Mona van der Velden
Sewing and creating has been a part of me as long as I can remember. I am a textile artist who starting sewing when I was 14 years old. Over time, I came to love the process of upcycling. Working with old sweaters, fur coats and anything that can be repurposed.
When a friend was gifted a hand crafted teddy bear. I had my introduction to fur, well faux fur at the time. I learned the craft of bear making and have been enjoying making these truly unique gifts ever since.
Later I was approached to make a bear from a real fur coat, someone had inherited. This was a greater challenge than faux fur. But I loved the thought that upcycling this fur keeps it out of the landfill. And then you have all the scraps, what to do with them. This led to making key fobs, headbands and anything I could come up with.
When I started working with felted sweaters, I always want to make new items from the remaining scraps. They still felt like treasures to me. So I would make ornaments and gnomes from pieces that originally would hit the scrap bin
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