Thank you Lwin

I received this email today and decided to share it. Thank you very much for your response Lwin, we appreciate it!

We're asking all visitor's to this site to tell us what we're wearing right now (or your five favorite articles of clothing):



a. The country are you from (for the US what state are you from)?
Burma

b. Pick out three to five items of clothing (shirts, jeans, etc)

1) Longyi (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Longyi.jpg)
   made in Burma
   made of cotton

2) Shirt (attached picture, the pants that go with the shirt is was actually bought in the USA (at Gap) and imported from China) :)
   made in Burma
   made of cotton

3) Shan Pants (this picture is of Thai pants, but they are pretty much the same. http://www.flickr.com/photos/peacefulbean/2686370513/)
 made in Burma
 made of cotton


Best,
Lwin
--
http://lwinmoe.friendsofburma.orgwas

A Shot!

So a while back I asked a question, not really expecting to get an answer. Well, I got up today and was checking through things emails, deviantArt and such. A friend of mine on DA gave my question a shot. *chuckles* Thank you, Rick. :)

Did you know that in North America alone, that around 1.4 billion cotton t-shirts are sound ever year? Talk about another big number that's hard to comprehend. I don't know about you but it's hard for me to wrap my head around something like that. If you took 1.4 billion t-shirts out into a field and piled them all into one big pile how big do you think it would be? If someone who knows how to do things mathematically and wants to give it a shot, please do.

" So... If you take 1.4 billion T-shirts and pile them up, figuring you can pile (my wild guess) 3 T-shirts per inch, the answer is 7365 miles.

1.4 billion T-shirts is ~4.5 T-shirts per person in the US.  

Hey, you're welcome. They'd make a tall stack, which would reach into "medium earth orbit", higher than the Hubble telescope. If it fell over, it would stretch farther than New York to Beijing." V.


I heard a guy give a lecture one time about people and their environments and... He got to talk about numbers somehow and how we have a hard time comprehending really large numbers or distances. This is rather like that for me. It's like whoa that's big and yet I completely and totally can't even picture it (accept in cartoon style animation ^^: Little people running away, random chicken little moment, "The Sky is falling!" and so forth.)

photos from map event!!

Hey guys, here are some photos from yesterday's map event. the red line toward china is getting thicker and thicker!!

Eco-Friendly Fibers

One of the questions that Candace and I researched before setting up the table is, what exactly are Eco-Friendly fibers? Eco-Friendly seems to be a term that a great many people throw around, in order to make themselves sound good. It's rather like the word sustainable, people throw it around as well and yet no one seems to truly have any idea of what these words mean. I admit, I've been guilty of doing such things as well.

What was interesting about looking for the information for this post, was that I found out things that I didn't know and that I didn't expect. Perhaps, some of these are to be expected but what I expect as opposed to what someone else expects varies based on experience. Okay, not going into that philosophy any farther or we will continue to digress.

What exactly does Eco-Friendly fibers mean?

Eco-friendly fibers are not necessarily natural fibers. Natural fibers can be eco-friendly; however, man made fibers can be considered eco-friendly as well depending on the manufacturing processes. On the same note, natural fibers can be considered not eco-friendly. So, what makes a fiber eco-friendly or not eco-friendly? There are a few specific aspects that kept coming up over and over again:

- The use of chemicals and pesticides that are being used during cultivations.
- What land management/farming practices are being employed.
- Production processes adhere to fair trade practices.

So, what exactly does that mean? The first is the renew ability of the product. Renewable resources are something that can be replenished in a fairly short amount of time (unlike those which take thousands of years to build up again.) The next issue is the ecological footprint of the item being produced; so in other words, much much land is being used to support one individual plant from sprout to full growth. What sorts of natural resources are required by this plant to sustain itself. This refers to such things as the mount of water, minerals, and plant/animal matter that is used. The third thing that comes up is to consider which is briefly mentioned above is the amount of chemicals/what types of chemicals go into the growth and the later production and processing of the fiber in order to turn it into the cloth that your clothing is made out of. (6)

So for instance, did you know that growing cotton uses 22.5 percent of all the insecticides used globally? In order to grow enough cotton for one t-shirt you have to have around 257 gallons of water. As if that wasn't enough, bleaching and then dyeing the fabric creates toxins that to some extent end up in our ecosystems.

However, another term that came up through out our reading was the term, 'regenerated fibers'. When discussing man made fibers they are usually split into two categories, synthetic fibers and regenerated fibers. "Synthetic fibers are cooked up in large vats and are made entirely from chemicals. Some of the most common synthetic fibers are the thermoplastic, petroleum-based synthetic fibers such as polyester and nylon," (10).

"Manufactured regenerated fibers are made from the chemical-induced transformation of natural polymers and basically fall into two categories: protein origin and cellulose origin. Regenerated fibers of protein origin come from plant protein (such as corn, soy, alginate, and peanut), or from animal protein (such as casein from milk). Many of the new, hot eco-friendly fabrics – like Ingeo from corn and soy from soybeans – are manufactured from proteins found in plants," (10).

Well you might say, are regenerated fibers actually eco-friendly? As I've been reading stuff, I go back and forth on this question. After all Rayon is considered a regenerated fiber and yet, Rayon is made out of processed wood pulp (and there is a lot more information on the process that is used to turn Rayon into wood pulp if you follow link 10, in terms of the ecological impact.) The simple fact is that rayon is made out of wood, as if we don't cut down enough trees for other things we have to do it for fabric as well? It seems rather redundant when there are a great many other fibers out there that can be used.

Social expectations.

Source Links:

1. http://www.fuzbaby.com/articles/diaper-article_cant-duplicate-natural-fibers.htm

2. http://www.nonwovens-industry.com/articles/2002/06/harvesting-the-benefits-of-natural-fibers

3. http://www.teonline.com/articles/2009/03/all-about-eco-friendly-fibers-a-gift-for-environment-lovers.html

4. http://www.teonline.com/articles/2009/01/new-approach-of-synthetic-fibe.html

5. http://www.natural-environment.com/blog/2008/04/10/17-eco-friendly-fabrics/

6. http://naturalhealthcare.ca/eco_and_environmentally_friendly_fashion.phtml

7. http://textileacross.blogspot.com/2009/03/facts-behind-eco-friendly-fibers.html

8. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/summer-rayne-oakes/the-5-most-innovative-eco_b_195292.html

9. http://healthy-family.org/karenblue/1244/eco-friendly-fibers-not-always-allergy-friendly
10. http://organicclothing.blogs.com/my_weblog/2008/07/regenerated-cellulose-fabrics-facts-behind-the-fibers.html

FA Table Event, Day 1

So, yesterday Candace and I set up a table in the FineArt's building on campus and started harassing people. It is really quiet amusing to watch people as they walk past a table. They either look at you or try and act like they don't see you at all so they don't have to interact. Then there are those who make eye contact and then simply keep walking. Or those who make eye contact and then feel as if they have to stop and talk to you even though you can tell that they really don't want to.

It was great, when you asked people if you could look at their tags, they look at you like, "You want to what?", "I have to do what?" And then some people get really into it and start seeing how many tags they could get to without stripping. I think it would've been fun to make a mobile changing room as people were hesitant to walk down to the bathroom. *laughs*

We decided to go ahead and ask people if they got the article of clothing new, used or if it was a gift as well. It was interesting to see how emberased some people got as they kept saying, 'new' to every answer for three or for pieces of clothing. Then other people were just like, 'whatever', I got it new so what. Still over all there were few people who could actually come out and tell you what their clothing was made out of, without looking.

Over all it was an interesting experience and we plan on doing it again tomorrow morning as well as hopefully again later on in the semester. Either way we got a lot more information up on the map (though most of it is all US and Indiana related. I would really like to get more international information. One of the visitors to the table suggested that we contact the international community for information. Thus far we only have one person from outside of the US, the UK has one lonely participant.)

Anyway, we will get more pictures up soon as well as a digital version of the map (just in case the physical one ends up falling apart. *laughs* I'm trying to find a way to do a digital map that people can add to online, unfortunately I haven't found anything that will work for these purposes yet.) Also doing research for the information that we had at the table, brought up a number of interesting questions that I haven't addressed via this blog yet. So, some of that coming up soon. *cheers*

On the Subject of Cotton

So what about Cotton? I'm sure probably everyone has at least one item in their closets--probably more--that is made out of cotton. A cotton t-shirt, cotton underwear (at least mine is, unless of course you prefer silky stuff but we won't go any further with that train of thought =P .) Well, let's start with the basic's, cotton comes from a cotton plant. The original cotton plants were only found in tropical regions between the 5th and 4th millennium BC (according to Wikipedia, I actually got a book out of the library to but it's out in the car and it is wet and nasty outside, so I will have to make use of it later.) The original form of the cotton plant, did not spread very far due to the fact that it could not survive well in harsh or colder climates. It's spread was limited to parts of India and into parts of Africa; this variety of cotton had a much shorter fiber then the longer Egyptian variety.

The second type of cotton was supposedly found in China, and had adapted to grow in a much harsher climate. This variety of cotton quickly spread from China across Eurasia and into parts of Africa. It was later that the American variety of cotton was also found. Through out a long span of time different kinds of cotton has been spun, woven and dyed. The seeds were also used for their oils. According to the article on Wiki, the earliest known cultivate that was discovered in the Americas occurred in Mexico, around 8,000 years ago.

Originally cotton was only used as a weft thread on the loom and linen as the warp, "Hundreds of years before the Christian era cotton textiles were woven in India with matchless skill, and their use spread to the Mediterranean countries. In the 1st cent. Arab traders brought fine muslin and calico to Italy and Spain. The Moors introduced the cultivation of cotton into Spain in the 9th cent. Fustian's and dimities were woven there and in the 14th cent. in Venice and Milan, at first with a linen warp. Little cotton cloth was imported to England before the 15th cent., although small amounts were obtained chiefly for candlewicks. By the 17th cent. the East India Company was bringing rare fabrics from India. Native Americans skillfully spun and wove cotton into fine garments and dyed tapestries. Cotton fabrics found in Peruvian tombs are said to belong to a pre-Inca culture. In color and texture the ancient Peruvian and Mexican textiles resemble those found in Egyptian tombs." (Wiki)

Alright out of time, more on Cotton later.

Sources & Interesting Places:
Cotton Incorporated, http://www.cottoninc.com/
Cotton - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotton
Natural Cotton Council of America, http://www.cotton.org/
Miss MacDonald Had A Farm, Cotton, http://www.valdosta.edu/~clmcdonald/topic.html

A Side Note

So this project is part of a larger whole we are titling, "Covering our Body, Exposing our Society".

If you are interested in more information of this project we will be keeping a less formal journal, in tandem with the project. You are welcome to poke around in there if you wish: Cobeos

That's all I have time for at the moment. Suggestions or such are always welcome. *disappears*

The Oldest Fibers

We know that the plants and materials to make fibers have been around for a long time, we know that the knowledge to do so has been around for quiet a while as well. However, the question is if we were going to go back to the beginning how long ago would that be?

Quiet a lot is known about felt. Felt comes from wool, that is worked to create a matted fabric. The remnants of felted fibers have been found and dated as far back as 2000 BC and has been used for everything from shelter, to clothing to padding in shoes. In fact the Europeans believed that felt was created by pilgrims who stuffed wool into their shoes and thus created felt as they walked from place to place.

In 1995, an article was published on the imprints of wove fibers found in clay in Europe. These pieces date back to 27,000 years ago; however, it is uncertain as to whether the impressions found were made by cloth or by a flexible basket. Still the evidence does point towards sophisticated weaving and twisting methods that were known during that time. "the earliest remains of human- made cord are 19,000-year-old twisted plant fibers found in Israel (SN: 10/8/94, p.235). Charred cord remains found at France's Lascaux Cave date to 17,000 years ago. Evidence of weaving and basketry in Asia and the Americas dates to no earlier than about 13,000 years ago." (end of page 1)

Much more recently then that--earlier this year in fact--there was an article published on Flax fibers that were found in the Eurasian country of Georgia, which date back to 30,000 years or even further. Around that time Flax would've grown wild and could have been a source of edible grains as well as fibers that would've probably been braided together macrame style, (middle of the page or so). At this point in time the fibers would not have been used for clothing but probably for ceremonial purposes or as a binding tool.

On the note of Hemp, as I've discussed that previously. According to Wikipedia the oldest known imprints of hemp fibers were found on pottery shards in China and Taiwan. They date back to over 7,000 years ago. Still the hemp plant is one of the oldest cultivated fiber plants known, that has a history of textile uses and fabrics which date back as far as 8,000 BC. (Hemp Information from Hemp Sisters, Inc.)

Despite the dates that change somewhat depending on where you find the information they do provide an idea of what evidence that we have. Though of course we are limited by what we know and what we can find with the knowledge that we have.

My Sources:
Archaeologists Discover Oldest-known Fiber Material Used By Man, Science Daily, September 11th, 2009
Cannabis Hemp: Is The Oldest Plant Known to Man future-proof to?, Canna Zine News by Ian Malley
Felt - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Felted Fabric, Felted Wool Fabric, Felted Fabric Supplier, Fabrics Manufacturers
Herb Plants, Flax
Hemp - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hemp Information from Hemp Sisters, Inc, hemp-sisters.com
Stone Age Fabric Leaves Swatch Marks, Science News, May 6th, 1995
These Vintage Threads are 30,000 Years Old, NPR, September 10th, 2009

Good Morning (mostly)

So, I had until 9:30 to sleep in this morning and I woke up at 6. Ugh... Oh well it gives me time to do a post. I did finally get the map up, it's hanging in the studio right now.

At the moment the only people I've got are from the local Bloomington area, so the map is rather sad looking. Hopefully we'll get a few more on here soon enough. I've kinda been waiting to really advertise for this until I had the map set up and ready to go--just in case I get inundated with information that has to go on the map. (Hey I can hope at least some what *grinz*)

Alright, so the maps. What I'm going to do is in the case of the US and probably other countries, is put a pin in the area and use that one pin for everyone who responds (I decided to do this when five pins was rather too many to stick in one area of Indiana, though I do have two maps so I might try doing one pin for every person and one in an area...) Going from there, are lines of thread that will build up as I get more people from a certain area going to where their cloths come from. I'm hoping this will eventually build a 3D layer off the map; which could be cool.

Okay there are a couple of images to get thing's going, I'll post some better ones once we have some more up on the map. Yeah! Have a good day. *disappears*

Sort of Related/Unrelated

So after my post on hemp, I was in Blooming Foods and out of curiosity I went back to the spice/seed section area (the one with all the plastic bottles full of stuff in it that you pour into little baggies and then label.) Simply because I wanted to know, I discovered that you can buy, 'Organic Hemp Seeds', in Blooming Foods. I believe they were something like $7.99 for a pound (that would be a whole lot.)

Since you can buy a very little bit and do not have to buy the whole lot I decided to get some for the sake of curiosity. One of the articles that I used in the previous post about Hemp Fibers, contained this quote, "Those who begin each day with at least four, but probably five, measuring tablespoons of Hemp Hearts, preferably with fruit and yogurt (vegetables for diabetics), will notice from the first day that they have sufficient energy for the entire day, that they expel wastes after every meal and that they are not hungry again until mid-afternoon," Hemp Heart's From Canada, (the image above comes from the same site as the quote, the seeds are rather small and white I think the green is what's left of the husk or possibly plant material but I'm not sure.)

Hemp, seeds taste rather green. I know that isn't a taste but you know how grass or Indigo just smells green when it's cut up? These just sort of taste green.

I haven't tried the prescribed amount, yet.. I'm rather sadly out of yogurt and I don't rather feel like trying to eat four to five table spoons of them on their own (actually I'm not sure I got that much, lol.) Anyway, I thought this might be a fun interlude away from fibers, I'll let you know if they make any difference. ^_~

Advertisement

If you have a website, or would like to help us spread information about Fiber Awareness, please feel free to use the following button. Save it on your computer and uploaded it to your own server or website. If you would like to be linked in return, please get in touch with me. :)


If you would like to create different banners, please let me know. We're more then willing to talk to people about stuff.

On All That Is Hemp

What is Hemp and why is it illegal to grow in the United States? Well there are a few things to get out of the way first. The hemp can be confused with marijuana producing plants; however did you knot that are over 100 different varieties of basil around the world? "Strains of Cannabis approved for industrial hemp production produce only minute amounts of this psychoactive drug, not enough for any physical or psychological effects. Typically, hemp contains below 0.3% THC, while Cannabis grown for marijuana can contain anywhere from 6 or 7 % to 20% or even more." (Wikipedia, Hemp, 4th paragraph) Thus industrial hemp doesn't have any illegal uses, though I am sure that someone could come up with something. Would anyone care for the virgin joint? The problem is people do not realize exactly what Hemp is and what it is not. Visual association. We have a tendency to see something and think, 'oh, that's it' and yet we don't look any closer (what was Cinderella hiding beneath her ball gown?)

Hemp is fascinating it can be used for clothing, it can be used for food and the oils as well as other parts of the plant can be used for skin care, nutritional supplements and hair care. As I mentioned before the growth and production of Hemp is also more economical then say cotton.

It is one of the fastest growing biomass's that exists on the planet and is one of the earliest domestic plants known around the globe. The Hemp plant needs little to no chemical fertilizers (or any of that crap, that we don't really need anyone if we'd take care of the land properly), and it needs very little water. So inversion with me a hemp field, growing slowly over around 100 to 120 days. The little plants slowly get bigger, and the wind blows through them rustling the leaves. Storm clouds gather and rain waters the field, until the plants are large enough to harvest. Watch with me as nearly every part of the plant is used, the outer stalks for fiber, the inside of the stalks are often used for animal bedding due to their woodier nature and the silks for oils, papers, or other food supplements.

The production of wood pulp papers is still one of the productions that produces the highest carbon dioxide emission as an industry (it is second only to the production of concrete, just think how much of that is all around.) See here for more information on the production and bleaching of wood pulp.

Did you know that Hemp was grown in Asian more then 6, 000 years ago? It was the precursor to soy products and they contain three times the amount of vitamin E, twice the iron and magnesium as the flax seed.

Despite the fact that Hemp is three times as strong as cotton and lasts a great deal longer. Hemp can also be blended with other fibers (I mentioned the pretty hemp/silk blend on Dharam. Co.), slowly the use of Hemp is growing. The fibers from hemp are being added to make things such as jeans, shirts, pants, jackets, dresses, and other accessories (though so far I don't think we've had any hemp clothing submitted here. Most of the information in this article so far comes from, Living Touch - Hemp)

The United States is the only country in which it is illegal to produce hemp, because of fear. Other countries such as the UK, Canada and Germany resumed the production of hemp for commercial use in the 1990s; however China controls around 40% of the market. Hemp was made illegal in the US when Congress passed the 1937 Marihauna Tax Act, which was based in part on the testimony from articles in newspapers owned by William Randolph Hearst. It was stressed that authors and inventors had significant financial interest in the forest industry, which helped to manufacture William Randolph Hearst's newsprint. From the 1880's to around the year 1933 hemp was grown commercially in the US; however it's use and acreage began to decline. In 1935 hemp began to make a come back when Hearst started his campaign against hemp, pushes stories through his news associations about the ties between hemp and marijuana. The result of this push was that the industrial production and use of hemp in the US was discontinued. (Wikipedia - Hemp, Paper)

Did you know that Henry Ford grew industrial hemp on his estate after 1937? He made plastic cars (the so-called Hemp Car) with wheat straw, hemp and sisal. Filtered hemp oil can be used directly to power diesel vehicles, and in the production of hemp biofuel the seeds/stalks can be used or the whole plant can be fermented.

Hemp can also be used as a purification or "mop crop", it can clean out wastewater such as sewage and other chemicals. Research is currently being done by an Eco-technologist Dr. Keith Bolton from Southern Cross University in Lismore, New South Wales, Australia; he's using hemp to clean contaminants at Chernobyl nuclear disaster site.

Alright well I could write a whole separate piece on the historic uses of the hemp plant in the past from the stone age onward. If you're interested, see the Wikipedia article it's really quit fascinating.

Links To Web Sites Used/Or of Interest:
- Image: The above image was borrowed from Wiki; here.
- EnviroTextiles
- Fabrics.Net
- Hemp.Org, Campaing for the Restoration And Regulation of Hemp
- Hemp on Wikipedia
- "(HEMP HEARTS From Canada )" Best Source of Protein, Essential Fats, Vitamins and Enzymes 1lbs Containers

Adaptation and Curiousity

So, I sent the link out to for the blog around facebook, trying to entice various people I know and people they know to come around. What I got back was not what I expected--this could be good and this could be bad, I'm not yet sure. Anyway, what I got was not an answer to my question but answers to the two rhetorical questions I asked at the beginning:

Do you know where your cloths come from?

Do you know where your cloths are made?

This wasn't what I wanted; however, I did find the answers interesting. I'm not sure what to do with this information but I'm going to share it. If anyone else would like to answer these questions please feel free to write a comment. This blog is open and even those of you who are not blogger members can post. :)

A few of the answers I got were as follows:

1 -- No, I don't know where my clothes come from. I just buy them without thinking about it.

2 - I don't know what they're made of, either, unless I'm looking for a particular fiber. I'm usually more concerned with fit than with fiber.

1-- I think about it sometimes. I'd like to do the work necessary to buy all fair trade or made in US clothing, but I'm afraid I generally don't. I'm a sucker for a good buy on cute clothes.

2-- I wear a lot of cotton, but I wear other kinds o fiber too. I usually take note of it before I wash it so I don't ruin it.

1- I'm a label reader and I notice that a lot of my clothes are made in China. I even got one from Indonesia. Rarely do I see a label that says "Made in the USA."

2- Most of my clothes are cotton, cotton blends. I have a few rayon dress shirts but mostly good 'ol cotton.

Now a few facts to go along with this. A lot of people think cotton when you say natural fiber. A lot of people just assume that buying cotton is better then anything else that is out there. After all it's natural, people have been wearing cotton for a long time. I read an ararticle last week while I was looking for information on rayon. The article happened to be about Hemp cloth, which isn't something I know a whole lot about (other then you can by this really fantastic hemp/silk blend of fabric on Dharma Trading Co. and I really want some. The hemp image was taken from, The Yarn Tree, Fiber, Hemp, Top)

You can read the article I was reading ("Sustainable Textiles urged at U.N. Conference," by PR Newswire, November 30, 2005.) It's fairly short and quiet interesting:

Did you know that in North America alone, that around 1.4 billion cotton t-shirts are sound ever year? Talk about another big number that's hard to comprehend. I don't know about you but it's hard for me to wrap my head around something like that. If you took 1.4 billion t-shirts out into a field and piled them all into one big pile how big do you think it would be? If someone who knows how to do things mathematically and wants to give it a shot, please do.

What does that big number of t-shirts sold in North American have to do with Hemp fabric? Well, if we stopped making things out of cotton--on a global scale--and started making it out of hemp instead. We would increase the yield, in essence we'd get more yardages out of a smaller area of land. By producing hemp instead of cotton we would free up an area of farmland nearly the size of the State of Florida (Florida is 2000 square miles. I found this from the Florida Quick Facts US Census Bureau, I never knew they kept all sorts of facts like that. It makes sense though I suppose, it does rather make feel slightly uncomfortable though.)

"With textile crops like Bamboo, Soy and Hemp, we have the ability to grow, harvest and produce textiles at a fraction of the environmental impact of traditional crops like cotton," said Hemptown CEO Jerry Kroll. "Pound for pound a crop like Hemp requires no pesticides, toxic fertilizers or fresh water irrigation and far less land and energy," (Article: Sustainable textiles urged at U.N. Confrence)

So there's a little bit of information. A sneak peak at what's hopefully to come in the future: Something more in depth on Bamboo as I've heard a number of different stories regarding the use of bamboo in textiles. I will look into that and see what I can find out. I'm also hoping to do a bit more looking into the history of hemp, other uses of hemp and so forth and so on.

Alrighty more about Hemp and Bamboo later. Have a good day. *disappears*

Another follower :)

It's so interesting getting these emails from people who are related to people who know and yet have never met. I'm not sure why that's interesting something about a supposed relationship... or I'm not going to make sense this morning, not enough coffee yet. So onward, AJ I'm pleased to meet you. :) Thank you for taking the time to respond we appreciate it.

*chuckles* Someone else who always cuts their tags out of their clothing. It does rather make this project slightly more difficult. ^_^

Hi, I'm Candace's aunt, AJ. I hope I can be of assistance with your project. If you need more info, just let me know.

It will be a sad day when the following items no longer grace my closet because they are threadbare and therefore are no longer wearable or (God forbid) I have out grown them :( Comfort, style, and versatility have made these my favorite clothes.

The black jeans are 98% cotton with 2% spandex ( I remember a time before spandex and it was NOT fun.) They are Levi's Perfectly Slimming 512 style. That says it all.

The safety yellow LLBean vest made of 100% nylon with a polyester fleece lining is worn almost daily starting the first of Nov until Easter. The color is very versatile and pairs well with most outfits.. I love that a vest offers warmth, but does not have sleeves that can get in the way.

The blue dress was purchased while vacationing in Grenada. The fabrique is 100% cotton and was batiked locally. This dress is at least 15 years old, and has been brightened up by giving it a Rit dye bath at least twice. The batik was somewhat compromised by my handiwork, but was a good decision as it breathed life into an old favorite. It is very comfortable to wear on a hot summer day.

The periwinkle blue cashmere sweater is one of 4 identical sweaters in different colors that I own. I love these for comfort, warmth without being heavy, and the fact that they can be dressed up or down. Everyday and occasion is "cash" for me in the winter.

Finally, my animal print cardigan is appreciated for it's 3/4 length sleeves and light weight. I think it is made of nylon, but am not totally sure, as I always cut the labels from my clothing.

Good luck with the project, AJ

Hi Mom

Heya, everyone meet my mother. No pictures here though I might update it later with them. *evilgrins* I have a few of these to update. I'm also hoping to get the first images of the map together sometime this weekend. :) I just need cardboard and colored string. On that note I am going to go take care of that; now.

I’m Lisa, I live in the United States.

Article #1: a black pair of sloppy oversized capris with a drawstring waist. 99% cotton 1% spandex…made in Bangladesh

Article #2: a lovely piece I picked up at a bag sale at a local used clothes store! J I wear it over a shirt and pants to dress the outfit up a bit. Sort of shear with lovely fall colors. 100% polyester…made in the USA

Article #3:another thrift store item, cotton button shirt I wear over something else. 100% cotton…made in India

Article #4: sweatshirt and it’s finally that time of year again. 90% cotton, 10% polyester…made in Honduras.

Article #5: gotta take it off to read the tag. My latest and most favorite, purchased at the local Good Will with the right color barb for half price. A brown corduroy jacket kind of shirt. 100% cotton…made in China.

The Cloths I Wear

So, I spammed out the FB community in the hopes of getting a few more people and it sort of worked. This came from an old friend of mine from my previous collage career. Thanks Kris!

Hey, I forgot to send you feedback last week. I have:

4 kinds of sleeveless (muscle)shirts, all 100% cotton, from Vietnam, Honduras and some made in Mexico with U.S. fibers;
2 pairs of 100% cotton PJs, one U.S., one from Cambodia;
quite a few pairs of pants 100% cotton from India and Bangladesh, one pair with insulated lining that's 19% rayon, 2% polyester from China;
100% cottton shirts made in the US, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Honduras, and India

My Witchcraft shirts was apparently made of combed cotton in L.A.

My favorite dress shirts are 1)60% cotton, 40% polyester, made in the Northern Mariana Islands, 2)100% polyester made in the Dominican Republic.

Oh, and Levi's jeans are 16% polyester, made in Vietnam.

Hope that's helpful :)
peace