Reviving a Dyeing Craft

The people of rural Southern Appalachia have a saying: “Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without”. You could call them the ultimate reuse, restore, recyclers. The immigrants who homesteaded the high ridges of the Appalachian range had to be resourceful — they often arrived with nothing more than an axe, a gun, and an auger. Many were the indentured servants of the Irish guild systems, and after seven years labor they earned their passage to America and followed the Great Wagon Road out into the mountains where there was available land. Their resourcefulness at surviving in the mountains mingled with the local Cherokee ethic of conservation to produce a way of life and a culture that prided itself on self-sufficiency. Their reverent connection to the land and the belief that nature provided all were integral parts of their simple lifestyle.

I remember the first time I was taught to weave a rag rug on a loom from a North Carolina elder- I was strangely proud of myself, like I had accomplished something important. All I had done was weave scraps of wool together, but now I had rug, and I felt a subtle but tangible delight from creating something I could put to use. I had gone from a sheep, a little Merino fellow that munched happily on clover to grow his coat, to produce a rug.

It dawned on me: wearing clothes is an ecological act.