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The 10 Best Natural Pillow Alternatives
Sewing swimwear fabric
“Layout/Cutting/Marking: Let fabric relax overnight. Before cutting, compare the amount of fabric stretch with the amount required for the design. Generally the greatest stretch goes around the body.Stitching: Start each new project with a new needle in the smallest recommended size. Change needles frequently; synthetic fibers dull needles faster than natural fibers. To check the needle for burrs, stitch through a nylon stocking scrap. Use polyester thread, which is more elastic than cotton. Wind the bobbin slowly. When wound on high, the thread heats up and stretches. Then, when sewn into the seam, it relaxes, and the seam shortens or puckers. For more elastic seams, stitch with a narrow zig-zag (W,.5-L,1), and stretch slightly when stitching. Or stitch on a serger with a safety-stitch and textured thread on the loopers.Seams: Use stretch seams where appropriate. When sewing women’s swimwear, stabilize shoulder and waist seams and edges with stay tape or clear elastic.”
Inspiring leather craft: Moccasins
- Tutorial in swedish
- Pictures from the webb “diy moccasins pattern”
- Slöjdlänkar with a lot of inspiring pictures and tutorials
Ethically acceptable filling
Right now I am trying to find some ethically acceptable filling for a 200 x 220 cm summer duvet and a sleeping bag.
I already found pattern and tutorial for the sleeping bag (in Swedish).
Down seemed like a good idea until I visited the Swedish Animal Rights association and read about down being plucked from living animals.
Wool
Animal Rights (swedish Djurens Rätt) recommends to abstain from wool if you care about animal welfare. Source
If your okay with wool I found ecological pillows with wool filling (455SEK + freight) also available at Ullbutiken.
Alternatives to wool and down fillings
Kapok filling
Kapok is difficult to spin but is used as an alternative to down as filling in mattresses, pillows, upholstery, zafus, and stuffed toys such as teddy bears, and for insulation. Source: “Ceiba pentandra.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.
Sold at Lotus Design non-eco? per kg (not in stock during writing). I have no idea how warm this is. Has anybody tried this in a blanket?
Price 16€ / kg
Can also be bought non-eco by the bale direct from China.
White Lotus in the U.S.A. sells eco-pillows filled with kapok.
Through amazon.co.uk PERFECT PILLOW sells organic kapok for stuffing at 12£ / kg and a duvet is also availible there for 286£.
Swedish note: Kapok kan certifieras med bra miljöval om Fair Wild Foundations regler följts vid indsamlingen.
Coconut coir (to sit on)
Sold at Lotus Design in blocks coated with latex (not in stock during writing). I have no idea how warm or soft this is. Has anybody tried this?
Price 12€ / piece
New libre patterns found!
Today I found Open Source Sewing Patterns (OSSP).I am actually quite glad because I have thought since I began sewing “the must be somebody else among a population of 5 billion which thought of liberating their crafty ideas and patterns in a way similar to mine” and I need to see and use the work of others to be inspired creating something useful for me.
Their license is the same as one already applied to most of the Libre Patterns in the library
Except where noted, you may use either the Attribution-ShareAlike license or the Attribution-NonCommercial (version 3.0, as I write this – if it’s been updated and for some reason you want a newer version, nudge me to update the pages).
Contents
Their collection consists almost entirely of items designed for use by children:
- Teddy Bears and Other Jointed Animals (7 patterns)
- Plushies, softies, and other things (6 patterns)
Back at it again
After a break for some time I have started crafting again.
News: I am now equipped with a serger! Sewing today I witnessed a great improvement in speed and strength of the seams when using the serger to sew my third pair of KALSON.
Happy sewing!
Leathercraft in progress: TOY ELEFANT
I bought this leather made from a calf of a reindeer. Its 2,2-2,4 mm thick and quite large. The animal lived in the north of Sweden and the hide is tanned with shell from conifer trees at a local tannery.
I decided to make a toy elefant. I decided to cut it from the least valuable throat and legpieces. This is fun 🙂
Drive and motivation
What drives me to persue the learning of old crafts like tanning, leather craft, braiding, rawhide craft and hand-sewing?
The possibility of making my own clothes and useful items with complete control of all substances used in the hole chain from raw material n finished product. This is can emancipation from the dependency on the industrial production of clothes and accessories.
With rawhide, leather, fur and small amounts of fabric you can make virtually anything your body needs to survive in a temperate climate.
The only thing needed besides the above is KNOWLEDGE. That you can find in a wealth of books and brains around the planet but you have to dedicate time and energy to successfully acquire it.
DIY tanning
This is an excellent book about tanning hides and pelts. It is available in English as well.