Who Will Save The Slow-Furnishing Industry?

With a fast-furnishing trend influencing consumer purchase of cheaply made and inexpensively priced home fittings, a demand for a more eco-sustainable, value-driven way of decorating our homes simmers on the back burner, awaiting its (re)turn to the forefront again. Enter the scrappers, grassroots DIY’ers, experienced artisans, seasoned wood-crafters, and novices of slow-furnishing in the making.

Like fast-fashion, fast-furnishing offers seemingly fashionable furniture that is quickly produced using cheap materials. Often times it is manufactured overseas where exploited workers from underprivileged countries are paid pennies to produce, and the price tags left hanging once stateside offer a great look at a great price, along with a guilt-free disposable mentality.  What more could a style conscious consumer on a budget want, right?

The Four ‘R’s of Eco-Friendly Upholstering

eco-friendly upholstering

 

When we consider some of the eco-friendly upholstering terms used by craftsmen in the field , there are certain ones that have served our planet long before the  Go Green Movement began. Just as they have served us then, they continue to serve us now and into the future. If we let them. From RE-purposing and RE-finishing to RE-upholstering and RE-storation, at  J&O-Summerdale Fabrics we are always finding old and new ways to make use of some of such life saving options when it comes to fabric textiles and furnishings. Below are the top four  ‘R’s’ of  Eco-Friendly Upholstering defined. We know they will surely continue to gain popularity on the tongue and use over time.  After all, Mother Earth is depending on it.

50 Scrap Fabric Crafts For Rems Reborn Again

jandofabrics scrap fabric crafts

 

Instead of tossing your tiny fabric scraps or hoarding your size-able rems until who-knows-when, why not decide to play your part in assisting in the Earth Day recycling efforts by pulling them out, sorting, and inspecting them for quality and usability in a scrap fabric craft project.

J&O Fabrics Celebrates Earth Day Throughout April.

jandofabrics earth day

April 22 2018  marks the 48th birthday of  Earth Day, an annual cause celebrated worldwide where various events are held to demonstrate support for environmental protection. Numerous communities also celebrate Earth Week, an entire week of activities focused on the environmental issues that the world faces as a whole. In recognition of a cause that affects us all, J&O fabrics will be dedicating our April blogs to sustainability and go-green efforts within the textile industry in an attempt to raise awareness, create conversation, and inspire us to each play our part.

Green Goes Global

jandofabricshongkongview

Hong Kong is one of China’s gems. It is not only breathtaking to look at, but it is also an extremely vital member of the global economic community. However, with any metropolis comes problems that fit in scale to the number of people that inhabit it. One such problem for Hong Kong is the amount of textile waste that it produces (253 metric tons a day). Tackling the type of change necessary to reduce that number is very difficult for numerous reasons, the most prominent being that there has never been an effort to do so until now.

Go Green Gina: Make Your Sewing Room Greener, Happier & Healthier!

go green gina, jandofabrics, ecofriendly, organic fabric, go green, green living, green sewing, sewingFor many of us, the idea of ‘going green’ and playing a vital part in helping to save Mother Earth from resource depletion and over consumption, is more than just a passing fancy. J&O Fabric store is doing our part by bringing in more and more organic fabrics.  As each day ushers in new devastating information pertaining to the effects of global warming, pollution in our air and waters, cancers in our food supply, and the long term effects of genetically modified textile crops such as our beloved cotton, more and more of us are raising our awareness to the fragile balance and co-dependency of man and nature, and are taking steps both big and small to ensure our survival and that of future generations. One such step that we can take as seamstresses, tailors, crafters, and designers, is to make our sewing environments more eco-friendly. With the running of our machines and the burning of the midnight oil (lights) to get our projects done sometimes, the amount of energy we use in the course of a day, a week, a month, adds up. When considering that the leading cause of our eco-system breakdown is still the burning of coal to generate electricity, we owe it to Mother Nature to do our part, one change at a time.

Ideas for J&O ‘Handcrafted Home Makeover Contest’

 

While many of our Facebook and J&O followers are busily documenting their miracle makeovers for our ‘Handcrafted Home Makeover Contest’, so too are the members of our J&O Family. And while we technically can not enter to win the free money giveaway, we sure are having fun behind closed doors seeing who can turn the old and ugly into the new and beautiful.