Fun fact- I’m a wildlife biologist by day! I set out to become a veterinarian, and then my senior year of college, as a biology major, an ecology professor commented that I seemed to have an aptitude for it. She was right- and it lit my fire a lot more than cell and molecular biology! Through college, I ALWAYS came back to the bead box to decompress. It was always in the back of my mind that selling my jewelry could be a fun side hustle. But through my 20s, that remained in the “someday” section of my brain.
Here I am after I collared this baby elk. My research group and I would capture newborn baby elk and put GPS collars on them. The collars are designed to grow with the calf and eventually fall off. These allow us to track survival of the calves. We put a blindfold on the calf to calm them while we are putting the collar on. As soon as we finish, we take the collar off and the calf runs off.
In graduate school, I continued to spend time at the beading box. By then, bead shapes and designs had diversified like crazy- two-hole beads were a game-changer. I started experimenting with hair jewelry of all kinds. I tried some crown-type hair jewelry, some circlets, but ended up really liking the comb and barrette combo.
This Prismatic Crown hair jewelry features the comb and barrette design I have come to like.
As a postdoc, I have continued to find myself at the beading box to decompress. When I’m antsy, I sketch designs and become super creative! Last year, I had the, “That might be a fun side business, yeah someday,” thought again. And finally I woke up, “I’ve been saying that for 15 years- if not now- when?”
As a wildlife biologist, I recognize the importance of reducing our environmental footprint. For many threatened species, habitat degradation is the greatest threat. Did you know that textile waste is a huge problem? Many unwanted clothing items end up in landfills. So how can we reduce textile waste? During COVID, I learned how to sew and got into upcycling clothes. I made some really interesting pieces, and some that were a complete flop. I wasn’t keen on throwing away usable fabric, so I put my botched pieces in my fabric bag until I had further ideas. I stumbled across a tutorial about making grocery bags from old button-down shirts. I had a few that had seen better days, so those old shirts went right to the sewing machine.
As I started selling my jewelry, I started considering ways to incorporate repurposed clothing into my packaging. Ah ha- I could make cute reusable drawstring bags for packaging the jewelry. I had a fair bit of frayed clothing in my closet, which I made into drawstring bags. I broke out the rotary cutter and cut the clothing up into rectangles to make a very basic drawstring bag pattern.
I make a variety of sizes, to accommodate small earring boxes, as well as large statement necklaces. After sewing the bag pattern, I thread a piece of ribbon through the top to create the drawstring. These drawstring bags are fun- since they are made from clothing that is past its prime, I will never make two batches that are exactly alike.
As a postdoc, I have continued to find myself at the beading box to decompress. When I’m antsy, I sketch designs and become super creative! Last year, I had the, “That might be a fun side business, yeah someday,” thought again. And finally I woke up, “I’ve been saying that for 15 years- if not now- when?”
As a wildlife biologist, I recognize the importance of reducing our environmental footprint. For many threatened species, habitat degradation is the greatest threat. Did you know that textile waste is a huge problem? Many unwanted clothing items end up in landfills. So how can we reduce textile waste? During COVID, I learned how to sew and got into upcycling clothes. I made some really interesting pieces, and some that were a complete flop. I wasn’t keen on throwing away usable fabric, so I put my botched pieces in my fabric bag until I had further ideas. I stumbled across a tutorial about making grocery bags from old button-down shirts. I had a few that had seen better days, so those old shirts went right to the sewing machine.
As I started selling my jewelry, I started considering ways to incorporate repurposed clothing into my packaging. Ah ha- I could make cute reusable drawstring bags for packaging the jewelry. I had a fair bit of frayed clothing in my closet, which I made into drawstring bags. I broke out the rotary cutter and cut the clothing up into rectangles to make a very basic drawstring bag pattern.
I make a variety of sizes, to accommodate small earring boxes, as well as large statement necklaces. After sewing the bag pattern, I thread a piece of ribbon through the top to create the drawstring. These drawstring bags are fun- since they are made from clothing that is past its prime, I will never make two batches that are exactly alike.
I’ve found this to be a great sustainable packaging technique, and it also has a fun touch. I never know what kind of clothing fabric I will be using for bags, so sometimes there are some fun prints. Long story short, you never know what your jewelry bag will look like!
Do you have a favorite upcycling project that you do? Tell me in the comments!