The Slow Fashion Way
Time-consuming, unique garments, sustainably made
Slow fashion, like slow food, takes a lot of time. It requires a natural, environmentally-friendly and sustainable approach.
-
To produce quality fibre takes years and years of breeding animals with fine fleece.
-
To care for these animals takes time every day.
-
To create beautiful yarn from the Suri alpaca fleece, and then to produce one unique garment in the workshop, may take hundreds of hours.
Each piece reflects the ‘soul’ of the maker.
The steps below illustrate Judy's Slow Fashion approach to making alpaca garments.
First,
Source quality royal or baby alpaca raw fleece. Be prepared to pay at least $40/kg.
Second, after shearing
-
Skirt each fleece rigorously (2 hours).
-
Sort into staples (4 hours).
-
Wash staples (2/3 days).
Third, fibre preparation
-
Comb each staple using special wool combs.
-
Create rovings using a ‘diz’.
Fourth, yarn production
-
Spin singles (1 metre/min).
-
Ply 2 or more singles together to create yarn (3 metres/min).
-
As 200 metres are needed, spinning plus plying take around 20 hours).
-
Wash and dress yarn.
Fifth, garment design
-
Swatching and practising stitch patterns.
-
Create “pattern” (4 hours).
Sixth, garment making
-
Knitting (30 hours).
-
Washing and blocking (2 hours).
Contact Judy with questions or for further information.