Can you imagine wearing handmade clothes made from fibers that are grown within 150 miles from your front door? Not even for a week..right? But Rebecca Burgess, who is a textile artist, author and educator has been living with this challenge on for more than a year. In Rebecca's words:

"The fibershed challenge is to live for one year, in clothes made from fibers that are solely sourced within a geographical region no larger than 150 miles from my front door; this includes the natural dye colors as well!"

Why? To balance our production and consumption of textiles that supports environment as well as protects labor from exploitation. "The goal of this project is to both show and model that beauty and fashion can function hand-in-hand with sustainability, local economies, and regional agriculture."  This wonderful journey of Rebecca started with Heidi Iverson, Paige Green, and her love for natural dyes. It began with a basic wardrobe of 11 pieces and has constantly grown since then; local artisans have been part of it, local farmers fully supporting the cause.

It gives us immense pleasure to feature Rebecca as 'Artist of the Week' on our blog. Learn more about her project below with some beautiful images taken by Paige Green:


Rebecca, let's start with a brief introduction of yours.

I am an educator, artisan, and dye farmer. I grew up in a region where my family had lived for 4 generations before I was born. Connecting to place is what my life is primarily about, and this is continuous with my relationship to textiles. I am passionate about local wool, alpaca, cotton.. and botanic color.


















































I simply love what you're doing, Rebecca. How did 'Fibershed' start? We would love to know about its inception.

I'd finished the research for my book Harvesting Color- and realized during these field studies, how available bio-regional dye color and fiber were within so many regions within the country. Fibershed was a response to many factors- a blend of watching continuous job loss, homogenization of our material culture through corporate chains, and the misuse of ecological resources globally. All of these elements contributed to my desire to find creative and interesting solutions-- Fibershed is my offering.




















Fibershed is a work of commitment and hard work. What inspired you and kept you going in those hard times of struggle?

The inspiration came from the promise I had made to myself to wear local-- I just kept reflecting on the reality that there were so many resources available to me to make my clothes, I had to just be patient, and keep spinning-- dyeing-- sewing--- and most importantly-- collaborating.


















































Tell us in a brief how did you go about making this project a success. Take us through the journey from conceiving the idea till present.

The project was a success due to the commitment to collaborate. Making connections between farmers and artisans was the key to this project's survival. The excitement generated by these two groups is what made the project viable. There would be no clothes without these teams of individuals. A successful kickstarter campaign helped us pay for fibers, documentation of the project, and some labor (most of the labor was donated). The project is now focused on keeping these relationships going through our online marketplace-- we are happy to see artisans committing to working with local materials, and very happy to see the farmers have more access to local markets.




















































Which step has been the most challenging one for you?

Logistics-- keeping up with it all! Emails, phone calls, blog entries, requests, organizing meetings, paperwork,... etc.


Do you foresee a revolution in the textile industry and people's sensitivity towards our environment?

Pretty much inevitable-- the industry isn't currently designed to sustain itself, so if it wants to do so, it will have to change. The condition of having to seek cheaper labor offshore, and the issue of having to sustain huge margins-- all to remain competitive... is, by its nature not an ecological model. All human created systems will have to reflect natural living models if they intend to sustain. People's sensitivity to the environment will come in waves-- as communities and individuals are exposed to the realities of a shifting climate, and issues related to their personal health-- they will come around, and realize, in the end, that they are the 'environment', there is not separation.



















































Tell us about your book 'Harvesting Color'. What is it all about?

Harvesting Color is about re-introducing color creation processes to ecological systems. There are color potentials in every nook of every bio-region. The book is organized seasonally so that the reader can follow plant life through the year. Each season is completed with a knitwear project that the reader can make with their season's worth of dyed yarns.






























What do you think should be the first step that must be taken by people to contribute towards saving our environment from hazardous chemicals emitted during the manufacture of cloths?

The first step would be to create policies that force manufacturers to list all the ingredients that go into their garments... like food, clothing should be labeled. I think this is a first step, that will help bring awareness to the toxic cocktail.


What has been the most fulfilling moment for you during this whole journey; your fondest memory with 'Fibershed'?

My fondest moments have been seeing the creations coming from the designers for the first time. It is so incredible to see what they have made over months of work.... to see what they have done with local materials has been absolutely and purely inspiring.




























































Would you like to share your future goals/plans with us?

We are creating a non-profit organization out of Fibershed, that will help continue to analyze, re-build, and network, to create a functioning, healthy, renewable energy supply chain. We are launching a marketplace for our raw materials and a few finished products, as we increase the viability of our supply chain, more finished products will be available.


A final word for our readers, what message do you have for them?

Keep asking questions about where your garments are from, and who makes them.. the closer you get to the biological context of your wardrobe, it is inevitable that you will seek the healthiest options for yourself and the planet.















































Rebecca, you're on a great mission and I absolutely salute you for this. I would also like to congratulate your team for having part in this wonderful project. Wish you all the luck!

You can see the full details of Fibershed here.
Learn everything about Rebecca Burgess here.
Fibershed on Facebook.


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