Waste wanted in its warm new life

MATERIALS planned for landfill aren’t always destined to end up in the ground.

This is something maker and re-user, Deb Weston has come to learn and celebrate, weaving her own creative recycling movement in Ballarat.

“I have an ethos that if it’s already existing, why go out and purchase brand new?” she said.

The #IWasLandfill Instagram tag showcases Weston’s handmade textile work, and those locally following in her footsteps.

She’s a visual, textural storyteller, weaving blankets, hall runners, rugs, baskets, bags and clothing, including jumpers, out of materials that have had a previous life.

“The first thing I made on a big loom was a recycled cotton jumper piece. I undid about 20 jumpers from op shops, friends and family. They were the ugliest jumpers. No one would buy them.

“I re-spun them so they were a mix of colours, and also got sewing cotton from op shops, and wove a giant rug out of that,” she said.

A couple of years ago, a local company put an anonymous call-out online, to rehome their leftover carpet yarn, both pure wool and acrylic, and reduce waste going into landfill.

Weston jumped at the opportunity figuring if she could re-spin wasted clothing, she could work with wasted yarn. Ever since, she’s had free 100-kilogram bales of material to use.

“The yarn is a waste product because it’s either at the end of order, or it is at the end of cones. Sometimes I get really nice wool, but a lot of the time it’s acrylic which is really good to make bags,” she said.

“I’m now on my seventh carpet yarn bale. I’ve also used denim jeans and haybale twine.

“I love saying, this is what it was and now we’ve changed it to give it a new life. That new life is exciting really, and every piece has a story.”

The next project Weston is planning will utilise a cone of grey yarn, embracing a classic phrase heard around family dinner tables for generations, “you get what you’re given.”

“I’m dyeing that yarn the colours that I want, and using that as one single piece. I’m not going to go out and buy anything else; it’s what I’ve got and what I have to use,” she said.

Not only sourcing bales for her own use, Weston redistributes yarn to other makers, encouraging Ballarat people to weave their own blankets.

“If you’ve got this product that is from landfill, you can make a blanket, turn your heater off or down low, and then you’re not using as much electricity. They’re so warm.”

Textiles may be the current focus, but her waste reduction began when she was on a budget while studying product design at TAFE.

“I just reused things. At that stage it was jewellery, reusing silverware. I liked the textures and the patterns, so I would cut that up and remake that into things.

“I was taking something so unwanted and remaking it so that someone else wanted it again, and I’ve just never stopped,” she said.

Weston is open to commissions, recently recovering some old ottomans. Visit debwestonmaker.com.au or instagram.com/deb.weston.maker to find out more or get in touch.