Host a Donation Bin

 

About ATRS

American Textile Recycling Service (ATRS) is the nation’s fastest growing donation bin operator . ATRS was founded with a profitable, global conscious mission to help communities reuse, renew and recycle clothing, shoes, toys and household goods. We provide easy and convenient Clothing & Shoe Donation bins in neighborhoods nationwide. We are committed to keeping textiles out of landfills, creating jobs here at home, and abroad. Our unique business model leaves an extremely small carbon footprint and a better planet for the next generation.

Read more on website:

http://atrscorp.com/about/

Timaree McKenny, Student Work

Installation

Seven natural dyed silks (each 6 foot in length) and scent (essential oils). 

Coming Soon

Video

Front view. 

Space between wall and silk. Essential oils placed on cotton pads, tacked to wall. 

Statement:

Who am I? As a human being. As a daughter. As a sister. As a friend. As an artist. My spiritual self is me. My inner-self is developed from reflection and love. I choose how I express my outer-self through observation and experience. 

Chakras create one's spiritual body, playing essential roles within all components of one's life. They create, sustain, and explore all feelings and emotions within yourself. 

For this personal project, I created my vision of my spiritual self, displaying who I am on the inside. With the use of silk, natural dyes, and scent, I designed my seven chakras. 

Natural dye as an ingredient and silk as a fabric connect directly to the human body in which all are creations from Earth's nature. Using the technique of natural dyeing, I see a correlation of the events within my life — do my best to prepare, react accordingly, and accept all results. The characteristics, soft and dependable, are represented by silk; a material that is soothing, calming, and trustworthy; this is how I describe myself as a human being. 

The designs, colors, and designated scent of each silk resemble the specific meaning of the seven chakras and how they resonate within me. I envisioned each of my chakras to create the designs based on how I saw them within my body and on a spiritual level. 

There are two chakras that I feel challenge me the most as a person. In the third chakra, solar / "I do," I created an intense crystalized design, soaked in a natural marigold dye to represent yellow, and selected a peppermint oil to embrace my confidence and self-esteem. 

For the seventh chakra, crown / "I understand," I created an off-kilter linear design, soaked in indigo and Roja natural dyes to represent violet, and selected frankincense oil to appreciate my spiritual connection and life purpose. 

Displaying my inner feelings and emotions to the outside world initially made me feel  vulnerable and sensitive. Once I was able to walk past each silk chakra and experience the scent, I let go of the negative thoughts and insecurities. Through reflection and love, I felt proud and empowered to share my inner-self with the world.

 

Kate Barker, Student Work

Examples of quilt stitching (by hand).

Batting is placed between two pieces of fabric to get the rise in stitch. Felt can also be used for a similar result. 

 

The Silk Roads: A New History of the World by Peter Frankopan

For centuries, fame and fortune were to be found in the west – in the New World of the Americas. Today, it is the east which calls out to those in search of riches and adventure. Sweeping right across Central Asia and deep into China and India, a region that once took centre stage is again rising to dominate global politics, commerce and culture.

A major reassessment of world history, The Silk Roads is a dazzling exploration of the forces that have driven the rise and fall of empires, determined the flow of ideas and goods and are now heralding a new dawn in international affairs.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25812847-the-silk-roads

 

Red, White & Black Make Blue by Andrea Feeser

Like cotton, indigo has defied its humble origins. Left alone it might have been a regional plant with minimal reach, a localized way of dyeing textiles, paper, and other goods with a bit of blue. But when blue became the most popular color for the textiles that Britain turned out in large quantities in the eighteenth century, the South Carolina indigo that colored most of this cloth became a major component in transatlantic commodity chains. In Red, White, and Black Make Blue, Andrea Feeser tells the stories of all the peoples who made indigo a key part of the colonial South Carolina experience as she explores indigo’s relationships to land use, slave labor, textile production and use, sartorial expression, and fortune building.

In the eighteenth century, indigo played a central role in the development of South Carolina. The popularity of the color blue among the upper and lower classes ensured a high demand for indigo, and the climate in the region proved sound for its cultivation. Cheap labor by slaves—both black and Native American—made commoditization of indigo possible. And due to land grabs by colonists from the enslaved or expelled indigenous peoples, the expansion into the backcountry made plenty of land available on which to cultivate the crop. Feeser recounts specific histories—uncovered for the first time during her research—of how the Native Americans and African slaves made the success of indigo in South Carolina possible. She also emphasizes the material culture around particular objects, including maps, prints, paintings, and clothing. Red, White, and Black Make Blue is a fraught and compelling history of both exploitation and empowerment, revealing the legacy of a modest plant with an outsized impact.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17574925-red-white-and-black-make-blue?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=8JbK4dXpWP&rank=1

 

Victoria Finlay, Author

Color: A Natural History of the Palette

Discover the tantalizing true stories behind your favorite colors. For example: Cleopatra used saffron—a source of the color yellow—for seduction. Extracted from an Afghan mine, the blue “ultramarine” paint used by Michelangelo was so expensive he couldn’t afford to buy it himself. Since ancient times, carmine red—still found in lipsticks and Cherry Coke today—has come from the blood of insects.

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/11729.Victoria_Finlay

 Also by Finlay and worth a read, Jewels: A Secret History

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1650926.Jewels

Sashiko

Sashiko Kimonomid-19th century, Japan
This robe features seven continuous patterns. Some geometric patterns used in sashiko are stylizations of floral themes, such as the kaki no hana (persimmon flower) design seen at the shoulders and hemline.
Source: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/50806

History:

Sashiko originated about 400 years ago as a means of keeping warm and preserving clothing. In rural, northern Japan, winters were harsh and many people were extremely poor. They relied on producing their own clothing from hemp (cotton was prohibitively expensive for everyday garments) and were restricted from wearing certain colours, so used indigo dye as it was easily grown and was thought to protect against insects. 

​Putting two or more layers of cloth together and sewing with running stitch creates small pockets of air in the clothing, which trap warmth. Many beautiful, geometric patterns were stitched in undyed thread to create the classic 'cream on blue' look we associate with sashiko today. As well as being beautiful, this was also very practical as women would often stitch sashiko on dark evenings and the contrast meant they could see what they were doing! 

​Since an item of clothing sometimes had to last for three generations, dense stitching helped preserve the fabric, as well as providing a means of repairing with patches. 

​Sashiko fell out of favour in the 20th century as Japanese people began to wear Western clothes and did not want to be reminded of how poor their families once were. However, recent years have seen a revival of interest as people around the world have seen sashiko on the internet and want to have a go! In Japan, sashiko has also become more popular as a craft hobby. Interestingly, people in the West tend to want their sashiko to look 'traditional' and usually choose cream thread and indigo fabric, whereas in Japan this looks a bit 'old fashioned', so different coloured fabrics and threads are becoming more popular!

Above text source:   https://www.japancrafts.co.uk/sashiko.html#/

Ashley's Sack

Cotton, thread. 

29 11/16 x 15 3/4 inches. 

Created: 1850's; embroidering added 1921

Discovered: Nashville, Tennessee, flea market, 2007

Time line by Mark Auslander

Slavery's Traces: In Search of Ashley's Sack

by Mark Auslander, Central Washington University, 2016

Link:

https://southernspaces.org/2016/slaverys-traces-search-ashleys-sack

 

Book

A renowned historian traces the life of a single object handed down through three generations of Black women to craft an extraordinary testament to people who are left out of the archives.

Link to read article in Smithsonian Magazine by Nora McGreevy, 2021:

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/how-simple-cotton-sack-tells-epic-tale-loss-love-and-resilience-180978009/