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GOING SLOW
Recollect Textile's story
Recollect Textiles is an invitation for you to discover and explore the world of slow fashion and to connect with nature through textiles. May you be surprised and inspired to join us on this path!
Re-valuing the slow and handmade
Recollect textiles grew out of the wish to continue making beautiful textiles while not creating more material demand or using toxic dyeing processes. We wanted to make new things using already existing materials and natural dyes. We also wanted to re-value the slow and handmade esthetic in textile design and bring back a sense of appreciation for the textiles we live with.
Asking questions
We started to examine our process and see where we could make changes. The first decision was to stop using synthetic dyes and so began an exciting exploration of the world of natural dyes. One thing lead to another and soon we began questioning how the yarns and fabrics we used were produced. We wanted to work with materials which were responsibly produced in respect to the environment, people and animals.
But still we felt that our creative process was consuming and generating MORE while what we really wanted was LESS of everything.
And so we challenged ourselves to stop buying new materials and instead use what we already had or what we found in second hand shops.
Inspiring change
As family and friends learned about the changes we were making, many were inspired to pass on to us the clothes they were about to throw or give away. When people hear they can easily make color from kitchen scraps or plants and flowers growing in their gardens and neighborhoods they are always intrigued.
And when they understand how a dress made from natural fibers can be composted and returned to the soil at the end of its life, people stop to think about their own choices. This is the spirit behind Recollect Textiles! We hope to inspire you to ask questions and make changes in the way you view, use and live with textiles everyday.
Our fibers
We choose to work primarily with pre-owned and vintage clothes and household textiles which we hand-pick for quality. We also use fabrics and yarns from natural organic fibers. Clothing made from natural fibers like wool, silk, cotton and linen will biodegrade and harmlessly return to the soil at the end of its usable life.
We still have yarns and fabrics from earlier days and decided to continue using what we have, rather than send these valuable materials to landfill. Our work is always evolving as we learn about more sustainable materials and processes and find ways to adapt our practice.
Our dyes
Natural color can be obtained directly from plants either fresh or dried. Many dye plants can be foraged from our local area, grown in our garden or collected from kitchen scraps and we choose to work mostly with these. Taking walks and notes about the plants which grow in our neighborhood and bringing them back to the studio to try out in the dye pot is an endless path of discovery.
We tune in to seasonal cycles as we observe which plants grow and bloom throughout the year. But if we want a color that is hard to find around us, or difficult to grow, there are many natural dye suppliers.
INTRODUCING MICHELLE
Meet the artist
Michelle has always been a maker. From an early age she taught herself to sew and loved fabric and thread. She spent hours with needlepoint kits and made macrame wall hangings. Later in life she studied textile design at Central Saint Martins in London and specialised as a weaver. She was drawn to it’s slow process.
The making of cloth itself, thread by thread and the many design possibilities using color and pattern, is what inspires Michelle. Each time a piece of cloth rolls off the loom there is a sense of wonder--how did this become cloth?! The same experience of wonder arises when she witnesses the alchemy of plants with natural fibers and is inspired to explore the hidden world of color they hold.
Michelle has a deeply personal and reciprocal relationship to nature. She strives in her work and life to leave light footsteps, to create with as little waste as possible and hopefully to give back more than she takes.
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