Photos and Finding My Pace

        I’ve finally taken photos of some of my work and here they are. These are not for sale yet but I'll let you know when and where they will be.

        These roll-brim hats scrunch into stackable donuts  and I love to pile them up:

They are all made of organic cotton except for the two multi-coloured ones. Those are made of recycled sari silk spun by women in India. 

        

  They are designed to be adjustable so you can wear them either short or long like this:

These slippers were my first original design: 

I’ve always been a sucker for mary janes. They are organic cotton so they breath well and keep feet from sweating. The cotton is doubled and the stitch is twisted for reinforced durability. The recycled ribbon makes for an adjustable fit. I also make them in pink and powder blue.

        This rag rug is made of recycled linens, table cloths and curtains:

I’ve used synthetic fabrics for durablity and ease of care. I tore the fabric into strips and then knit it back together with size 35 needles. The needles are thicker than broom sticks and so fun to use! I’m working on a meditation cushion in the same style. 

  Not so sure about the torn edges on that rug. Aesthetically I really like them but practically I wonder if the fraying will eventually make a tangled mess of loose threads. Any thoughts, dear readers? I could serge the edges but that would change the look, be time consuming and increase the cost to buyers. I’m going to use this rug for a while - or maybe ask a friend to use it - and see how it stands up.

  In other news, I’ve decided not to apply for the upcoming craft fair. I’m not quite able to work full-time yet and I’d hate to make my entrance into retail sales when I’m not fully prepared. I have to remind myself every now and then that this business is part of a lifestyle change which includes a slower pace. Since I have the luxury of time and space without too many bills just now there’s no need to listen to my little inner tyrant whispering “Faster! More!” and “Not enough!”. I was going to work out a timeline for the business but for now setting goals week to week feels better. This week was photos. Check. 

  Next week I’m going to post some pictures and instructions on how to make a circular skirt from a table cloth. So stay tuned ...

Thanks to Friends, Craft Fair and Photos to Come

Thanks to friends and followers for reading and leaving comments. It's really nice to get feedback. I'm planning to post an update every Wednesday so Thursdays will be a great day to check in if you're looking for the latest news.

This week my friend sent me an email about the Halifax Crafters Spring Show (thanks Bella!). I'm not sure if I'll make the deadline for applications on March 4th. I still have a lot of designing to do let alone producing enough stock to sell and arranging with suppliers to have enough materials to make everything by the fair on April 30th. Thinking about it is giving me a lot of focus though. I'm developing a timeline of goals for the business and I'll be sharing that here soon.

My friend Chris left a comment last week about his friend Stephanie Moreau's store in Amherst which will be a great place for me to contact when I'm ready to sell retail. Maybe some of you would be interested in her store too so here's Chris' link to an article about it: http://www.amherstdaily.com/Living/Fashion/2009-01-09/article-371229/Feel-the-difference/1 (by the way, Chris is a talented local author and you can get more info on some of his work here: http://suokojamin.blogspot.com/ ).

The next thing on my to do list is to post photos of my work. I'll have a bunch ready for next week so stay tuned :)

Here we go ...

     Welcome to Tamper Me This, the story of Tamper Sustainable Fashion. My name is Gia and I'm the proprietor of this business. I just finished renovating my studio space and I'm now in the process of designing and making prototypes of the products I'll eventually be selling - recycled, fairly-traded and sustainably produced fashion and accessories.
     Here's a little bit about me. I got my Bachelor of Fine Arts (Interdisciplinary) from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in 2004. Then I moved to Japan to teach English for a few years to get some perspective and to get out of debt. After that I taught for some months in Turkey and since I was doing it anyway I figured I might as well get qualified so I moved back to Canada and got my BEd from the University of Ottawa. I spent the last two school years teaching in the Nunavik region of northern Quebec in a fly-in Inuit community called Inukjuak on the Hudson Bay (a shout out to any of my old students or co-workers if you're reading this).
     So why the change in career? Well, I had some health problems in my last year up north and I decided to make health - in every sense of the word - a priority. That meant a lifestyle change: less moving, more community, less stress, more joy. I got myself a dog and started walking everyday. I think I could write a book about all the things I learned from my dog, but I'm sure somebody has already done that. The long and the short of it is that we need a lot of the same things and taking care of her helped me take care of me. Taking care of me meant coming home to Nova Scotia to be with my family and friends. It also meant finding a way to get out of my head and work with my hands.
     The name Tamper is about reclaiming our little mistakes. We trip, we fall, we tamper on our way to where we're going, and on the way we often end up somewhere else. At least that's how I got here in a grand scheme sort of way, but also in my private little ways. I keep tampering away turning wool sweaters into felted slippers and feathers into earrings.