Remade Fashion Fair: some photos

Pouch attended the first ever Remade Fashion Fair on the 21st of February.

The event was held at the unique industrial venue called the 'Custard Factory'. Partly government funded, the Custard Factory is designed to protect and nourish small arts and media businesses. Soon it will take its place as the largest and most exciting concentration of artistic and creative activity in Europe.

The Remade Fashion Fair bought together designer-makers and alternative labels who produce clothing and accessories in the UK using recycled materials.

Everyone who stopped for a chat at Pouch's stall was interested in the work we do and the items we create. Vintage fabric seems to evoke lots of memories for people and take them on a nostalgic trip back in time!

It's good to see that people are continuing to support recycled fashion and more importantly, UK-based designer-makers. Over the past few years, imported clothing has given people a 'throwaway' attitude towards clothes, not to mention the environmental impact of fast-fashion. Hopefully events such as Remade will help to raise the profile of ethical and sustainable fashion being made in the UK.

The following are some photos of a selection of designers who took part in the event.



Trashblooms



Hole Button Jewellery



Helen from Helen Woodward Jewellery



Mosaic of images of Hole Jewellery, PennyDog Jewellery, Helen Woodward Jewellery and last but not least Pouch's stand.

Remade Fashion Fair, Birmingham, 21.02.09

The Birmingham Remade Fashion Fair will take place on Saturday 21 February at Birmingham's Custard Factory Gallery.

Pouch will have a stand at the event, if you are in the area, come along and say hello.

Featuring more than a dozen of Britain's best Remade Fashion brands, shoppers will be able to mingle with the producer-makers who specialise in making clothing and accessories from waste materials. Featuring jewellery, bags, underwear, tops, children's clothing and more.

In conjunction with Times Online environment blog, people can bring scrap clothing and accessories to exchange for a money-off voucher to spend at the fair.



The event is sure to be an eyeopener for anyone who wants to buy the ultimate in sustainable clothing - remade in the UK from waste materials.

More information is at http://www.remadefashionfair.info

The Remade Fashion Fair Birmingham is organised by Freedom Clothing Project

new obsession: lavender hearts

I love making lavender hearts!
It's such a great way to use up all the offcuts from the fabric used to make the bags, belts and peg bags.
Also, the process of making them is so enjoyable. I love to sit with a big bag of lavender on my lap, inhaling the relaxing aroma and sewing up lots of little hearts.
I'm in the process of listing the hearts in Pouch's etsy shop
Keep an eye on Pouch's shop over the coming weeks for more lovely fabric combinations.

eco valentines

It's nearly Valentines day, the day when we tell loved ones how much they mean to us. Our vintage fabric brooches are an eco-friendly alternative to the usual naff gifts or imported roses.



Each brooch is made from recycled vintage fabric and brand new felt.
This is attached to a recycled denim heart and fastens with a brooch pin.



Perfect for brightening up a jacket or bag.
Each brooch is unique.
Unlike roses, they wont fade and you can wear the brooches all year round.



I love recycling brooch in scarlet red available from Pouch's Etsy store

I love recycling brooch in bergundy available from Pouch's Folksy store

Recycled packaging: revamp

Using recycled packaging is a very important part of our ethos. I get a steady supply of used bubble mailers from a local office. If I didn't use them, they would go in the bin and into landfill.
I want to use recycled packaging, but I still need to bear in mind that I don't want scruffy looking packages turning up on my customer's doorsteps.
I decided a few weeks back that I would try a little idea to revamp the bubble mailers and I'm really pleased with how they turned out.



I collected a few wallpaper samples from my local DIY store and cut round the edges with pinking shears. I then taped the wallpaper to the envelopes.



I completed the revamp by stamping the back with this ink stamp from terbearco.etsy.com

I think they look pretty stylish now and it means I can continue to recycle the donated envelopes and not worry that I am sending shabby packaging when I post out an order. I also believe that by re-covering the envelopes in this way, it prolongs their life and hopefully my customers will re-use the envelopes for their own postal needs.

Folksy Featured Sellers for February

James from Folksy contacted me on Friday and told me Pouch’s name had been picked out of the bin to choose the Featured Sellers for February. This put me into an immediate tailspin because I am a) very indecisive and b) very indecisive.
I started to put together a shortlist which as the day went on was getting longer, rather than shorter. I guess it’s a good sign that I had too many shops to choose from rather than too few!
Eventually I whittled the list down, and these are my chosen four, I hope you like them as much as I do.

With the prospect of more cold weather on the way, I love to browse the knitted goodies on Folksy. A fellow West Country crafter, Amanda Sainsbury, creates beautiful machine knitted skinny scarves, cowls and mittens. Amanda’s work has a delicate look and feel, so it's ideal for the coming months as we move from Winter into Spring, or as fashionistas would say ‘they make perfect transitional wardrobe pieces’.




I am big fan of ‘eco chic’, I love to see people creating items from recycled materials. Milomade’s shop contains innovative and funky bracelets made from safety pins, badges made from repurposed envelopes and jewellery created using recycled buttons. Top of my wish list is an 'Autumnal Dream' bracelet, I didn't even know they were safety pins until I looked closer, always a good sign of clever recycling.




I have always loved silver jewellery, it suits my skin tone better than gold. There are so many talented silversmith’s working in the UK, but if I had to pick my favourite on Folksy, it would be Quercus.
Working in the beautiful city of Bath, Quercus makes just the sort of jewellery I love. It’s bold and modern, but it also has an organic and tactile quality which I adore. I would love to buy everything in her shop, but I don’t think my bank account would like it, so I will be dropping as many hints as I can around valentine’s day…



Another big love of mine is artwork and photography. In fact this was the hardest choice to make as there are so many talented photographers, print makers and illustrators selling their work on Folksy.
After much browsing, I decided to put forward Gifling as I have admired her work for some time. There is a dreamy, melancholic quality to her prints and the figures she depicts really intrigue me. I also like the soft blue and turquoise tones which are a recurring theme in her work.



So there they are, Amanada Sainsbury, Milomade, Quercus and Gifling. I've really enjoyed choosing the featured sellers for February, it's a minor miracle I managed to finally make a decision :)