Dear reader, how do you destinguish? I try my best to use the precautionary principle:
[…] if an action or policy has a suspected risk of causing harm to the public or to the environment, in the absence of scientific consensus that the action or policy is harmful, the burden of proof that it is not harmful falls on those taking an act.
It does not go as far as forbidding any new action or policy just because all consequences cannot be known in advance-to do so would be so reductionist as to render it irrelevant.
I agree on the last phrase stating that FORBIDDING new chemicals and products is not a good idea (on a policy level). That said I strongly advice you to be very careful when you buy things and the best thing to do in most cases is to go for raw materials that you can trust (locally (go ahead and verify for yourself!) ecologically produced materials). This way you can then learn to craft what you need and then you know exactly what has been applied. I have done this myself to create a duvet to my child and it was marvellous as a fed-up-super-consumer to create something from scratch.
The links below could maybee help you reduce the number of toxins in your surrounding:
Sewing together has a lot of benefits: you learn directly from others, you get the ability to organize into activist movements, a lot of (hand) sewing can be done on the side while talking with others, you get to create what YOU want and not what somebody else want you to buy, you get the ability to STOP SHOPPING as you learn more and more without running around naked.
Seeing the beginning of this made me realize how simple it is to make one of these. I would of course fill it with something else than fossil-plastic “beans”. Why not use real beans and air it out if it gets wet? Or wool either a type that filts or one that does not.
The advantage of wool is that it provides insulation and a nice warmth – beans do not. This is useful during the cold winters, one could make two and alternate or just switch the filling (wool=winter,beans=summer).
During the sewing of pair no. 2 of underpants model KALSON I experienced the following:
I forgot to check the stretch of the fabric (almost no stretch) before cutting and ended up with parts being too small to fit around my hips. I found a solution: adding a new part in the length of the underpants with a width of 8 cm.
I used temporary stitching in all the seams and glued parts (using non-toxic cellulosa and water based paperglue for children) were needed. This was easy to remove afterwards after soaking in hot water for an hour.
I realize that I need more tools to work in leather and get the results I want.
I found a great store in Denmark selling only high quality leather and tools.
Today I made a letter to thank those who inspired and pushed me forward in stopping the shopping and starting the sewing: 3 months of sewing (pdf, 1,1MB)
THANK YOU!
be libre | DIY Craft | free/libre patterns | free cultural works
I agree on the last phrase stating that FORBIDDING new chemicals and products is not a good idea (on a policy level). That said I strongly advice you to be very careful when you buy things and the best thing to do in most cases is to go for raw materials that you can trust (locally (go ahead and verify for yourself!) ecologically produced materials). This way you can then learn to craft what you need and then you know exactly what has been applied. I have done this myself to create a duvet to my child and it was marvellous as a fed-up-super-consumer to create something from scratch.