Brown Bananas.

I'm having a really fun weekend so far, and tonight is going to be great too. Yesterday, Francyne and I had our Fridate Crafternoon (Friday-Date-Crafty-Afternoon), which lasted from 10 am until about 5 o'clock. She worked on her t-shirt quilt while I was experimenting with t-shirt scraps. She and I have collaborated together since we were teeny tiny. We've been friends since we were five and six, so our friendship has a childhood magic that I've never had with anyone else. She is so wonderful and always has great ideas. I'm working on making one of a kind, sportswear garments that can be dressed up or down. My goal is to use as many previously-used fabrics as possible. As much as I love walking through Hob Lob's fabric section and finding a gorgeous sparkly something, lace, or pattern, I get more inspired by something that already has personality. That way, I can just tweak it and give it a different vibe.
I'm starting my experimentation with t-shirts that have lived a full life, but are past their prime. It's exactly like making banana bread. The bananas have to turn brown and get all mushy inside before they're good enough for using to bake with. That's precisely what I'm doing with t-shirts. My desire is to up-cycle textiles that would normally just be thrown away. Growing up, we didn't have much. My mum always taught us how important it was to not waste anything, and recycle everything. From food scraps to feed the chickens, coffee tins for play drum sets, to cardboard boxes for play houses and hand-me-downs instead of spending on new clothes. I always had to be creative with my wardrobe because we couldn't afford the latest fashions (and I still can't). I don't mind it like I used to. It has made me appreciate what I do have, to be resourceful to reuse everything, and waste nothing.
Francyne is giving me all her t-shirt scraps  so I can keep making more stuff. I am so excited and I hope you are too. It's going to be a lot of work, but it will all be worthwhile. I am so blessed and I hope you remember that you are too. Even if life seems to be giving you nothing but mushy bananas, you have to realize that it's time to make banana bread. :) And share it with everyone you love. That's really all you can do.

Jah Love,
K