Stories sewn around recovered materials
I’m committed to creating colorful multifunctional accessories to remind us of nature and the responsibility we carry with each step on this planet, from things already thrown to this world and as few new materials as possible. I use locally collected preowned, preloved, recovered second hand and dead stock natural non-plastic materials for my makings. They were already produced, lived one or more happy lives and deserve a new (last or not) chance instead of getting to landfills.
PRELOVED JEANS
Upcycled Denim
The main material I use in my work is repurposed old jeans denim, most of it without elastane. I collect jeans locally, clean them up, recover any little usable piece of them (from fabric to thread and zippers), cut them according to my own patterns, embellish with manual techniques (embroidery, applique, sashiko) and assemble using a sewing machine. I love raggy edges so I use them a lot; the more you wear them, the more beautiful they become.
LOCAL STUDIOS LEFTOVER
Leather Scraps
Most of NVRLG jewelry and appliques are hand made using locally collected tiny leather workshops leftovers which would otherwise end up in the landfill. I respect the right to life of every being and I am deeply outraged by the way in which animals are raised and exploited for meat and skin, but I think and hope that, by turning suffering into something beautiful, I pay tribute to beings who cannot decide on their lives and replace pain with love and joy.
SHIRTS, SH AND DEAD STOCKS
Recovered Cotton
Some of the items at NVRLG, such as bags, pouches or clothes, have lining. Most of the times, I use preloved cotton shirts for this, locally collected, cleaned and deconstructed. Other times, I treasure hunt for cotton fabrics in second-hand shops and dead stock warehouses. Each of these look good and will have a long and happy second life. But the linings I cherish the most are the precious pieces put together after other local creatives make their upcycled magic.
NON-PLASTIC
Salvaged Accessories
Most of NVRLG jewelry and appliques are hand made using locally collected tiny leather workshops leftovers which would otherwise end up in the landfill. I respect the right to life of every being and I am deeply outraged by the way in which animals are raised and exploited for meat and skin, but I think and hope that, by turning suffering into something beautiful, I pay tribute to beings who cannot decide on their lives and replace pain with love and joy.
OLD FOR NEW
Revived Thread
Call me exaggerated, but I many times save the thread from the jeans I deconstruct, iron it to get straight and reuse it for my new pieces. I know it is biodegradable, but the spools of thread for denim available on the market are not; they are all plastic, so I’m trying to avoid using many of those. And there is also an aesthetic reason: when constructing new items out of old jeans, I love matching the thread color. Along with these, I also have bags of centuries old thread from my grandmother who sewed tapestries, or donated by people in the community with similar stories.
something more…
Making Process
Get a peek behind the scenes and see how I make the things I’m so passionate about