Re-Doers: Interview With Stephanie Huffaker and Giveaway!

Hello, friends! Sorry for the radio silence! It's been a wonderfully crazy couple of months including everything from an impromptu move, finishing my first DIY book (yay!) and a much needed vacation. I'll be posting a new tutorial next week, but today I wanted to do something a little different...  

I regularly come across fantastic makers who create some seriously great work from recycled and reclaimed materials. For a while now, I've wanted to do interviews with some of my favorites, so this will be the first of a semi-regular feature that combines an interview along with a giveaway of a piece by the featured designer. I've never done giveaways on here before but I LOVE what these designers do and love the idea that this will give you a chance to love it, too! You can find info about the giveaway at the bottom of the post. Enjoy the interview!

I couldn't be more excited about kicking this off with my friend, Stephanie Huffaker! 

I first met Stephanie several years back when we were both vendors at a handmade market. After eyeing her goods all afternoon, I had to check it out from up close. Her stuff was beautiful! It was even more exciting when she told me that most of it was entirely recycled materials. I've been a fan ever since. Over the years we've become friends and I've even had the opportunity to assist her at a few of her free bracelet workshops that she offers through the New York Public Library. I tell ya, this girl is the real deal. I'm so inspired by her perspective on the act of creation and think that you will be, too.

How long have you been crafting? 

A long time! :) Crafting was a big thing in my family growing up. We were always working on some kind of craft project or other. My mother sewed a lot of my sister & I's clothes as a kids and encouraged us to help her so we both became avid sewers early on. Sewing & crochet were my favorites back then and I think what I do now just builds on that love of fiber arts and traditional handicrafts. 

When did you begin focusing on recycled/ trash items for your projects? 

After college. I actually went about it in a very serious and studious manner! Now, looking back I find kind of funny, especially since the outcome of all my seriousness has been all these bright, candy-colored, somewhat tongue-in-cheek accessories!

I studied Industrial Design at Pratt and after I graduated, I wasn't sure what to do with myself to be quite honest. I had diverse interests and strong convictions that I wanted to create objects in a way that didn't harm other people or the planet. And it was very important to me to be able to express myself creatively. I had hoped to find a job that would satisfy all of these things, but that's a tall order! So in the meantime, I gave myself a design brief, like one we would have received in school, in order to keep my brain in shape for tinkering and problem-solving. This isn't the exact brief but it's pretty close as I remember it: 

a. Research a ubiquitous object that is thought to be extremely low-grade, "worthless" and disposable.

b. View the object as abstractly as possible, as a pure raw material, free of any associations to what it once was.

c. The general perception of this chosen object is that it has very little or no value, therefore people don't think twice before throwing it away. On a mass scale the way we perceive, and in turn, manufacture, use and dispose of this object has wrecked havoc on our environment and our health. What qualities does this "disposable" object/raw material have that can be exploited to make interesting objects that people do value? How can this object be used in a way that is positive, and starts a conversation about the way we value the objects around us? And if possible, can it be fun????

Around the time I gave myself this brief, I was visiting someone and it struck me that all the plastic bags under their sink (you know, the typical place people stash 'em!) were these amazing bright, beautiful colors! When I opened the cabinet door it was just like "Wow Wee!!" And once I started experimenting with them, (they gladly gave me all of them!) I was really excited to find that plastic bags can be worked with in ways similar to working with fiber art. Since I love fiber arts and I'm passionate about sustainability, it was very exciting to find a way to marry those two things in a way that would be a new creative adventure! I was pretty psyched. :)

Why/What inspired this? 

I read a book called Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things by William McDonough & Michael Braungart. In it, they discuss their ideas of designing objects with a 'no-waste', closed-loop lifecycle: 'cradle to cradle' rather than 'cradle to grave' (grave meaning the landfill). At the time it was required reading for all students in the Industrial Design department at Pratt.

Do you feel optimistic about the future? 

Great question! A lot of what you hear about environmentalism can be pretty depressing! Especially (in some ways) when you're someone who loves designing and making objects! Sometimes you have to wonder: is it a good thing to be making more objects? Do we need more objects? Is your work going to have a positive impact?

How can we be creative object-makers, enjoy life, communicate, make people smile and/or provoke new ways of thinking? Can we do these things without making more pollution & using up resources in a way that would threaten people's health and livelihoods down the road? These are heavy questions and pretty tough goals, they can be a little over whelming!

My way of dealing with them is to focus on the small positive changes we can make as individuals using the abilities and resources we have access to. I'm a designer/crafter working on a small scale, on things that I'm passionate about: discovering new processes for making things by hand, communicating a bit of the way I see the world, getting pumped up about fun stuff like color & texture etc. Through my projects I hope to get people thinking  about the reality of how our actions affect the environment, but also to get them excited about looking at the things around them in a more positive light.

So what are you up to now?

I'm excited to be working on some new sculpture and accessory designs which incorporate more types of disposable materials- such as broken umbrellas and plastic blinds! I'm also using a few other recycled materials such as recycled leather scraps and occasionally bits of vinyl records.

I'm also working on an ongoing installation project about the way that plastic photodegrades. You'll be able to check out updates on my progress with this piece on my blog over the next few months. I'm hoping to display it in progress sometime next fall.

I have several upcycled craft workshops coming up around the city at places such as LaGuardia Community College and various Queens Library locations. The workshops I teach through the Queens Libraries are free and open to the public through a great program called Greening Western Queens. You can find out more about these workshops by checking out my shop announcements on etsy: www.garbageofedennyc.etsy.com. 

*********************

If you'd like to win these 4 stackable bangles made by Stephanie, 

just follow and leave a comment below. 

I'll announce the winner in next week's post. Good luck!

Upcycled Sweater Slippers

So I decided to commemorate the LONGEST winter I can remember by making myself some striped slippers from an old, holey sweater. We're fortunate that our apartment is usually pretty toasty and warm, but this year even the biggest of my bulky socks aren't cutting it. Srsly, why is so damn cold?

Materials:

-old sweater

-2 pieces of 12"X 8" felt (maybe larger if you have a really big foot)

Creating The Footbed
Step 1: Trace your foot onto a manilla folder.  Clean up the shape till you like the way it looks.

Step 2: Cleanly cut out.

Step 3: Next trace the pattern onto your pieces of felt. Trace the pattern twice per piece of felt, as we'll need two piece per slipper- one for the sole and one for the midsole.

When you're done you'll have 4 foot shaped pieces of felt:

Step 4: Now place the foot pattern onto the sweater with the heel 1 1/4 - 1 1/2" away from the bottom edge of the sweater. Draw and arc around the pattern that is 1" above the toes and then extends straight down. (Don't worry that there is more allowance on the sides; it's supposed to be that way!) 

Step 5: Cut out.

Flip the pattern over and repeat steps 4 and 5 for the other foot.

Step 6: Use double stick tape to stick to stick the felt piece onto the sweater.

Step 7: Then repeat on the back side. Take your time to try to lineup the two pieces of felt as precisely as possible. (It will make the sewing look much prettier!)

Step 8: Place on your sewing machine with good side facing up and stitch all around.
**This step can also be handstitched. I'd suggest using a contrast color embroidery thread, so that it will become part of the design.

Preparing the Plug
Now we'll make the plug. (This is the part of the slipper that will be on the top of our foot, with footbed sewn all around it.)

Step 1: Cut off each of the sleeves 5" from the bottom.

Step 2: Stitch the sleeve opening shut.

Step 3:Round the other end. When you've finished this, the plug will look like an egg with a flattened bottom.

Now you have all the pieces and are ready to assemble the slipper!

Sewing It Up

Step 1: Place the the plug over top of the foot bed with good sides together. The pointed area of the plug should be lined up with the center top of the foot bed. Tack stitch together at the point.

Step 2: Pull the plug back 1" from where it would rest naturally and tack stitch the left and right corners onto that place.

Step 3: Make two more tack stitches. One at the midpoint between the point and corners stitches on the right and then on the left.

Step 4: Starting from the left side, moving right, stitch all around, evenly distributing the excess material from the footbed as you go. (It should be much easier to do this thanks to the tack stitches you did in the previous steps.)

Step 5: Flip right side out, then make two snips on either side of the heel that go almost all the way to the felt. 

Step 6: Fold the two side pieces to form the back of the slipper. Insert the center flap into the slit at the bottom.

Step 7: Close the back by running two rows of stitches up the back about an itch apart. Then sew straight across the bottom to close the slit.

Adding A Collar

The last step in finishing the slipper is to add a collar. This will give the edges a clean finished look and keep the slipper from being so floppy.

Step 1: Cut all around on the bottom of the sweater. Trim to about 2" high and cut in half. (If you can cut in half right on a side seam, even better.)Then put a little double stick tape on each piece.

Step 2: Fold in half around the top edge of the slipper and tack stitch a few place to keep it from flipping up. And that's it, they're ready to wear!

I was left with a good amount of extra sweater, which I've turned over to my kiddo, Ophelia. Ophelia is a wiz at making amazing stuffed animal from all things scrap.I look forward to  updating this in the near future with what she created from the remnants.

Think warm thoughts. The spring will be here before we know it:)

TOOLS
*manilla folder
*pencil
*scissors
*double stick tape
*needle and thread
*tailor's chalk
*sewing machine (optional)

Chevron Heart Necklaces With Valentine Note Cards

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! This short and sweet project is a good way to get your valentine goodies made while making use of leftover scraps. I incorporated leather bits into a necklace for my daughter and used paper and fabric for some handmade Valentine notes that I'm sending out to friends. My scrap box has been crazy full lately so I was happy to have this project to lighten it up, if just a little bit.

What you'll need:
-random scraps 
(leather for the necklace, paper or fabric for the note cards)
-thin chain or embroidery thread
-paper

Making The Patterns
Step 1: Fold a small piece of paper in half.

Step 2: Draw half a heart on the folded edge and cut it out.

Step 3: Measure a 1/4" above the dip in the heart and mark on the fold.

Step 4: Move the heart up so the dip is at the mark and trace around the curve.

Step 5: Connect the two open sides with a ruler and pencil.  Cut out the heart.

Step 6: Repeat steps 3 thru 5 with the elongated heart you just cut out. Then cut out the new heart.

When you're done the 3 hearts will look like this:

Step 7: Fold a the pattern for the smallest heart in half again and make a hole on near the top with an awl. When you open the heart again you'll have 2 evenly spaced holes.

The Necklace
Step 1: Use the patterns to trace and cut out three hearts on the back of small leather scraps.

Step 2: Cleanly cut out each of the hearts.

Step 3: Arrange the 3 pieces in order of size with the largest is on the bottom, then the medium and the smallest on top. (You can put a little bit of double stick tape on to the backs of the two smaller pieces to temporarily keep everything in place.)

Step 4: Lay the pattern over the smallest heart and make holes through the leather by placing an awl into the two holes on the pattern.

Step 5: Insert jump rings into the the holes. Attach chain on to each jump ring and close. Finish by attaching a clasp to one of the ends of chain.

**As another option for finishing the necklace you can place one hole though the leather near the center top and string with a waxed thread. Adding a bead or two should give the extra weight needed for it to hang right.

The Note Cards
Step 1: Use the patterns to trace and cut out hearts on various pieces of paper and fabric. Arrange the hearts how you'd like and stick them together with a glue stick.

Step 3: Use the glue stick to attach the hearts to the front of your note cards.

*The note cards themselves were created from a small 4 1/4" x 2 3/4" template I made. I really liked this tiny size, but obviously you should make your cards whatever size appeals most to you:)

Lots of love...

TOOLS
*pencil
*scissors
*awl
*pliers
*glue stick