Natural dying fabric
I have always been at my most blissful and creatively fulfilled whilst making interesting and unusual clothes for myself and others. The very act of creating feels so healthy, and most especially when it is something that you can adorn a loved one with. Pre my mothering days, I could quite happily lose days or weeks under a pile of fabric, buttons and bells flying through the air, emerging bleary eyed with a new pair of decorative baggy trousers embroidered with some ancient scraps of fabric acquired from another time or land.
Knitting with beautiful colours
As my belly grew with my child, I day dreamed away my evenings knitting a variety of wee little woollen things for my little one, hoping to see him through the long, cold Scottish winter that awaited him. I happily and quite naively imagined him wearing nothing but clothes that I had made for him myself as he grew older. Sadly, if that were true he would spend most of his time naked, as I highly underestimated just how little free time I would have after he was born. Thank goodness for hand-me-downs, that's all I can say.
On the odd occasion that I buy my son something brand new to wear, I do try to buy from the organic children's clothing companies. There is, however, a very limited range of clothes available for little boys in particular, unless you want tractors printed on everything. And I mostly found little evidence that the dyes used were natural or that the companies had been consciously and environmentally responsible for all elements of the design process.
So, I have decided to channel my creative energies in a different way, and co-create beautiful, interesting, organic children's and adults clothes with others presently more capable than I of doing the actual making. Finding people to work with, I could fulfil the need to be creative, and to clothe my child in unique and beautiful garments, whilst also forming a sustainable income pathway, and an interesting and ecological business for others to enjoy. By working with craftspeople from other cultures I can develop my skills in clothes making and natural dying, both of which are noted on my action learning pathway as skills I would like to develop. And as I am planning on travelling to Asia over the following weeks and months, these things could all fit together beautifully.
Stacking functions, as permaculturists would say.
And so, this project is to create a business plan from start to finish of my new exciting venture, designing the company using and integrating permaculture principles of design.
Some herbs and spices used in natural dying
I can describe my intentions for this project as;
- To increase my knowledge of natural crafts and learn new skills which I can then share with others
- To find an outlet for my creativity that also benefits my wider community
- To do all of this whilst also creating an ecologically sound business which I can be proud of
As I work through this project I will point out any principles of permaculture that are relevant at the time. I will highlight these in bold green to bring attention to them.