Last Saturday I drove out to Bolinas to the beautiful Mann Family Farm to attend Fibershed’s Grow Your Own Jeans event.
The event was the debut of jeans made of organic cotton and indigo grown in the Capay Valley, then woven into fabric by a weaver in San Francisco, and sewn into pants by a tailor in Alameda. The jeans were shown off at a great fashion show paired with grass-fed tops made locally from local wool.
This amazing event also included demos of indigo dyeing, spinning and weaving. It was fascinating to see wool become yarn and a green leafed plant produce deep dark blue dye. Clothing is an agricultural product, cotton and wool must be grown before your shirts or pants can be made.
Wearing regionally grown, naturally dyed and locally made clothes is just as important as eating local seasonal produce. Fibershed’s locally grown and made jeans is unheard of, but I hope over time the concept becomes common place because regional textiles is needed for a truly sustainable economy.
