The Summerfield Waldorf School warmly invites families to attend the Winter Faire on Friday and Saturday December 4th and 5th. This magical event is sure to delight family members of all ages!  Join in the annual festivities, and experience an old world style holiday. 




Winter Faire Shopping

On Friday, December 4th, join in an adult only holiday evening to complete your holiday shopping. You’ll find unique, hand-made items crafted with natural elements. From Puppenstube dolls to Sarah’s Silks to Sharon Eisley’s fairy doll houses to the Summerfield School’s “store” items such as Elsa Beskow books and Stockmar crayons, you’ll find whimsical items your children are sure to love.

Other vendors will sell jewelry, cutting boards, wooden boxes, holiday ornaments, candles, honey and other high quality, locally crafted items to fill the holiday wishes of the adults in your life.

I saved all of my holiday gift money for this event last year, and felt very pleased with my purchases.  We bought Bryles a box of Stockmar crayons, Elsa Beskow's Children of the Forest, a hand knit sweater from Peru, two wooden cars, and a wooden horse and cart.  We also purchased creamed honey from a local vendor, beeswax candles, and a lovely piece of handcrafted silver jewelry.  The lasting gifts are still happily in use in our home today, and shall remain treasured items for years to come. 

So inspired did I feel by these hand-crafted items, I worked all year to produce my own items to sell at the Winter Faire.  My booth's theme is "Wooden, Wool and Wonderful:  Upcylced and Found Treasures."  Come and feel the soft whisps of Max' the Angora goat's mohair I'll be offering or purchase a lovely ornament crafted from his fleece.  Charlie the Llama, Lin-lin and Lilac the Jacob's Sheep, and Gus the Lincoln are also offering debuting at my booth - I've hand washed and carded lots of fiber to share!  Hold a tiny wire egg basket, and dream of a child's kitchen.  Find a lovely lunch sack created from discarded clothing, or behold some other hand crafted treasure.  This crafty mama is making her debut as a vendor, and I'd love your support!

("Breakfast for Two" -
sample Sono-Ma upcycled and found treasure.)
See more Sono-Ma treasures here.

Winter Faire Festival

Return on Saturday, December 5th with the whole family. The Summerfield campus, often described as looking like a small European village, will be decked out in evergreens and ringing with the bells of holiday music. Step close to the bonfire, take a leisurely ride in a horse and carriage cart, dip a candle, and take a photo next to regal King Winter (photograph above.) Enjoy a marionette puppet show in the whimsical kindergarten classrooms.  Eat a scrumptious, organic lunch while listening to talented students and staff play instruments and sing. Gather your family close and breathe in an old world style holiday moment that is sure to fill you with joy!

In past years, our family decorated gingerbread cookies and crafted a few gifts for grandma including:  felted flower bell ornaments, wool angles, and hand-dipped beeswax candles.  The smell of evergreen hanging from every rafter and post mixed sweetly with the scent of ginger and warm wax.   After putting our hands to good work, we took a break to sip some soup, and reveled in a talented musical performance of wind and string instruments such as the reed and harp.  The simple rituals and activities filled our hearts and warmed our souls.

Ensure that you join in the classic fun this year. Print and share this flyer with your family and friends, too!

Winter Faire Poster Final PDF -3

To learn more about the Summerfield Waldorf School, please visit the website.  Mark your calendar for parenting lectures, farm tours, and other festivals that engage community members after checking the school's "upcoming events" section (lower left.)

11/26/09 Update:  Summerfield's Messenger reveals several craft activities will be offered as part of this year's Winter Faire:  Candle Dipping, Pot Pourri's, Greenery Swags, Wooden "Nature" candle-holder with candle.  Gingerbread cookie and house decorating, Hemp Woven Jewelry, and Wool Felting.  There will also be a "Snowflake Shop" where children can buy inexpensive handmade and donated gifts for their parents.  The whole family can also take part in the horse and cart rides as well as a garden stone workshop. 


(Note:  thanks to Nelson Waldorf for Marionette photo.)

The drizzly grey weather seems to chase us indoors in search of a wool wrap or warm fire. Often such late fall days coincide with seasonal "colds" or flus that leave our bodies chilled and tired. These short-lived illnesses force us to rest, renew a focus on our bodies, and often to seek nurturing and care.

When doctors send us home advising rest and fluids for minor afflictions, what do we have in our home stores to support revitalization? What can a family gather to help us weather colds? From creams, salves, oils, and aroma therapy to soothing "props", to comfort foods, to warmth, water, and hand washing to vitamins, herbs, and/or homeopathy, we can gather many items to create wellness baskets for nurturing our families.

With newspaper headlines declaring this one tough flu season, I inventoried the homemade remedies in our hat box cum wellness basket. I decided to shop for a few more items, and contacted Whole Foods.  Noelle Moss of Whole Foods Santa Rosa offered to connect me with her Whole Body Department Team Leader (the fabulous Leondard) to help me learn more about available products- a service the Whole Body Department staff are happy to do for any family.  

Our family now has on hand the following wonderfully soothing items: 


Creams, Salves, Oils and Aroma Therapy

 “Green goo” or “Magic Medicine”


 Arincare Gel


 Eucalyptus oil


 Dry Skin Lotion

Building my wellness basket starts with a good store of healing salve, which we call “Green Goo” or “Magic Medicine.” Sono-Ma Nina Goodwin helped me wildcraft St. John’s and plantain from the banks of the Eel River last summer as core elements of our healing salve recipe. Other healing ingredients include: calendula and comfrey from my garden, olive oil and beeswax. We put this cream on all skin abrasions.

As an alternative to a homemade salve, Whole Foods gave me a sample of Boiron, Inc’s Arincare gel, which claims to provide pain relief for muscle aches, stiffness, and bruises. We’ll give this one a try for Bryles’ next bump!


Olba’s Oil replaced the Vick’s my mom used to give us for coughs. This natural product offers “aromatherapy in a massage oil and inhalant.” While Bryles finds it too strong for his chest or temples, he doesn’t object when we sprinkle oil on a tissue and tuck it in his pillow.


Dry skin sneaks up on our hands every winter. Santa Rosa based ShiKai offers “Borage Dry Skin Therapy” as a local and natural solution. I got a freebie through a swag bag at the Lunafest and a recent Whole Foods store tour. I love it!


Soothing Props

 Boo Boo Baby


 Lemon Neck Wraps


 Rice Sacks


 Blankets


 Stories

While moms and dads wish kisses solved all problems, sometimes we need to call in support from soothing props. One great distraction and novelty for a crying child is the adorable “Boo Boo Baby.” Sono-Dad Paul Kaiser just crafted one for his son Lucas in our Children’s Play Garden Waldorf group.

Sometimes comfort comes in other simpler forms. Grandma Mary showed me how to make a neck wrap with crushed lemons, wool, and silk to warm and soothe my throat. My neighbor, Miss Teapot, blessed me with a rice sack teddy bear as welcome gift for Bryles. My adopted mom crafted a wool and fleece blanket set for my birthday one year. We give great reverence to the soothing properties of these gifts, and wrap ourselves in their warmth. We cuddle and share stories of these women or the other angels in our lives – virtually calling on their strengths to help nurture us from afar.

Whole Food's Leonard also recommends Bucky brand neck and body wraps for those of you who'd like to start your own warm "rice sack" traditions!  The body wrap look's like a toddler's body pillow - imagine the toasty dreams your little one could have snuggled up with that!

Comfort Foods

 Tea - Traditional Medicinals

 Chicken Soup

 Honey

 Lemon

Let Sebastopol-based Traditional Medicinals soothe you this winter with a range of wonderful teas (and other herbal products.) I can’t live without Throat Coat tea when I have coughs and sniffles.

While some may argue the medicinal properties of chicken soup, people agree that warm soup soothes the throat, heats the body, and provides needed nourishment. Try “Mom’s Cold Season Chicken Soup” from Elise at Simply Recipes.


I also like to snuggle up in a blanket and sip comfort from a mug filled with honey and lemon water. Mother Earth News reports that honey is an excellent wellness tool. Its inherent anti-bacterial properties make it a wonderful wound healer and throat coat. Read more here.   Lemons are also said to have anti-bacterial and anti-viral properties.


Warmth, Water, and Handwashing

It turns out that granny is right! Keeping warm, drinking lots of water, and frequently washing our hands are important tasks for maintaining health and recuperating. Support your health throughout the day by forming a habit of always toting a hat, scarf, water bottle (Whole Foods Whole Body staffer Leonard recommends Klean Kanteen), and hand sanitizer such as our local EO’s lavender scented version.

While my son often tries to throw off his hat as he runs out the door, I chase after him and put it back on. Thomas Poplawski says in Renwal Magazine’s “‘Button up Your Overcoat’ Warmth and the Healthy Development of the Young Child:

a child’s body “has a finite amount of energy to use for growth, both for the growth of the body as a whole and for the development of the brain and inner organs. Keeping the body warm allows the greatest amount of these energies to be devoted to this task. When the child is not sufficiently warm, the growth forces are used up in maintaining body temperature, and the processes of outer and inner growth is affected.” (Read more of Poplawski)

Vitamins, Herbs, and Homepathy


Your family doctor can help advise you about what vitamins, herbs, and homeopathic remedies may support your family. Once you are ready to shop, Whole Foods is a great provider of high quality, local and/or organic products – detailed video included here:



(video: “Protecting your family from flu with herbal remedies - 10/30/09 - San Francisco News - abc7news.com”)

 You can find out more about how Whole Foods can support your family by participating in the:  Store Tour for Moms at Whole Foods on December 9th from 10:30 – 11:30. (Please RSVP to secure one of 6 remaining tour slots to Noelle Moss.) I received a great swag bag full of samples and coupons on my recent tour! Note: everyone can benefit self guided tour via a copy of the Santa Rosa Store map and Whole Food’s coupons found in the “Whole Deal” publication offered in front of stores as shown here:

For those schooled in crafting home herbal remedies, some common plants such as mint may come in handy as a part of your repertoire. Our family is also taking daily elderberry drops, to fend off this season’s flus.

Share your family’s ideas for a well winter by sharing your comments and photos now!

Do you ever see the time and think, "My goodness it is 4:45, and I've hardly even thought of what to make for dinner!"?  Even with weekly meal planning, and careful shopping ahead, the impending dinner hour can often send me into a panic attack.  During these moments, my brain fogs over and my head swims with unanswerable questions:  What can I make that I don't have to defrost or let simmer for an hour?  Where will I summon the energy to get cooking after chasing my three year old all day?  Who will help me get four pots going, set the table, and entertain Bryles so I can feed my family in the next 30 minutes?  If my husband sees the dismay on my face, he expresses his own exhaustion after a hard day on the factory floor and flops back in his arm chair.  He quickly declares it's time to get take out.

However, running for take out can not be our answer every afternoon!  Who can afford to pay for that?  And who wants to add up the extra calories that often come in the take-out box?  When my husband suggests skipping cooking, I immediately go on the defensive about how committed I feel about nourishing my family through healthy food and minding our meager, one-income budget.  An energy consuming fight occurs, and then I have to try even harder to scrape myself together to prepare a meal.

Yes, having a Thyroid problem is part of the reason I get dog-tired by the afternoon.  Still, many of my friends say this is a hard point in the day for them as well.  I began to dream about finding a mother's helper who might come and play with Bryles and help out in the kitchen each afternoon.  My husband could rest on the sofa, I could master a meal, and Bryles would be thrilled with the special attention.  Only, I couldn't imagine anyone would take the $3 an hour I gratefully accepted as a teen.

Then my old work colleague Ruth called and answered my prayers.  She asked me if I could help her with a customer survey project in exchange for free weekly organic meal deliveries.  Her two-year old business, Ruthy's Real Meals, is currently at a growing stage and she needed some computer help.  Ah hah!  A project I could fit in while Bryles naps or sleeps, and food magically appearing on my family's dinner table.  And oh the food that came...

One week our menu included: Braised Duck Breast with Sweet Potatoes and Veggie Medley; Sweet and Sour Stuffed Cabbage with Grass-fed Beef, Roasted Carrots and Beets; White Bean Soup with Kale; Composed Salad with Roasted Marinated Peppers; Turtle Bar Cookies; and a Village Bakery Rustic Garlic Loaf!

My fridge is stocked, and I can rest easy knowing I'll have a healthy, delicious dinner ready in minutes.  Evenings are now a nourishing pleasure.  We look forward to each dish as an indulgent surprise, as each generously portioned item is expertly prepared to heighten its unique flavor.  Ruthy has my husband eating root vegetables he normally disdains (e.g. sweet potatoes and beets) and my toddler eating duck! 

In our new relaxed approach to dinner, we now focus on our family table experience.  We are excited by the food, but also have a special energy for sharing time with each other.  Bryles reminds us to say a blessing: 

"Thank you for the world so sweet,

Thank you for the food we eat,

Thank you for the birds that sing

Thank you earth for everything!"
(verse adapted from published poem on World Praryers.org and used by Waldorf teachers.)

Then, Scott leads us in a round of the grateful game. We each say "I'm grateful for..." ("Grateful Game" instructions here) some part of our day.  For example, Bryles shared that he is grateful for "our farm" after returning from picking up the last of this season's baskets from Singing Frogs farm yesterday.  Then we dive into our meals and eat with new gusto. 

Sometimes we gather in the kitchen before 5:00 and rush our warmed dinner out of the oven early, so tempted are we by the savory smells wafting from our oven.  The other night, Bryles chanted, "I want some of this yummy bread... I want some of this yummy bread..." over and over while Scott and I took turns dancing in front of the oven, willing the braised duck to warm faster.  Finally, no one could wait any longer and we began eating (or truly scarfing) by 4:45.   What a difference to leave the table full of food and love for each other AND enough energy to wind down our day!

The "Magic of the Family Meal" has long been a documented healthy, family practice.  A 2006 article by Time Magazine says,

"The statistics are clear:  kids who dine with their folks are healthier, happier, and better students which is why a dying tradition is coming back."  Michael Elins for Time

Ruthy's Real Meals

Do you need support near meal time?  Ruthy’s Real Meals offers weekly home delivered, meal packages including:

• 
  
  Meal planning with healthy, organic selections your family is sure to love
  
  
  
• 
  
  Grocery shopping for local and seasonal items
  
  
  
• 
  
  Food preparation by an expert chef, ready for you to heat and proudly serve in minutes
  
  
  
• 
  
  Satisfaction guarantee
  
  
  

The four dinner pack includes ten hearty menu items, plus dinner rolls and dessert. The three dinner pack includes seven hearty menu items, plus dinner rolls and dessert. Order by Friday for a delivery next Tuesday!

  

Order a meal package for the week of November 24, and enjoy a traditional Thanksgiving dinner as one of the included menu offerings.  Or let Ruthy's Real Meals create your holiday dinner!

The holiday menu features a brined and roasted turkey or Vegetarian/ Vegan Sheppard’s Pie, paired with spiced tea cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and a seasonal green vegetable such as Brussels sprouts. The meal is topped off with a delectable pumpkin bread pudding or pumpkin cheese cake.


Delight guests with this offering for just $120 for a table of four or $200 for a group of eight. Order soon, no later than November 20, to ensure Ruthy’s Real Meals serves your dinner. Meals are delivered on Wednesday, November 25.

For more information please contact Ruth Lefkowitz at ruthy@sonic.net or (707) 888-0128.

While there may not be a North Pole or elves involved in this season's gift making, my friends' "workshops" are in a flurry this season.  Sawdust, thread, and wool cling to the carpets in our hallways and clutter our crafting corners.  With tight budgets, the new trend towards green living, and a renewed interest in all things hand-made, the gifts we exchange are sure to be creative.   Moms are making items ranging from fairy doll houses, slippers, and natural soaps, ensuring this is one holiday season our kids are not likely to forget!  Classes, fairs, instructional "how to's", and a guide for local stores offering great gift selections can help you create or find your own bits of magic for meaningful gifts for your loved ones...

Classes

If you've always wanted an excuse to buy or build a fairy doll house, here is your chance!  The ultimate in nature-based, green play, these homes use bits of fallen forest life to create a tiny play space for your child's limitless imagination.  Work with Sharon Eisely to create these one of a kind wonders through a workshop on December 6th.  Or purchase a custom fairy doll home of your own.

Sono-Ma Annalyce la Source says that fiber artist Monica Ashley Najmabadi's felting classes are also a great way to learn new skills while creating a completed gift.  She is taking the felted slippers class at Cast Away on Thursday November 12.  (Pictures to come soon!)

  

Craft Fairs

Who would have guessed that Sonoma County is home to more than 15 holiday craft fairs! 

My personal favorite is the Summerfield Waldorf Winter Faire, which offers unique and wonderful holiday shopping opportunities as well as whimsical activities for children.  Join in the fun on December 4 from 5:30 - 8:00 (for parents) shopping and December 5 from 11-4:00 for gift purchasing and children's activities such as candle making, wool working, puppet show and more.  Sale items include Sarah's Silks and Christine Schreier's of the ThePuppenstube.com  Waldorf dolls. 

I will also be making my first debut as a craft vendor at Summerfield's Winter Faire!  Come out and see Sono-Ma's "Wooden, Wool and Wonderful - Upcycled and Found Treasures" booth.    Mushroom tin photographed below included!

For a comprehensive list of local craft fairs print or view this file:

Support Local Moms or Become an Out of the Closet Crafter

How To Instructionals

You can stay home and try these ideas on your own time:

Lisa Fontaine featured four of her favorite holiday projects through an earlier Sono-Ma article, including a wool garland, thank-you card set, date nut bread, and hand-made gift wrap.  The kids can help with these crafts too, making these activities family-centered and fun!

Our local Christine Schreirer of Puppenstube is featured in the national publication: Living Craft Magazine Fall 2009 

for her "crazy blanket" knitting guide.  This innovative pattern features a group knitting project for making a joint gift for a co-worker, friend, or relative. 

Miss Teapot (aka Cheryl Smith) recently led Annalye la Source and me in a soap making workshop.  Cheryl guided us through making a luxurious recipe of olive and coconut oils from Better Basics for the Home: Simple Solutions for Less Toxic Living.  Cheryl offers important tips for ensuring this recipe is successful:  1.)  measure all ingredients by weight with a scale (rather than by volume with measuring cups)  2.)  use a hand blender for stirring the soap 3.)  pour soap into baby wipe containers as molds - a great re-use idea!  Miss Teapot highly recommends this book and the many simple to create, potential gifts inside.

If you are into using wool to make a range of felted, stuffed, or spun gifts, don't forget to use the Santa Rosa Tool Lending Library!  You can borrow tools and access wool working instructional videos through their website.

 

Local Stores Offering Gift Selections

I love Santa Rosa's Kindred Fair Trade Handcrafts for musical instruments, finger puppets, Russian stacking dolls, and other interesting handmade finds.  You'll find great gifts, and feel great knowing that your dollars are supporting our local economy.  Just read "6 reasons to GoLocal" if you want to pat yourself on the back!  For a list of "go local" businesses, visit the GoLocal site. 

Be sure to leave your comments with photos of your gift giving ideas or links to local workshops, fairs, or stores you'd like to promote.  Thanks!

What a lovely evening!  From sipping Traditional Medicinals teas to chatting with community-oriented women (and men) to watching hysterical and uplifting women-made films - the evening was delightful!

Just what is the Luna Fest?

"Filled with stories of reflection and whimsy, hope and humor, grace and perseverance, LUNAFEST films are renowned for celebrating the talents and stories of women. Our films include many off the traditional “festival circuit.” Collectively, LUNAFEST films captivate audiences, compel dialogue and arm those who participate with both the knowledge and the motivation to make a difference in their communities.

LUNAFEST’s films have won industry awards and audience accolades, and the films selected for 2009-10 LUNAFEST season share this brilliance. From quirky animation to touching documentaries, the 10 selected films are incredibly diverse in both style and subject matter, united by a common thread of exceptional storytelling by…for…about women..."  (Excerpted from the Luan Fest website- more on Luna Fest here.)

 Our local Luna Fest, sponsored by Community Action Partnership and Traditional Medicinals, benefits our local women's shelter.

For those of you who still need to buy a Luna Fest ticket, here is the info: online tickets are on sale through Thursday through this site for $40. You can also buy tickets at the door at the Sonoma Country Day School’s Jackson Theater at 4400 Day School Place for $45 when the event starts at 6:30.

Click here to purchase tickets to see the full Luna Fest show!


If you'd like to show your support for our local women and mothers in need, consider donating items (clothes, make-up, money, gifts for children, etc.) to the Sloan Emergency Women’s shelter. Community Action Partnership (CAP) keeps its address confidential to protect the women, so please contact CAP to arrange for donation delivery.  Call CAP’s main offices at 544-6911, and ask for the Housing Department's Emergency Shelter program.


Sono-Ma is showing support through a ticket giveaway!  The Winner of our random drawing of Facebook followers (Networked Blogs) is: Alissa Feldman of Gravity Free Gaphix.

Congratulations Alissa, and thanks to all who are showing Sono-Ma support through following Sono-Ma on Facebook. Haven't signed up for Sono-Ma updates on Facebook yet? Want to show you are a fan? Join now!

I love "Naked Lady" and "Get in My Pants" parties! These tongue in cheek, rather risqué titles are meant to incite (not excite) ladies to get together and swap the unwanted or underused stacks of clothes on our clothing racks.  Swaps keep clothes out of the landfill and needed cash in mommy's pockets- but what if we need to dole out cash for clothes? My fellow blogger Isis of Launceston, Tasmania  encourages taking the "Ethical Clothing Pledge" to ensure we keep the environment, humanity, and our pocket books in mind:

T H E _ E T H I C A L _ C L O T H I N G _ P L E D G E

"I pledge to only wear clothing that is one or more of the following:
1. Pre-loved
2. Handmade (preferably by me)
3. Reconstructed
4. Made with ethical / environmentally friendly materials
5. Made by a company with strong ethical policy & workers' rights

* Companies with environmentally friendly practices (such as cutting down on waste/energy/water) get brownie points
* If I get one little inkling of sweatshop labour, I'm outta there!
* Above all though, I think the most important thing is reducing the amount of things we use in the first place. Not purchasing ANOTHER piece of clothing just for the sake of it is the biggest statement we can make."

How to Implement the Ethical Clothing Pledge in Sonoma County

Pre-Loved:  Local Thrift and Second Hand Shops

Please leave a comment with your favorite thrift store here and mention the good sale days if you know them!  SF Station has an extensive list of "vintage and used clothing" in the North Bay (click on the city name on the far left under the North Bay heading).  Sonoma Backroads and Byways publishes a pretty good county-wide list of thrift stores.  My favorite local consignment (where you can buy and sell clothes) stores are:

Kids:

Sprout (Healdsburg) "previously loved clothing" is my number one choice for kids clothing, books, toys, shoes, and more!  Check out this local mom owned shop at 177 Healdsburg Ave., Healdsburg, CA 95448 •  707-433-7355 • info@sproutchildrensclothing  (Note:  Sprout also sells local artist Isla Corbett's handmade Modern Felt Accessories!)

 (photos courtesy of Amanda Lucey at Sprout)

Wee Peats (Santa Rosa)  1007 West College Avenue • Santa Rosa, CA 95401 • (707) 525-9333 •  customerservice@weethreechildrensstore.com

Kid Exchange & Zoe Women's Clothing (Petaluma) 108 Kentucky St • Petaluma, CA 94952 • (707) 775-3239  This store carries women's fashion and adorable kids clothing!  Let your wee one play in their kids corner (small chair and wooden toys ready for their delight) while you try on those new boots you've been wanting...

(photo of Kid Exchange and Zoe Women's Clothing)

Ladies:

Ooh La Loft - is my top choice for ladies clothing.  Owned and operated by two local sisters (former Petaluma High and SSU grads) who really seem to know how to combine fashion, fun, and environmentalism.  Local ladies love this shop so much, the store often stays open until 9 p.m. on the weekends.  109  Petaluma Blvd. North •   Petaluma, CA  •   (707)769-7787 • oohlaloft_boutique@mail.com

"Our purpose is to create a unique retail experience where shoppers can buy top quality recycled and new fashion as well as receive cash or trade credit for items they sell to the store. The re-using of clothing is our vital contribution to the environment." Click here for more ooh la details!

Knimble Clothing and Knick Knack (Cotati)  8200 Old Redwood Highway • Cotati, CA 94931 • (707) 665-9401 • knimble@gmail.com  (Note:  Knimble also features a new section boutique of fair trade items and items using organic cottons, bamboo and other sustainable materials.)

Pine Grove General Store (Sebastopol) 149 N Main St • Sebastopol, CA 95472 • (707) 829-1138

Favorites (Healdsburg) 435 Center St Healdsburg • CA 95448 • (707) 433-2660

Sister's (Sonoma) "You will find great brand names such as Michael Kors, BCBG, Ann Taylor, Ralph Lauren, J Jill, DKNY, Tahari, Theory, … to name just a few, and compared to full retail, our prices at SISTERS are just amazing!"  120 West Napa St. • Sonoma CA 95476 • 707-933-8422

Local Handmade / Ethical Clothing Shops

Sonoma County has a wealth of local artisans, one of my favorite designers being Isla Corbett.  Her modern felt designs are totally swinging.  You can find Isla's items at Sprout, Cast Away, and Santa Rosa la Belle Fluer.  Share information on your favorite local clothing and accessories makers by leaving a comment! 

Indigenous Designs is another renowned local company that supports ethical clothing manufacturing and sale.  (Read this company's righteous manifesto here.)  Stay up on the Sonoma County Bargains blog to get the super-secret down low on Indigenous Design's overstock sales, such as the one offered in June 2009.   

Reconstructed:  Ideas for "Up-Cycling" Used Clothing

Use old clothing to create new accessories, clothing and gifts!  Turn jammies into lunch sacks, sweaters into hats (as pictured here - great patterns in Warm Fuzzies too!), and more.  Betsy White  "Stitch beautifully, tread lightly" offers a wealth of ideas through her website and books.  I just made an adorable puppy doll by recycling a cashmere sweater by following the pattern in Bety's Sewing Green. 

Hosting Your Own "Naked Lady Party"

Portia Sinnott of LITE Initiatives cites a 2007 Sonoma County Waste Management Agency report finding:  #1.) Textiles represented more than 3 percent of home waste in landfills - totaling approximately 53 pounds of textiles per family.   #2.) Much of this waste is potentially reusable clothing that people don’t have the time or energy to take to charities or sell at yard sales.  (Excerpted content from Clothing Swaps Press Democrat Article 9/1/09)

Inspired?  Read how to throw your own Naked Lady party here. 

(Note:  If you must discard clothing or other items - see the West County Gazette's "Ask Eco-Girl" for a great list of local resources that will help you put your items to good use.)