Last night, the Handweavers and Spinners Guild of Victoria hosted a sell out presentation on Making Clothes From Your Own Backyard.

Nicki Taylor of This is Moonlight blog and Rachel Bucknall of Reduce Reuse Recycle blog asked themselves the question, what would you wear if you limited yourself to clothing whose fibres, dye and labour came from within 500 km of your home? Their presentation last night explored their quest to answer this question through spinning, weaving and dyeing.

Nicki Taylor’s locally sourced fibres outfit. Photo by Kerry Bardot.

This sustainable textiles project is part of the Fibershed movement begun by Rebecca Burgess in the US, a movement to establish more local, environmental and ethical foundations for textile production.

Don’t worry if you missed out on the presentation last night as I did, there are a few ways you can find out more.

• You can explore the fascinating blog links I have provided, there is a wealth of information and inspiration there.
• You can also follow Nicki’s and Rachel’s Instagram feeds.
• Join the #1year1outfit Fibershed project, a shared quest to make everyday clothing with a sustainable, ethical foundation.
• Book a seat for a second Making Clothes from Your Own Backyard presentation, Sunday August 28th at 2pm. This event will again be hosted by the Guild and you can book on 9387 9222. The last talk sold out very quickly so make sure you book soon if you want to attend.