Christmas shopping - Make it in America

Whatever your holiday needs, why not do something that supports jobs and living wages here in the US?

Why not hunt down some of those modern rarities: items made in the USA?

If you get discouraged looking at item after item only to discover they are made in China, try searching "made in USA" on REI or other major retailers' websites.
(try not to weep when you do this on LL Bean... lo, how the mighty have fallen)

Give the gift of a viable domestic economy this holiday season! :D

--------

ETA: LL Bean has 156 items made by workers in the USA. REI has 3,989. I know where I'll be shopping...
TE, for some reason, has only 1. That just can't be right. http://www.teamestrogen.com/search.e...form-submit=go Susan! Help! Why doesn't this pull up running pants made in Portland OR and Burley products and Smartwool?

Sounds good to me!! :)

This Christmas (like last) I'm making all my gifts. Last year it was crocheted scarves. This year it's mittens upcycled from thrift store wool sweaters. If I have to buy anything, I'll make sure it's made in the USA. I bought all the sweaters at local charity thrift stores, so at least the second sale of the item benefited my local community (probably not the first, tho).

I'm knitting hats.

In Cascadia colors. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cascadi...dence_movement)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by KnottedYet

I'm knitting hats.

In Cascadia colors. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cascadi...dence_movement)

---

How funny. I live in "Cascadia" and have never heard of the movement. How sheltered am I?!:rolleyes:

I sell paintings.. Just saying..

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Biciclista

I sell paintings.. Just saying..

---

I bought one of her paintings, and it is a beauty beyond price.

Support your local artist this Winter Solstice! Give the gift of Biciclista's amazing watercolors.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by VeganBikeChick

How funny. I live in "Cascadia" and have never heard of the movement. How sheltered am I?!:rolleyes:

---

I remember Ecotopia in the 1970's, but didn't know about Cascadia until recently. And I found out about it through the Cascadia Cup. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cascadia_Cup A friend of mine helped start it, and was in charge of transporting the Cup to a few games.

Oh, my Cascadia...
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...scadia.svg.png

I make my gifts - alternating so one year it's a big gift, the next it's smaller. Last year it was crocheted afghans, this year I'm making lavender-rosemary soap and crocheting cotton body rags to go with.

In the past I've stitched placemats and napkins, made aprons... next year I'm going to crack out the oil paint and see what I come up with. I have a family friend in Provincetown who has generously offered to give me a lesson next time I am up. ;-)

I soooo wish I could afford one of her paintings. Or prints. Would mean the world to me! http://www.packardgallery.com/anne.html Isn't she amazing? Lots of people paint the sea, but not many catch the moodiness of the sea and sky like she does.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Tri Girl

Sounds good to me!! :)

This Christmas (like last) I'm making all my gifts. Last year it was crocheted scarves. This year it's mittens upcycled from thrift store wool sweaters.

---

Cool. How do you do that? :confused: :D :cool:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Trek420

Cool. How do you do that? :confused: :D :cool:

---

If you get lucky, there are some sweaters (even store-bought) where the fabric isn't knit, cut and sewn, but it's knit so that the body up to the sleeves is a single length of yarn. You can take the sweater apart, unravel it, and use the yarn for your own nefarious purposes. :D

I have no idea what I'm making people for Christmas this year. DBF's getting knitted socks once I finally get him to measure his feet for me. My sister doesn't want to be seen in my knitting, so so she says. ("You know you could go to Kohl's and get something that looks a lot nicer for less, right?"):rolleyes:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Owlie

If you get lucky, there are some sweaters (even store-bought) where the fabric isn't knit, cut and sewn, but it's knit so that the body up to the sleeves is a single length of yarn. You can take the sweater apart, unravel it, and use the yarn for your own nefarious purposes. :D

---

Or take 100% wool sweaters, wash and dry them in the machine (exactly what you should NOT do with wool sweaters!) so they shrink and felt, then cut out mitten-shaped pieces and sew them together. There are patterns that put the thumb in a better spot by using separate thumb pieces sewn onto the main part, to avoid the awkwardness of having the thumb out to the side, but they are also more complicated.

I am knitting scarves with yarn spun by my friend who got the yarn from friends who raised the sheep and alpaca's. Oh and she dyed it herself too. She also has a great herb shop. The shampoo bars are awesome! Here is her herb store site http://www.prairielandherbs.com/ oh the lavender vanillia linen body spray is sooooooo good! I am getting all my friends a bottle for christmas.

I made two pairs of mittens already (one for me and one for a colleague). They were made for my winter commutes and they are the WARMEST mittens I've EVER had!!!! I lined mine with fleece to make them extra-warm, but they would be fine without the fleece lining, too.

Yup- I felt wool sweaters to make them. It's a 3 piece mitten that you sew. I'm not a great sewer (seamstress) but these were really easy to make. I used this Youtube video to guide me. I made my own template since I don't have a printer to print out a pattern.
When I made the mittens for gifts, I'll use 3 sweaters for each one, making the three pieces out of different sweaters that color coordinate (to make them unique and special).
It's really a fun project. I made a pair for a colleague and she loves them! Hers have pretty buttons as decoration on them.

I make bags, pouches, quilted kindle covers, coasters and all kinds of fabric creations... just sayin;)

Obviously, I am a big supporter of locally hand-crafted artisan goods!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Owlie

If you get lucky, there are some sweaters (even store-bought) where the fabric isn't knit, cut and sewn, but it's knit so that the body up to the sleeves is a single length of yarn. You can take the sweater apart, unravel it, and use the yarn for your own nefarious purposes. :D

---

Oh, cool so like recycling/repurposing yarn. If you find a nice wool sweater alpaca, merino, etc could just unwind it. Voila! Yarn. Cool. :cool:

I only do gifts for my mom and niece; niece always gets cash (made in America :D ) and this year we're taking my mom to FL for a week as her gift... also made in America! :p

When I made all that peach jam this summer, I was planning on giving it as Christmas gifts. But I've ended up eating most of it myself!

Right now I'm knitting away: colorful mittens and scarves. Luckily all the immediate family lives in places that get a proper winter. I'll also be baking and making some candy when the time gets closer...

Another repurposed yarn project: did you know most of the innards of a baseball is yarn? It's icky stuff, so I knit a placemat for the cats' bowl from it.

Here is my friends etsy site where she sells her hand spun , hand dyed yarn as well as she has a bunch of hand dyed silk scarfs for sale. Besides etsy is such a great place to buy gifts made in america plus there is some great up cycling! http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http...al&h=dAQEC--wb the address has facebook in it but it will take you to etsy.

Here's a more general question - I know part of the answer but I'm posting it so we can all share our answers.

Absent designated markets and outside of craft fairs, how do I find local artisans? Say, I just need a little skein of darning yarn. I KNOW there are spinners and dyers in my area. But they don't set up at the farmers' markets, and the season for that is over anyhow.



My partial answer: there's a local poultry and beef farmer who set up a brick-and-mortar shop in town where she sells her farm's meat and eggs; other animal products, sweet syrups and seasonal vegetables from other local farms; and a small selection of mass marketed food and household items. Farmers talk to each other and she'll probably know who I can ask. Likewise, a friend of mine is an aspiring writer with contacts in the local arts community, and if I have a specific type of gift item in mind she can probably point me in someone's direction.

Where else would you folks go?

Farmer's markets are a good place at least where I live. They let local artist come with booths year round. Also if you try local art store;s and maybe see if people are posting flyer's about home craft shows and stuff. I am so embedded in this community i know all the home shows that happen this time of year. Some good some not so good. Maybe the community center would have flyer's up too?

Keeping it local -

Give a gift certificate for a massage, to a beauty salon, etc.

Got the DH a Filson's wool vest for his birthday - not only made in the USA, made right here in Seattle in a union shop - very rare indeed.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Eden

Got the DH a Filson's wool vest for his birthday - not only made in the USA, made right here in Seattle in a union shop - very rare indeed.

---

Not as rare as you think :) http://allusaclothing.com/

But you're right. It's nice to find a local one too.

When not riding or at work I go between quilting and wood working. This year I am making gifts with my lathe. I plan to make some wine stoppers, bowls and other small kitchen type of gifts.

I will try to attach a pic of some of my stoppers and a cheese cutter.

Last year we gave my family members (in WI and IL) wine, spirits, and beer all made in MI. They were products they generally could not find outside our state.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by solobiker

I will try to attach a pic of some of my stoppers and a cheese cutter.

---

They're beautiful!

Thank you!

I have seen this sentiment expressed a lot lately and as a self-employed toy/doll-maker it thrills me. :) I does take a different mindset to shop for handcrafted and special vs. inexpensive and advertised on tv.

something related to ponder: http://www.somersherwood.com/?p=126