As I write this, we are getting our first major snow storm of winter 2023-2024. I'm glad to see the snow. Tomorrow I'll be skiing.

This fall seemed rushed, and my Targets for Nature report is quite late. The benefit is a longer perspective, with the results not just of the garden, but of our trip to Germany and late plantings.

This summer I had a very disappointing indigo crop. Although I began with a table roughly 9' long full of last year's Persecaria Tinctoria seeds and newly purchased ones, and did my utmost keeping them hydrated in the greenhouse during an absence, I managed only a half row of the plants in the garden and none matured in time before the frost. Seeing this, I went looking for alternatives, and found some. Stoney Creek Colours, an indigo grower in Tennessee, was selling off their naturally pre-reduced indigo, and I purchased all they had! This is a liquid which gives a beautiful medium blue in an easily prepared vat with the addition of only fructose and calx (lime/calcium hydroxide). I am now able to guarantee a natural indigo dyed product, but will never again have to worry about producing a vat. I'm thrilled!!!!

My trip to Germany and to the Erfurt region resulted in the purchase of woad dye powder grown in that region. This dye powder is extracted from the leaves through a process of agitation, reduction and sedimentation, and it is 100% indigotin. In preliminary vats, I've found it to be far superior in colour intensity to my own woad, and I've been able to greatly reduce the amount of thiox (thiourea dioxide) I'm using to reduce it. I will continue my experiments when the weather gets warmer, since it is an outdoor activity. Here is a video I made about this special dye. 

Some gardening successes include an abundance of weld and a huge supply of madder root (both dried for winter use). The need for biochar has increased in my dye garden, and I'm preparing to do that first thing come springtime and dry ground. I've collected a huge amount of dried brush for the purpose. I've also returned to the practice of cooking my dye plants over the outdoor fire to reduce the use of propane as a fuel. I was able to plant a large area of milkweed and tall grasses on the hill behind our house, and can't wait to see the results.

I've enjoyed some successes outside the garden as well. My application to benchmark with Textile Exchange has once again been rewarded with Level 3 (3rd year in a row!). Although the requirements were much stricter this time around, Sanctuary Innerwear has once again ranked alongside huge multinationals, and my microbusiness is on the sustainability map! In other news, our application to be considered a Managed Forest has been accepted, and we are now bound to taking care of the trees and biodiversity of our 52 acres. A personal goal along this line is to once again hear the Eastern Whippoorwill in the evenings.

I've spent the cooler days reading books (over 30 of them!) about biology, evolution, plant behaviours and benefits, and business. I've put together a presentation on my analysis of it all, including a proposal to humankind with regard to finding a reciprocal relationship with the natural world. My next post will contain more information about that, and maybe even a trailer! I've got a new website that focuses more on the benefits plants can bring us, even through our lingerie, and am concentrating on bringing these ideas to select stores and venues.

Thank you for your interest in Sanctuary Innerwear and in bringing nature to what we wear.

At the height of summer with no shortage of dry weather, I'm happy to say that the gardens are green and the birds are singing. The beauty and naturalness of our space brings me great joy. 

...but on to the science.

In December of 2022, I set some Science Based Targets for Nature using the  as a guide. I did this to challenge myself to make Sanctuary Innerwear align even further with nature, but also as a way of challenging big fashion, and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG's) themselves.

Here I report on my progress to date.

Organic Vat Target
SDG #12 Ensure sustainable consumption and production (prevent or minimize the generation of hazardous wastes as part of an overall integrated cleaner production approach)
SANCTUARY INNERWEAR'S TARGETS:
I will eliminate the use of thiox in my indigo vats by January, 2024.
I will reduce the use of thiox in my woad vats by 50% by January, 2024.
My progress as of June 22, 2023:
I'm lagging behind on this one. I'm intimidated by what I don't know, even after so many years of experience and regular reading and experimenting. What I read online I quickly judge for validity and value, and print off what is usable and add it to my "Information" binder for reference on dye days. I've begun a dye dye-ary to log my learning. 
I started a woad vat with thiox, which dyed only a very light blue, and with most of the woad particles unreduced in the vat. I tried to revive it with fructose, which only showed some signs of life for a short while, but no bloom or surface indicators.
My woad plants (those that I didn't dig out) have gone to see while heavily covered in tulle, and I will harvest these from below the plants in the coming weeks. and use them next year. I have enough shoots for this year's dyeing.
My indigo eventually got big enough to plant out and is resilient to the sun, even while very small. The cotton seed starting medium did not work well for the indigo seeds, and only 60% of them germinated. Above you can see the madder plants at the greenhouse stage with the cotton medium. I have 1.5 rows of indigo for my use this year.

Spandex Use Target
SDG #14 Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.
I will reduce the ratio of spandex in my fabric by 50% by the end of 2023.
My progress as of June 22, 2023
My order for this year's garments consisted of 96% Lenzing TENCEL and 4% spandex, and I will continue using this fabric as long as I can get it.

Ecosystem Targets
SDG #15 Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.

     1. Soil Improvement Target
SANCTUARY INNERWEAR'S TARGET:
The amount of biomass in my garden soil will increase by 50% in the next 3 years.
 My progress as of June 22, 2023
All of my gardens are covered in wood chips now, which is keeping the good bugs and wter in, and the weeds out, for the most part. I've begun using compost tea as well as manure tea for watering, with good results. The plants are much shinier, and seem to appreciate the addition of healthy microbes. I'm avoiding synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, and instead using the natural ways of working with plants and bugs, such as companion planting, hand removal, and pH manipulation. I've even used dog fur as a rodent/animal deterrent, and am building a scarecrow. I've changed my composting routine to include brown as well as green materials.

    2. Combating Species Extinction Target
SANCTUARY INNERWEAR'S TARGETS:
The number of bird species will increase by 25% in the next 3 years.
The area of land dedicated to medicinal plant growth and butterfly habitat will increase by 50% in the next 3 years.
My progress as of June 22, 2023
The number of birds at our property has increased a great deal, according to the Merlin bird app and our observations. We installed 8 hand made birdhouses and a bat house, and at least three of those have been occupied, with a beautiful house wren serenading us outside the bedroom window each morning. We are leaving standing timber in order to attract woodpeckers, instead of "cleaning them up". Me have completed a Managed Forest Program, which includes responsible use of trees, but also planting of medicinal plants. I have planted wild ginseng by the pond in a grove of nitrogen-rich aspen. I purchased and planted a pollinator kit from Kawartha Conservation, which includes butterfly milkweed, smoke bush, bog goldenrod, and tall grasses. 

All in all, it is a joy watching things grow and mature in partnership with nature. I've benefited from the learning, this challenge has brought me to, and all the signs indicate that nature is responding positively as well. While my friends are already enjoying harvests, I still have to wait, but I believe my advantage will come in the long run, as my ecosystem will be less reliant on me, and will operate as it was intended.

​I will report back at harvest time.

*total CO2 emissions per ton of fibre, including crop cultivation, harvesting, fibre production and spinning (note the difference between organic cotton from US and India):

USA organic cotton 2.35 kg 
US conventional cotton 5.9 kg
India organic cotton 3.8 kg
Tencel® 1.2 kg

Shen, Li & Patel, Martin. (2010). Life Cycle Assessment of man-made cellulose fibres. Lenzinger Berichte. 88: 1–59. ​
       

Has the snow brought those familiar feelings of comfort and joy to you?
Does the sunshine bring warmth and energy on its beams?
When you dress in your Sanctuary Innerwear each morning or evening, are you reminded of your positive intentions?

Our clothes do so much for us, in addition to warming and covering us. 
Well made clothes in sustainable fabrics without chemical dyes and surfectants allow our skin to breathe and move freely. They allow us to discover and express our true nature, and to immediately associate with others of like mind. They comfort us and pamper us tenderly. 

Please enjoy this very long (45 min) interview I recently did with Chelsea from @AnimaAnimus (podcasts) (website) where I talk about the dying process, fabric selection, mordants, and all things of importance.

I'm very glad to have had this online experience with you, my readers, over these last 12 months. I've enjoyed exploring Kate Fletcher's "Wild Dress" with you, thinking together about how nature and garment ought to interlace. 

I've enjoyed bringing clarity about the process of making all parts of Sanctuary Innerwear to you, and I hope to do more of this next year through video, a new media for me.

In this, my final blog post, I wish you purity, trust, virtue, zest, love, peace, sanctuary, joy, truth, glow, balance and tenderness. Much tenderness.

I write this on Hallowe'en night. 
A stranger one than usual.
We found other ways to trick and treat. 
Working with teens, I demonstrated the magic of dyeing.  

Sharing making, hoping they will take a little mystery away.
​The tangible results: ​

A growing chant from the slow fashion movement.
Who made the things that made your clothes? My question.
Lately, I have been making clothes out of other clothes. Remaking.
I would like something new to wear, but don't want to go to stores and don't wish to shop online. We have enough in this household to clothe us.

The clothes that deserve to be remade is now my study of interest. Fibres from nature: strong, durable, warm, full of life and energy. There's a part of me in them. Clothes handmade, natural colours, comfortable, classic, but not necessarily fashion. They have their origins in ecclectic and sometimes unlikely places: Eaton's, the Byward Market, Germany, a hardware store in US. Not online, from Toronto, from shows. Not from a shopping trip with friends. Not recent. 

What natural part of me is present in these clothes? Skill, pride, creativity, practicality, truthfulness, introspection, ok, a little exhibitionism. Good memories, cost forgotten. Things to look for in future purchases.

​Below, a collage of the labels in my most-loved clothes. Cotton, Ramie, Linen, made in Canada.​

GLOW Cami and Demi-brief, one of my Sanctuary Innerwear offerings. This dainty little thing is named GLOW because of the infusion: coffee, cardamom, cinnamon and cloves. Warming herbs, almost as good as the beverage (better if you're trying to quit the habit). My Tencel is dyed with walnut shells and pomegranate rinds for a deeper shade, often a bit mottled as well, but without the post mordants (see above). This Hallowe'en I gathered my own treats from the lawns with brown-stained sidewalks, beating the squirrels somehow. 

I invite you to find ways to glow in the darkness this month, to find that which helps you be your most natural you and to share that mystery in your own way. 

My habits are changing.

As I head back to work and reconnect with the wider world, I notice that the things I value have silently undergone change.
Covid has had an impact on my dressing and shopping habits.

I still enjoy fashion and can't help but notice and assess new styles: elements of art recombined, repositioned.
Suddenly, however, I'm not being swept into the rushing stream.
​Suddenly, I'm holding on to something bigger, stronger. My coverings are more me.

I've put together a collage of pieces of my wardrobe worn this past month, Kate Fletcher's words milling around in my brain. Thinking that if I'm ever done with these clothes, I'll make a quilt out of them. Each square a life lived, and still covering.

In making this assemblage, I notice my preferences for covering: wool, linen, Tencel, leather, textured, plain, handworked, old. All part of my ecosystem, and the earth's.

Still playing: instead of taking a box to Salvation Army, I decide to cut and sew together the pieces of clothes that no longer serve me. A long vest, 2 lined jackets, jeans, 2 tops. Six garments. This quilt measures 8' x 8'. I've got an idea for this: I'm going to cover the ground with it. Polyester and rayon may serve me yet as weed eradicators.

We must not cover it so much that it can't. 
It too wants to wear its natural garments: flower, field, forest, sand and rock.

The many stages between fabric and garment of Sanctuary Innerwear involve me in nature. I'm at my best when I can reconnect, "get muddy", and "interlace" again. 

Today, the last of the woad leaves came in, and I will attempt to persuade it to wait for me until spring. I fill bottles with the emerald green water with turquoise foam. I will let it settle and dry the pigment.

Somehow, having this connection with the earth allows me to view the rest differently.
Notice, assess, but not get swept away.
​Grounding yet ascending, Balance's infusion is just that.

My covid clothes will soon no longer be needed. 

For one half year (!) my life happened in these clothes.
​
​As the time unfolded, my clothes gave, asking nothing in return, not even to be folded.

I've been reading Kate Fletcher's "Wild Dress: Clothing the Natural World" (Uniformbooks, 2019), the first autobiographical writing from this Professor of Sustainability, Design and Fashion (University of the Arts, London, England). Her words have deepened my understanding of the relationship between our clothes and the natural world, and have enriched my holidays. In my remaining writing of 2020, I will do my best to interpret her words and apply the concepts to my Sanctuary Innerwear blog for you.

Outside and directly overhead, a storm is crashing; inside I'm warm and dry. My oil-based tent and camping gear is a godsend tonight, but last night it didn't know I preferred to be cool. I've made a decision to invest in a wool blanket and make myself a silk liner before next summer. I'm one of those who enjoys outdoor experiences in any weather. I "dwell well" outside. I wear layers: the ones closest to me are natural and those on the exterior are often different forms of  nylon, according to conditions (although I do have a waxed jacket, such as would evidently be found in Walton's of Hawes, London). I try to keep my layering simple and understand what I a surrounding myself in. Sanctuary Innerwear is always on me. I keep it close. It works well for me in all conditions.

But soon, summer will be over and I will need to "dress up and show up" again. 

Have you had your colours done? This is a method to indicate, by virtue of your skin tone, eye and hair colour etc. the palette which emphasizes your natural strengths. One colour in my palette is woad blue (second from the top on the left in this picture of this summer's dyed fabric).





​

Woad and I have had a love/hate relationship. This was the first dye I actively sought to acquire while travelling in its native growing region of Erfuhrt, Germany 6 years ago. I've now decided that it's much too expensive to import and have been growing it instead. Last week I had my very first woad vat which gave blue solely from the leaves of my garden!

​The dyed fabric product was not to my standards yet, but it was certainly a milestone nonetheless! You can read some of my other escapades with woad here. This will give you a feel for the art and science (or more closely, mystery and magic) that woad (and its cousin indigo) are. 

​

Here we are at the height of summer. The sun has been with us for most of June and July, offering light and warmth to lift us up, and possibly a defense against our current illness. My gardens are full and green, and it's a JOY to gather the leaves and flowers to make Sanctuary Innerwear each morning. Today I foraged this year's first armful of goldenrod and smelled its pungent, fresh aroma in the early morning dew. It brings me JOY to show you the process of dyeing in this blog, so please read on...

I noticed a more prominent visit from mullein this summer and wondered about it. Last summer St. John's Wort graced the field in abundance, and it occurred to me as I picked it and made a salve for my husband's nerve troubles, how lucky we were that it was there. Now I'm suspicious about the mullein. Do we need it right now? Sure enough, mullein is known to open airways, a "go-to herb for respiratory ailments and lung issues" (Body Into Balance, Groves, 2016). Wow.

I am preparing to go back to work, like many others. I have been thinking it's a good time to set some personal and professional goals so that I can make the most of my remaining formal employment. I'm reading "The 12 Week Year" and love how it calls me each day to act on what I want for the future. I've set some goals for my next 12 weeks, and the first one is "To do something that makes someone appreciative....x 12". I aim to do this by listening to my clients (and my Sanctuary Innerwear customers) to find what they want and after weighing the pros and cons, work hard to give them that. Another is to "have 12 a-ha moments". I will do this by taking a mental break from Sanctuary Innerwear and doing some summer reading (for fun!) and keeping a diary. Achieving my goals has significant intrinsic benefits to me. If you're interested in helping me achieve them, you can Sign up for my newsletter and respond to some questions I have there.

I believe JOY comes to those who accomplish things that are
​challenging, interesting and helpful.

To  prepare a natural cellulosic fabric for dyeing, scour the fabric (wash thoroughly to remove all manufacturing residues) and heat it gradually in a pot of water with pickling alum. Let the water nearly boil while moving the fabric around and then turn off the heat and leave the fabric overnight in the alum. This will bind the alum to the fabric, opening the fibres and intensifying (and brightening) the colour. You will see the white alum settled on the fabric. Remove the fabric from the alum and wash it thoroughly. 

Remove and strain the water to get your dyebath. It should be a yellow-y orange colour. You can dye with the dye bath cold or warm, depending on the intensity of yellow you are looking for. A cold bath will give you a lighter colour. If you are heating the dyebath, put the fabric in first, then heat gradually and stir regularly so as to allow the colour to adhere to the fabric evenly.

Once the fabric is a little darker than the colour you want, remove it from the pot and wash it (I use Dawn dishwashing soap for this step). Rinsing should be done in hot water at first, then changing to cool, taking 3-5 rinses. Once the water runs clear, the colour is set. Dry the fabric. 

Use the dye bath to water your garden. It is acidic and acrid, making it good for pest control.
Also, get more goldenrod (remember, pick no more than 10% of the growth in any wild location) and dry it for next year! Making this big beautiful yellow in the middle of winter will do wonders for your JOY! (See?! I gathered some mullein for later too .....

And so as I allow my mind and my days to take on new obligations, schedules, worries and plans, I reflect on the JOY I've had living for today, being in the present, connecting with now, dancing with the earth. 
​Perhaps down the road, my goal will be to try to come back here.

Today while the blossoms still cling to the vine,
I'll taste your strawberries, I'll drink your sweet wine.
A million tomorrows shall all pass away,
ere I forget all the JOY that we've had....
Today.