwork panels after that, and into the UFO pile they went.
 
I’ve now finished that tote, which became so much more than just a way to keep my hands busy. I gave it to my daughter, as a memory piece for my dad. She’s already using it, carrying a bit of her grandfather with her every time she does.
 
Here it is from the front:
 
 
And the back:
 
 

Third Patchwork Tote: A Tribute to Japan

The third patchwork tote bag took a LONG time to make. It started way back in summer 2018, in a narrow alley in Nara, Japan. My daughters and I browsed interesting little shops and boutiques (in the good old days when this was still possible!), when we went into an artisan shop and saw these gorgeous, hand-carved wooden handles. Of course I had to buy them! Right there and then the image of a Japanese-inspired tote popped into my mind.
 
 
We kept walking and browsing, and came into a store selling antique Japanese fabrics. I bought a bundle of mostly indigos, but also some bright red. I knew exactly what i was going to make with them!
 
 
Back home, I used some of the vintage Japanese fabric to make a Boro-style patchwork panel (I later used the remaining fabric in my jacket). I also added some fabric from my stash. I spent days (weeks?) Sashiko stitching it all over. I finished the outer layer, and then got distracted. The stitched panel ended up–you guessed it!–with my other UFOs.
 
Well, I finally completed the tote. I even added a wooden hand-made button that I bought years ago (and haven’t found use for until now!).
 
It turned out just the way I imagined it, in that narrow alley in Nara. This is the front:
 
 
And this is the back:
 
 
I’ll be giving this tote as a gift to my sister, once I can finally see her again. Something to look forward to…

Finishing Unfinished Projects (UFOs) Part 1: Smaller Items

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The Problem

Over the years, I have accumulated an ever-growing pile of UFOs (Unfinished Objects). This wasn’t intentional, it just kind of happened. Sometimes I was working on things right before vacations or trips, and never got to them once back. At other times I started something new before finishing an existing project, and then moved on. And right before my father passed away, I worked on a big batch of totes, and then couldn’t bare to touch them afterwards.

I kept my UFO pile on a glider chair that was a part of our guest room before I conquered it and turned it into a sewing room. It didn’t bother anyone, and was just sitting there, getting taller and taller each year, out of mind although in plain sight (I have to admit that sometimes I did feel a little guilty because of it…). Over the years, whenever I did a major tidying up of the sewing room, I reluctantly went over that pile, and sometimes took things out that I no longer liked. But major tidying up was rare, and for the most part I didn’t even remember what was in the pile. Until, in the fall, my kids decided they needed the glider chair, that is. They moved it into our family room, leaving my UFO pile homeless on the floor…

You need to understand that my sewing room is rather small, and that a queen-sized guest bed takes most of its floor space. That leaves very little space for me to work in. Having the UFO pile take some of that space was bothersome. And so, in December, I decided to go over it and take inventory.

My UFO Pile

During my excavations of the pile, I found 58 projects (!!) as follows:

1 troll art doll.
1 veggie bag.
1 moth soft sculpture.
1 boro spring jacket.
2 journal covers.
3 messenger bags.
5 small crossbody bags.
6 clutches.
7 zippered pouches of different kinds.
8 quilts/wall hangings varying from small to a twin-sized bed quilt.
And, last but not least, a staggering 23 totes!

The Resolution

I am usually not one to make New Year’s resolutions, but this was too much. Besides, I needed the floor space for my scrap boxes. AND I thought I should teach my kids by example, and I DO want them to finish things they start… So, I decided to dedicate January to finishing up as many of these projects as I could. I forbade myself from starting anything new for an entire month.

The Execution

I decided right away that I don’t have to finishing everything. Only the projects that I still liked, and only those that were in fairly advanced sewing stages. I decided to absorb the fabrics of early-stage projects back into my stash. That meant dismantling the veggie bag, moth, one journal cover, one crossbody bag, five clutches and a zippered pouch. All of these went back into my stash, as I barely started them.

I resolved to leaving the jacket for the spring, and work on the quilts later.

Of what was left, I decided to start with the smaller projects, the ones I could complete relatively quickly. I knew that seeing them finished will encourage me to keep going.

Pouches

I began by completing the zipper pouches. The first three I probably started in preparation for some craft fair or other, although I don’t remember exactly when. I worked on scrappy pouches (in the bottom pf the picture) in fall 2019, when I made them as gifts to family and friends. I didn’t have time to finished those three then. If you’d like to try making your own, you can find a tutorial here.

Once the pouches were all finished, I went on to complete the one remaining clutch. I started it in spring 2018, in preparation for a May craft fair. At the time, I made two clutches out of the same beautiful embroidered fabric. I never got to finish this one, so it ended up in my UFO pile. Its sibling, on the other hand, sold right away.
Like all my clutches, I lined this one with silk and decorated it with an enameled coconut-shell button.

Crossbody Bags

When I finished with the small items, I moved on to the mini crossbody bags. I don’t remember when I started those. More than a year had passed since I last sewed a bag, and when I resumed working on these I was surprised to realize just how much work they were. There are so many required steps, thread changes, ironing…

Back in December, when I decided to dedicate January to UFOs, I imagined myself sitting in my warm sewing room, hot beverage at hand, looking out at the rain. But January 2021 in California turned out to be one of the warmest I remember. It was dry, sunny and for one week–summer hot, with temperatures close to 80 degrees. Naturally, I couldn’t just sit and sew. I ended up spending a few days gardening, something I’ve never done in January before…

Messenger bag

There were three messenger bags in my pile. Two required just a few extra rivets. The third, in the below picture, waited almost-finished for a LONG time. It was one of the very first bags I ever designed. At the beginning, I experimented with shaping bag flaps to match the fabric designs. I probably made 3-4 bags in this way. For this one, I sewed the flap and lining years ago, but still needed to finish the outer layer. In recent years I’ve always been making the lining last, so it was surprising to realize that I made them first once. It might be five years later, but I finally finished it!

Blue messenger bag

Most of these finished items are now listed in my Etsy shop. 

Spark Mini Quilt Series

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What do you do to get yourself motivated?

2020 was a challenging year, with lots of ups and downs. Locked up at home, I often found myself turning to art as an escape from the world. There were times during the year, however, when I couldn’t muster what it takes to create at all. When this happened in spring and summer, I went out to the garden and kept myself busy there. But in winter things got a bit more difficult.

After I finished my Desolation series at the end of the year, I was left with a kind of deep emptiness. I often feel this way after completing bigger or harder projects. I went into my sewing room, and … wasn’t sure what to do next. That, despite the huge UFO pile and the long list of projects in my head… 

In the past, simply organizing my scraps helped ignite my creativity. But in December I didn’t feel like doing even that. And so, after several days of doing absolutely nothing, I decided to give myself a little creative challenge, just for fun. A small game to spark my creative juices. Hence, the Spark series 🙂

I made up some rules:

  • Nine days.
  • One mini quilt a day.
  • Each piece will be 6″ x 6.” Small and manageable.
  • Use only scraps.
  • Use the existing shapes of the scraps (but cutting them to fit was OK).
  • Each quilt should use at least one fabric from the previous quilt.
  • Use only black thread to outline shapes.

Here is the result: The Spark Mini Quilt Series. Can you find the fabric/s in each piece that I also used in the piece before it? (Hint: the very last piece also uses fabric from the first, closing the circle):

Did you find it/them? Which is your favorite?

Hopefully this will inspire you to create a Spark Mini Quilt Series of your own. It’s fun! And it does help rekindle creativity 🙂

Desolation Quilt Series

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In March 2020 we went into a pandemic-induced lockdown and everything closed. For months, places which were once crowded and bustling were suddenly deserted. The streets were empty, as were shops, movie theaters, libraries, places of worship. Everything remained abandoned for months. Then some places opened, only to shut down again when case numbers spiked .

Desolation prevailed wherever you went. Inside and out.

In September, the California wildfires restricted everyone further. Unable to go outside, I went back into my sewing room and tried to lift my spirit up with some bright colors. A small quilt formed, but it was all sharp angles and confined spaces. I tried to soften it with some lace, but the lace, too, ended up as a border, restricting. Mazes within mazes, escape routes blocked, small, confined spaces, sharpness. And yet, there was also some beauty in it all, just like in the real world…

This is Fenced Garden. 10″ x 10.”

In the following months, slowly and painfully, more quilts in this series emerged. Emerged in-between other projects, as if on their own, designing themselves. Some took weeks to complete. This was not an easy series.

These quilts evoked abandoned streets, taped-up play structures, empty squares, and boarded-up shop fronts. They portrayed cities that lost their citiness.

This is Eerie Streets. 10″ x 10.” The emptiness of streets in that first lockdown, deprived of both people and cars, was one of the most striking differences between the “before” and “after.” And the quiet that accompanied it. A deep, screaming quiet. The quiet was nice, actually.

The quilts in this series shouted barred cathedrals, churches, synagogues, mosques and temples. They whispered of locked museums and closed schools.

Here is Locked Cathedral. 10″ x 10.”

These quilts hinted at abandoned structures, quiet public spaces and things falling apart.

For my family, one of the hardest aspects of the March Lockdown was the closing of theaters. Both of my daughters were in a youth theater production at the time. They practiced for months, getting ready to perform over two consecutive weekends. The first weekend still happened, albeit in front of smaller, spaced-out audiences. By the time the second weekend rolled by, however, we were already in full lockdown. The disappointment was bitter.

Fittingly, the last quilt in this series is Shattered Theater, 10″ x 10.”

And yet, each of the quilts in this series contains some beauty, too. In pleasing colors, the softness of textures, or in rounded shapes. In each, there is some hint of nature, in the form of leaves or the silhouette of mountains. And each has the silver lining of lace, pretty even when constricting, bringing hope…

Need a New Year’s Resolution? Cut Down on Plastic!

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Today I’m not writing about textiles or art, but rather about another topic that is important to me: trying to live a more sustainable life and cutting down on plastic. My ANY Texture adventure started because I wanted to give a new life to gorgeous, discarded designer textiles. As it evolved, I became increasingly aware of various environmental issues, and of the acute plastic-waste problem facing our planet.

From being an indifferent consumer like most of us (briefly even somewhat of a shopaholic), I am gradually becoming a more conscientious shopper and a bit of a sustainability freak. Because once you become aware of the problem, you can no longer unsee it. It’s everywhere you look. And it’s really important, for our own well being and very survival, as well as for that of our fellow creatures and the unique planet we live on.

I’m aware that my domestic plastic-reduction efforts are but a drop in the ocean. In fact, the pandemic made the waste problem much worse than it had been before. A short visit to a medical facility, where I saw great quantities of single-use gear of all sorts discarded without thought, made me wonder whether my tiny efforts were even worth the trouble. The problem is so vast and widespread that it really can be discouraging. However, what if a million households make the small changes we did? And then two million? The drops will eventually add up. And so I keep trying…

Today I want to share the modest, easy changes I implemented in my own household, including the good and not so good experiences. I hope this might inspire you to experiment with plastic-reducing efforts of your own.

After a few years of implementing little changes gradually, we’re still not plastic-free. That is a goal that is still beyond reach, mostly because so much food comes wrapped or packaged in plastic. But we’ve made some progress, at least. There were times over the last few years in which I drove my family crazy. At one point they had to take me aside for a “talk.” I relaxed a bit, but after a few years of gentle nagging I can now see changes in them, too 🙂

Cutting Down on Plastic in the Bathroom

I’ve found that that the easiest place to start cutting down on plastic is in bathroom products. There are now hundreds of companies producing eco-friendly products, with more coming on the market every day. Even Target just started selling some of these 🙂 

Toilet Paper

Shortly before the pandemic hit, I switched from regular plastic-wrapped toilet paper to a recycled, eco-friendly version. These rolls arrived individually wrapped in paper (unnecessary in my opinion, yet better than plastic), in a HUGE cardboard box. The size of it surprised even me, and led to weeks-long teasing from my family. But let me tell you–once March 2020 came around, I had the last laugh! When the toilet-paper shortages started, it turned out that I was ahead of my time, for my family still had a months-long supply!

Admittedly, my family was not too happy with this eco-friendly version. Although I bought the two-ply kind, it was still thinner and less soft than what they were accustomed to. People complained. Some complained a lot. There was even a small, short-lived mutiny. Now, however, we’re on our third box (I’ve been ordering whatever brand is available, and found no difference between them). There haven’t been any complaints in months. I think they got used to it. And the best part? We no longer have plumbing issues! No more clogged-up toilets, no nasty unclogging needed!

Liquid Hand Soap

Hand soap bars are already eco friendly, unless you buy them wrapped in plastic. I usually try to buy artisan soap wrapped in paper. Although this is more expensive than store-bought soap, it feels good to support small businesses, and is an affordable luxury.

My kids, though, like to use liquid soap for their hands. We wash our hands a lot now, in these times of Covid, so I thought I’ll try eco-friendly, water-soluble hand-soap concentrate. These are dissolvable pods you put in reusable bottles.

They arrived in a carton box, which was great. When I opened it, however, I discovered they were wrapped in … plastic! Disappointment no. 1.

The second disappointment was that once I added the stated amount of water, the soap felt like colored water. Very liquidy. The final disappointment was how they made my hands feel–completely dried out… Sadly, I still have 25 bottles-worth of this product. Needless to say, I will not buy more when it’s gone. I think I will try another brand, but if that, too, doesn’t work, my kids will have to switch to bars.

Shampoo and Conditioner

Most shampoos and conditioners come in big plastic bottles. Most of them contain mostly water. So I switched to shampoo bars and conditioner bars.

So far I tried only a couple of brands, mostly because these bars last forever–months on end! The result is mixed. The shampoo bars I tried worked great. They leathered and cleaned as well as bottled shampoos. The conditioners, however, were not quite as good. They didn’t leave my hair quite as soft as the conditioners I used before, and made it a bit more frazzled. HOWEVER: it took me years to find a bottled conditioner I liked, so I’m still hopeful I will find a more suitable conditioner bar. There are literally hundreds of brands to choose from! Besides, I think that having slightly-less soft hair is a small price to pay for leaving a cleaner planet for my children…

Cutting Down on Plastic in the Kitchen

Cutting down on plastic-wrapped food is not easy, especially during the pandemic. But replacing other kitchen products is more manageable.

Reusable Shopping Bags

Switching from single-use shopping bags to my own reusable Market Totes was one of the first things I did, even before my city issued a no-single-bag ordinance. We’ve been using the same three ANY Texture totes for over five years, and they are still as good as new.

During the first few months of the pandemic, stores no longer allowed customers to bring their own bags. In those few months we accumulated a ginormous pile of paper bags–which gave me a better idea of how many bags we actually saved in the years we did use my makes. Luckily, bringing your own bags to shops is now possible again, so we’re back to doing that 🙂

I still have a few Market Totes left in my shop, if you’d like to take a look. I will not be making any more, so the ones now listed are the last.

Leftover Storage

For years, we’ve used cling wrap to cover some leftovers (and reusable containers for others). I recently learned about flexible, multi-use silicone lids, and bought some of those. Since then, we hardly need cling wrap.

Dishwasher Soap

Until recently, we’ve been using dishwasher pods that came in a plastic container. I switched to an eco-friendly version that comes in a carton box.

The dishes turn out just as clean. There is no plastic container to “recycle” (plastic recycling, by the way, is a sham). The cardboard boxes are pretty and sturdy, and I’ve found use for several of them. In fact, I even shipped some of my products in those re-used boxes! And cardboard can be and is easily recyclable. 

Cutting Down on Plastic in the Laundry Room

Laundry Detergent

Just like dishwasher soap, our laundry detergent used to cames in big plastic bottles. I switched to dissolvable pods packed in cardboard from the same company as the above.

These, too, have been working just as well as what we previously used, while leaving less waste.

Buying Less Clothing

I used to love shopping for clothes. Once I became aware of the huge waste generated by the fast fashion industry, however, I stopped cold. I haven’t bought anything new in years. If I managed to stop, anyone can!

My girls still buy clothes every now and then, but a lot less than before. One of them now mostly shops second hand 🙂 When we had our big house cleanup and reorganizing over the summer, they helped me tidy my closet. As a reward, I let them “shop” from it. They each picked a few items, and everyone was happy: they were thrilled to have new things, and I was happy to see them wear my clothes–especially since everything looked way better on them than it ever did on me! A win win!

Future Plans

The most eco-friendly thing you can do is keep using what you already have for as long as possible. That said, I keep looking for more eco-friendly household products to try. We’re slowly switching to plastic-free deodorant, for example. Most of our family’s plastics, however, comes from food, and eliminating that is difficult, especially now. When the pandemic is over, and I once again dare browse stores and visit farmer’s markets, I will try to make wiser choices about which foods to buy.

Do you have any sustainable products to recommend? If so, please write them in the comments, so that I can try them, too!