Fiber Artist
Products from Recycled Materials
Bona Fiske Kidston makes lusciously warm mittens from recycled sweaters and lines them with synthetic fleece.
She writes:
I began making items from scraps and recycled materials at a very young age. My mother would give me pieces of material left over from her sewing projects, and I would create clothes for my dolls. My mother indirectly taught me to recycle when she made me a Halloween costume. She said that the material came from flour sacks from my grandparents’ bakery!
While I was in college studying dance at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst I began making costumes for the Dance Department for concerts. Many times I would take old costumes and redesign them into “new” costumes, as our budget for such items was very tight. When our family moved to Florida my children attended a private school that was very involved in the performing arts. I began making costumes for their theater and dance productions and continue to do so to this day.
In 2008, after we moved back to Massachusetts, I started a business making items from recycled materials. I continue to make mittens, hats, bags and wreaths from recycled sweaters. I love to hunt for the materials and try to envision what I will make from a particular sweater. I have very little waste and use the small scraps to make Christmas wreaths and ornaments. I love the process of putting together the colors and patterns to create an item. I continue to create new items every year.
