We are excited to start working with this wool! It is a sample of mustard colored, hand-woven wool from Moral Fibre in India. This hand-spun and hand-woven pure wool will be used for a few different pieces in the F/W12 collection. Without using harmful chemicals and hardly any electricity, this wool helps sustain the environment and local spinners and weavers in India.

According to this article on Moral Fibre, “Moral Fibre is one of the few choices for people who care about how they look as well as about the world they live in. Moral Fibre frees the environment from pollution and depletion and it also frees people from poverty.”

Check out their website site for more information on their different eco-friendly textiles and initiatives!

Remember Tim, the intern? He completed these tassels at the studio this week!

Hello everyone! Jocelyn here. I found Tara and Study NY through www.outsapop.com- a blog I have followed for years about “trashion, recycled style, DIY fashion, and eco-sustainable refashion.” Tara has been featured on this website a handful of times over the past two years (here, here, here, and here.).So I hoped on over to Tara’s blog and I was able to read about Study NY and Study Hall. So that’s how  got here, but where am I from?

I am originally from Bel Air, Maryland. In May I will graduate from Indiana University of Pennsylvania (yes, it is a silly name, it is located in Western PA) with a bachelors degree in Fashion Merchandising. However, sewing is my passion. I have participated in two fashion shows at my school, the first of which I used mostly rescued vintage polyester, and the second of which I used almost entirely rescued fabrics- old sheets, thrift store fabric, not to mention, people love to give me their grandma’s old fabric collections. This year, the Fashion Association (of which I am president) is doing a Trashion Show with the Indiana Arts Council in addition to our annual student showcase. I hope I will be able to bestow on the members all of the information I have been learning about sustainable fashion!

I am only going to be working for Tara three days a week for this month, so I am trying to learn as much as possible! So far I have: updated the website and social media, attending a meeting with a fabric company and a potential overseas client, searched the garment district for comparable buttons and thread, visited one of the factories, stuck labels, and used an industrial sewing machine (the sewing labs at school have electronic Berninas, not nearly as exciting).

We are excited about the possibility of precious adorable Japanese children being able to purchase and play in our children’s collection. Study & Play might be finding its way to Japan next season!

Almost finished knitting the sleeves for a fall sweater sample! I’m loving the color combination of these reclaimed yarns.