I love working with textile waste. Since working at The Green Collective SG, we have noticed the huge amounts of clothing that gets dropped off at the clothes recycling point. You won't believe that we have collected close to 800kg for recycling since April 2018.
My friend Cheryl Lee of Singapore Eco Film Festival decided to create an art installation at the event (2 - 4 Nov) made from all these t-shirts. We are planning to create a panel of Singaporean flowers in the style of Peranakan tiles from the t-shirts.
12 Oct (11am - 5pm)
13 Oct (11am - 5pm)
14 Oct (11am - 5pm) - This will be held at Singapore Sustainability Academy. Details tbc
19 Oct (11am - 5pm)
28 Oct (11am - 5pm)
What are we making?
A 1.5 x 5 m long installation collage made from old t-shirts. We are replicating the flowers of Singapore in the style of Peranakan tiles!
What will we be teaching you?
How to make t-shirt yarn.
How to make the collage
What to bring?
An old t-shirt, any colour
A pair of scissors (if you have a pair!)
All sessions will be held at The Green Collective SG. If any changes are made to the venue, we will inform you via your contact details.
The past 4 weeks have seen me preparing workshops for school children and teens. I was invited to be the resident artist at a secondary school and also a trainer for upcycling for a group of primary school children. Based on my lessons so far, I have to say that it has been exciting and very engaging not just for me but for the kids. It was definitely a learning journey for me too, especially the things not to do. So I'm sharing them with you in this post.
1. Make It Simple, Make It Relatable
Kids are smart but they can also get bored very easily if you start giving facts and figures. Do away with the long talks and sharing sessions, show an engaging video, play a team building game or even make it competitive. I was running a 4 day upcycling programme for the primary school and I showed them a short cartoon on t-shirts and their impact, and one on Caine's Arcade. Which one did they like and remembered? You guessed it, Caine's Arcade rocked, but even though it was unrelated to the textile activity we were doing, the kids understood how you could upcycle waste materials, be creative and come up with a solution.
2. Make It Fun
Everyone likes workshops that are fun, and that goes without saying! For the teenagers we explored textile art using shaving foam marbling and jelly printing. Although messy, it's extremely fun for them. I don't think they get a chance to play with shaving foam!
3. Let Them Take Over, Make It Free Flow
I love it when they experiment on their own. We can give them tools and the instructions but if they find a better way to do it then why not let them? We were upcycling t-shirts into a round mat when one of the children said why not make a flower-shaped mat instead? Why not? So this is what we ended up with. Each child dictated what colour and the size of their circle before combining them together. It was very self-directed! At the end of the lesson, one of the kids said it could be transformed into a box too! Very creative, indeed.
What are your tips? Let me know, I would love to find out.
April and May has been really eventful with my first natural dye workshop, and upcycling sessions at Fashion Revolution SG and Fashion Makerspace. I didn't even get time to update my blog about what has been happening until now!
I was very honoured to work with Swapaholic and provide an upcycling workshop for the VIP participants of their clothes swap. Over 10 guests had the privilege of making their own fashion statement necklaces from upcycled t-shirts. Don't you think they had a lot of fun with the upcycling?
Thank you to Swapaholic!
Restyle Your Wardrobe Upcycling Workshop
My upcycling participants also got very creative at the 13th workshop of Restyle Your Wardrobe. In fact, I cannot believe that this upcycling workshop is now into its fourth year. It feels like yesterday when I had my first one at the Science Centre. I remember very clearly that no one turned up and the organiser very kindly decided to have the volunteers take part instead. I was actually very disappointed and thought that upcycling has no place in Singapore. However, fast forward to today and now everyone is talking about upcycling. We even have events just on the topic itself. How strange, yet exciting at the same time. This time around, I had my first male participant. He signed up with his wife, and I was interested what he would bring and make. Here are all the participants with their creations - cushion cover, skirts, tissue box cover and tops!
My first natural workshop in collaboration with GUILD was a success. Participants were curious on what local flora could be used in the dye process. They came, they chose their dyes and they went home to continue the experiment. Take a look at the photos on my facebook page and one of the participant'sresults.
What do the words "natural" and "eco" mean to you? Just like the word "sustainable", "natural" and "eco" can be interpreted differently depending on your beliefs and values. To some people, natural means no chemicals. Others may interpret it as being direct from the source and no industrial processing whatsoever. When I started my natural dye journey, I realised (as I had mentioned in this post) that the process is not at all as natural as people make it out to be. In comparison with synthetic dyes, however, the process is a lot gentler. Perhaps, we should call it "botanical dyes" or "botanical prints" to avoid the misconception that the process is completely natural. What do you think?
The City Ramble, Citizen Farm
I definitely had a lot of queries regarding the "natural" part of the dye process during my "Reconnecting with Nature" dye installation over the weekend. Many visitors did not know that chemicals are used in natural dyeing, and were also intrigued by the long process. In fact, I guess you could say that the only natural part is the dye source itself - not processed and no additives! It sparked very interesting conversations, and one discussion I clearly remember is one with a secondary school chemistry teacher, Gerald. He said that perhaps I should use solvents instead of water to extract the pigments. This is something worth investigating!
A Walk in the Garden
Before the City Ramble, we were given a tour of the venue, Citizen Farm. Sam, our guide for the afternoon, shared with us the farm's philosophy of challenging the way we eat and live.
"Instead of consuming industrially-produced food shipped halfway across the globe, we want our community to thrive on sustainable, safe, and locally-grown fresh food."
It was interesting to not only see greens thriving in an urban setting, but also the rearing of black soldier flies for the breakdown of food waste, and their research into aquaculture technology to raise fish and grow crops. I love how the farm incorporates the close-looped concept into its operations!
I got a chance to try out marigold, red leaf hibiscus and red cosmos from the farm. I purchased a small box of the flowers and got down to the dyeing. Once the dye pots of the marigold and red leaf hibiscus were made, I got busy. I was amazed by the yellow from the marigold (right, image below)), but the red leaf hibiscus (left) was awfully disappointing.
Tips on Creating Botanical Prints
After getting an intense yellow from the marigold, I decided to use them in botanical prints. I sprinkled them together with the red cosmos in the middle of a long sheet of fabric before rolling it up tightly around a pipe. The piece was steamed and then allowed to rest before over-dyeing with mango leaves. I finally hand-embroidered the piece with a variety of Wt 50 sewing threads (DMC and Gutterman).
🍀A Walk In the Garden🍀 Magnolia and cosmos botanical print Mango leaf dye Hand embroidered Textile waste Approx 30cm x 120cm
After so many attempts in botanical printing, here are some of the tricks that I have applied.
Metal conducts heat so a metal pipe gives you the advantage over a plastic or paper-made pipe.
Roll it up tight and I mean REALLY tight to get defined and clean prints of the flora.
Cure it for as long as you can. I cured it for at least 3 days before unwrapping it.
If you look really closely at the print, you will notice that flowers tend to smudge a bit and I found it particularly so for the red cosmos. Compare this with the leaves that I have been trying out (see video below). So if you would like something really defined then perhaps leaves will be your go to flora.
What are your tips? Do share below!
Thank you to ShopHouse and Co for inviting me to be part of The City Ramble 2018, and to Citizen Farm for providing their support and lovely venue.
Yes, you can be creative....and sew! That's what I believe in, and I have definitely seen it happen in my upcycling workshops. Last Saturday, we saw nine participants come together, learn how to use the sewing machine, share ideas and just create. It felt like Project Runway but minus the drama and divas (and of course, Heidi Klum)! Our youngest participant was 12.5 years old and she and her best friend were on a roll with their ideas.
Here are a few before and after shots of the participants' creations.
Here I am guiding one of the ladies with her transformation of a long cardigan into a cinched wrap top.
If you are keen to join our next session of Restyle Your Wardrobe, stay tuned for the updates or sign up for my newsletter below.
Update - our next session is happening on 26th May 2018. Sign up here.
"Loved clothes last" or #lovedclotheslast
This is the latest campaign by Fashion Revolution together with Green Peace.
Your clothes should be creating memories, not waste.
How do you do this? Well, you can either mend them or upcycle them. It could be turning a pair of jeans into shorts, or even just adding a repair patch to them. With Christmas less than a month away, your party outfit does not have to be off the store racks but lovingly upcycled with a needle and thread (or even with fabric glue).
Here are a few upcycling ideas that I have detailed on my site.
Restyle Your Wardrobe Workshop - 11th Run
If you would like to get started on upcycling your wardrobe then my popular Restyle Your Wardrobe workshop is happening on 27 Jan (1 - 530pm). I can't believe it is now in its 11th run!
Tired of your wardrobe? Don’t know what to do with clothes you don’t want to wear? Bring two or three old garments and explore different techniques to breathe new life into them. I will share my passion for upcycling clothes, why it is important, and how to make your clothes last longer. You won’t have to hit the stores again!
No sewing experience needed. For ages 12 and above.
Ladies and gentlemen, I have finished my art residency at L'Observartoire.
Yes, one month is over and I can't believe how fast it went. The open studio was very successful and the dyed and upcycled pieces sparked conversations about nature, sustainable fashion and food waste. I would like to thank Isabelle Desjeux and Blue House International School for giving me the wonderful opportunity to carry out my experiments at the studio. They were such a supportive and welcoming group. Special thanks also goes to the Pantry at the school, the educators, the parents and children, Kitchen by Food Rebel and Native Bar for supplying the much needed food scraps. Thank you. Thank you also to Muriel Boutin-Becuwe for helping to source for the hotel bedsheets that would have otherwise been sent to the landfill.
Having started the dyeing in January 2017, the journey does not end here (although I think I would like to take a rest!). There are so many things I would like to do, but there also so many things that I learnt and would like to share here. The first is to quell the misconceptions that I hear about natural dyeing.
Common Misconceptions About Natural Dyes
a) Natural dyes have no environmental impact
We often get misled by the word "natural". Although the dyes come from nature, it doesn't mean that the process of extracting them and applying them to the fabric has no environmental impact. For one piece of fabric (60cm x 60cm), I had to:
- scour it to get rid of oils, wax and dust
- mordant it and then rinse
- make a dye pot and dye the fabric before giving it a final rinse.
Throughout this process, I had to heat my pot for over 3 hours and use copious amounts of water. Just imagine this going on in a factory! So who says there is no environmental impact?
b) There are no chemicals in natural dyes
What is a chemical? A chemical is any substance that contains matter be it naturally or synthetically made. Natural dyes contain chemicals - mangifera indica is the chemical from mango leaves that produces the yellow green colour, while the dye in onion skins is 3,5,7,4 - tetrahydroxyantocyanidol or Pelargonidin. In fact, water and even sugar is a chemical, large amounts of which would be toxic to us.
Chemicals are used to help the dyes adhere to the fibers of a piece of fabric - alum, iron sulphate, copper sulphate, tin and chrome have all been used in the dyeing process. Without them the colours would not be light or colour fast. However, due to environmental and safety reasons, copper, tin and chrome are no longer used.
c) Vinegar and salt are mordants
During the open studio, many people asked me whether I used vinegar or salt as mordants. The answer is no because they are not mordants. Rather, vinegar is used to shift the pH of the dye pot and this is how you achieve different shades of natural dye colour from one source. Vinegar is also used when applying synthetic dyes so that there is an even take up of dye.
Salt on the other hand is linked to fixing the colours of synthetic dyes such as Dylon. If you would like to make rust dye then vinegar and salt are your best friends!
d) Natural dyes are dull
While the majority of natural dyes (based on my experiments in Singapore for the past year) end to give brown, at this residency I have been able to extract bright yellow, pinks and orange. The dullness may occur over time if no mordant is used or if an iron mordant is used - iron sulphate tends to give a "sadder" version of a colour.
Over-boiling a dye pot could create a colour duller than expected. My favourite dye is the yellow green from mango leaves. However, dyeing it for over an hour tends to change the colour to brown.
Colours that I have achieved:
Mango leaves, Mangifera indica. L. - yellow green
Rukum masam, Flacourtia inermis Roxb - muted pink
Eucalyptus leaves (immersive and eco print) and bark, Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehnh - rich brown
Golden shower tree pods, Cassia fistula - pale brown
Yellow onion skins - deep orange
Red onion skins - pale orange
Coffee grounds - very pale brown
Avocado seeds and skins - tones of pink
Blue pea flower, clitoria ternatea - blue
Dragon fruit - pale pink
I'm definitely looking forward to adding more to this list....
I managed to finish a series of upcycling and sewing workshops over the last week of September, and just before I set up the upcycled installation at Green is the New Black. Very hectic but extremely rewarding!
Repair Sewcial
Repair Sewcial was very special. There was a huge response to the workshop and it was sold out. I taught zippers, changing elastic, darning and even darning. The session went really well and very social too! Do keep a look out for the next session.
Off Cut Workshop with Matter
This upcycling workshop involved taking the off cuts (excess or waste fabric from production lines) from Matter, and participants converted them into various items including a tissue box holder, tissue pouch, and even a bag! I enjoyed this a lot because we were dealing with such beautifully crafted textiles. Do pop over to Matter and read the story behind the fabrics.
Introductory Sewing at Nanyang Polytechnic
This two day session was interesting as I was asked to incorporate innovative techniques such as electronics, and design as well.
Sewing with Children
Working with children is the best because unlike adults, they don't hold back. They explore and don't have the fear we do when trying out something new. I will be having my last session with these children on Friday!
Usually after an event I would feel very tired and gloomy. I think perhaps it's because the euphoria has passed and everyone involved has said their goodbyes. After the 2017 Singapore Eco Film Festival (where I had my upcycled installation), it felt slightly different for me. I was experiencing a desire to change things, and this was especially after I had watched Chasing Coral (it's on Netflix!) and then Landfill Harmonic.
Chasing Coral
Chasing Coral is about how a team of scientists, photographers and filmakers who go on an adventure to document the disappearance of coral reefs around the world. While watching the documentary, I was dismayed at how rapidly things had taken a negative turn in the oceans - rising temperatures resulting in dying coral reefs and changing the ecosystem. I think many people do not realise the repercussions once populations of organisms at the bottom of the foodchain change. Basically, changes happening to our Earth will affect OUR survival as well. Unfortunately, humans seem to think we are over and above everything else on the planet.
On the positive side of things, I was inspired by the action that came out of the project. I won't give it away, but the vanishing of the corals at an unprecedented rates spurred many to take things into their own hands. I was also enamoured by the beauty of the coral reefs, and I thought it would be great to bring these to the public through my stitching and upcycling.
Landfill Harmonic
This film left me on a very positive note at the end of the festival - upcycling can have a positive effect on lives. The trailer below does a better job of explaining it than words, but it was pushed me to go further with my artwork and conveying messages.
Inspired by Chasing Coral, I've just started a collaboration with artist friend, Arana Kennedy of Arana Art. Arana is based in Hong Kong and specialises in acrylic and ink design.
We've rust dyed an old bedsheet - Arana helped to do that, and being based in Hong Kong and living near the sea, the dye was affected by the palm oil spill that occurred in August.
Arana sent it over and I've now started to stitch it with coral. It's a work in progress but I am very excited how this will turn out. Stay tuned.
I will be showcasing this piece at THE conscious festival, Green is the New Black on 1 Oct, Royal Park Hotel on Pickering.
If you are keen on getting updates about this project, sign up on my mailing list! You will receive a confirmation email which you will need to confirm.
Your contact details will be safe with me.
What have I been doing this past month? Well, I am working on my upcycled installation, "Nature in Stitches", exploring the local flora and how the public can connect with nature. I have slightly less than a month because the installation will be featured at the Singapore Eco Film Festival from 1 - 3 September. It's slowly getting there.
I visited Hock Siong to purchase the old hotel bed sheets - oh my goodness, I didn't realise a king sized bed sheet would be so heavy to carry home. I wish I had bought my suitcase along with me.
I have been collecting mango leaves and eucalyptus bark to dye the bed sheets.
Last week the mango leaves gave lovely hues of brown, but I was looking for a green colour and I was fortunate to find out that to retain the colour the leaves should not be boiled for too long.
Preparing Eucalyptus Bark
I collected a lot of bark from the park but I didn't want to be taking red ants back home so I made sure to shake them off! Getting bitten by a red ant is awfully painful so be careful what you encounter in the park.
One of the most important things about the preparation is cutting the bark into tiny pieces and then steeping it over night in hot water. I found it difficult cutting up the bark with a pair scissors, but I got there. I'll probably need to find myself a proper tool to do the cutting.
Boiling the Bark
The colour (tannin) that came out of the bark just through steeping looked almost like a strong pu'er tea. At this stage, I must emphasise that it is very, no extremely important to always label your experiments and place them somewhere so no one will unknowingly consume it. In fact, after labelling them, HIDE them. We are talking about health and safety here, and we would not want any accidents to happen.
Once the bark has been soaked, it is now time to transfer the bark and the water into your dyeing pot (not cooking pot!). I topped up the water to make sure everything was submerged and simmered the concoction for 1 hour.
Dyeing the Fabric
As soon as that was done, I took out the bark and popped in my fabric. At this point, it seems I have to consider getting a bigger pot. The second time I did this with a larger piece of cotton (40cm x 40cm) the fabric could not move and I ended up with streaks. I think I need a big vat!
Don't you think the eucalyptus bark gives a lovelier brown than the mango leaves?
On this note, I have been looking at our National Parks website and found that there is a variety of eucalyptus trees in Singapore. I am still trying to find out what species of eucalyptus I have in my local park. If you have any idea, please let me know!
Interested in spending an afternoon with me learning how to sew by hand and make a drawstring pouch at the same time? If the answer is yes, do remember to pencil in your calendars for an afternoon of slow stitching and upcycling on 5th August. From 3 - 4.30pm, I will be teaching you the basics of upcycling a t-shirt and how to sew the running and back stitches. The workshop will be held in The Better Store at Haji Lane. Twenty percent of the proceeds will go to help the Weaving Project in Nepal, Upcycling Project in Central Java (Indonesia) and Fight For Education Program. These programmes are run by Purnama Outreach
Date: 5 August, 3pm - 4.30pm
Location: The Better Store, 69A Haji Lane, Singapore
Sign up at: http://bit.ly/AgyDrawString
I was recently invited to give upcycling talks and workshops at the Ministry of Health and Spring Singapore. It's actually a very interesting trend because since I started conducting them in 2013, I have noticed that the participants are more engaged and interested in the topic, which is great! The other thing I have realised is that I am getting more males in the class as well, another good development. I also get more positive feedback and they understand the urgency with the need to change their behaviour too.
I'm happy to announce that I will be hosting a free workshop on 21 May (11am - 6pm) at Urban Ventures organised by LOPELAB. Just bring an old t-shirt and we will explore techniques. My friend, Chew Lihong, will be there to share some knitting skills as well. You may remember we were at Sustainability Sunday at Serangoon back in March and had lots of fun.
Besides my workshop, there will be whole slew of activities to take part in from storytelling, urban heritage tours and even some salsa if you're up for some spice in your life! Click on the image below for more details.
What: Urban Ventures
Where: Duxton Plains Park
When: 19 - 21 May 2017
Why: Bring art and music to the world!
".... everything around us is magical. But I didn't really do a good job in explaining. Fairies and unicorns aside (coz those are definitely magical), the rain is magical. How does it fall in separate droplets instead of sheets (like when you pour water)? Plants are magical...growing from similar looking seeds into different sized trees and flowers of assorted colours. So yes... everything around us is magical! Even you and me."
Yes, everything is magical. I was not looking, or rather, I was not being cognizant of what my true surroundings are. I was aware of nature in our parks but failed to appreciate the beauty of the flora in my own neighbourhood and what they can provide for my upcycling work.
Nature Speaking Through Colour
It's been very quiet on the blog because I have been pouring over the internet and books, doing my research on natural dyes. What I have realised is that what works in other countries does not necessarily mean it will work here especially when you are not going to have the same flora. It really is one huge science experiment where you have controls and only change one parameter at a time.
I have been doing a bit of foraging but only picking what I need from the ground. Unfortunately (or fortunately), it's illegal to pick the fruits or leaves from trees in Singapore.
Eco Print/Dye
I am trying to avoid using alum and iron mordants but as I am dealing with non-animal natural fibers (ie. cotton) it has been very difficult not to use them to get beautiful prints. Cotton has many issues with dyes a) it doesn't take to natural pigments very easily unless there is a mordant to fix it; and b) the natural colours will fade over time due either light or washing. Well, this is why people invented chemical dyes, but I am trying to avoid all that and use as little metal mordant as possible.
The process does take quite a bit of time and you do need to plan out the whole process. This is what I have been doing so far:
scouring my sourced cotton textiles
mordanting
dyeing
Don't forget that there are periods of time where the fabric needs to dry before going onto the next step. At this point I do feel my utility bills are going to be a bit higher so planning is really important. If I am going to do a bigger project I definitely will be making sure I make the most out of all the resources I have.
Small Steps of Progress
Eco printing or eco dyeing is very experimental - you really don't know what you are going to get and unless you have done it many times, it is very difficult to replicate the results. I going to need a lot of patience if I am going to use it to upcycle cotton clothing. There have been a few little bumps along the way, but of course that's what learning is all about, right?
#1 Negative feedback
Just take it in, reflect and see how to improve it. I tried printing kumquat leaves, onion skins and local cherries onto this old Uniqlo top I had. I was all excited. Surely it would turn out very pretty. Alas, I think I was very ambitious and I forgot that what you see is NOT what you get. The pinks became oranges, and the green faded after one day, and I got what looked like a blood-soaked garment. My husband's first reaction was, "zombie apocalypse". I think he couldn't see what I saw but now I am trying to see how I can turn this negative result into a positive one. Stitching perhaps?
Anyway, I have decided to do some more experimentation so I can feel a bit more confident before I take the plunge and dye some clothes again.
#2 Flora identification
This one is difficult, I even borrowed a friend's pair of binoculars so I could get a close up of the leaves in the tree. Add to the fact that not all leaves are created equal when it comes to natural dyes. The library is definitely my friend in the next few months.
#3 Getting back to the chemistry behind it all
It does get exciting to see all the chemicals involved in the process, but why do certain things happen? I was trying to read up and remember my A-level chemistry. After a few hours of reading, I got even more confused - I think my brain didn't function (is it age?). I will have a go at it again because it would be very useful to find out the "why?" so that I can move in the right direction.
So where am I going next with this?
More experimentation. So far, I have tried onion skins, local cherries, avocado, blue pea, mango leaves and golden shower leaves, but I need to see whether they are colour fast.
