Reiter8, Upcycled Sail Art

il_430xn_14316244.jpgEveryday I come across something on Etsy that surprises and gets me excited about the endless recycled craft possibilities. This week I came across reiter8, an upcycling crafter from Brooklyn that takes sailboat sails that would otherwise go to the dump and creates bags and pillows out of the canvas.

The designer came up with this idea while visiting her mother in Maine. After taking notice of the strong canvas material that made up the sails on a boat, she realized that this material would make a sturdy alternative material for bags and pillows all while saving them from going to landfills. Reiter8 takes full advantage of all of the different stitching styles and interesting text that the sail makers created as a design aspect for her bags.

The Etsy Storque has make a great little video about this artist in their new Handmade Portrait series. Check it out here.il_430xn_23945560-copy.jpg

Written by Juliet Ames

Juliet Ames breaks plates for a living. A metals and craft major at Towson University, Ames went on to work for the Howard County Arts Council organizing gallery exhibits. Meanwhile, she kept up her own craftwork. The plate-breaking started with a mosaic mailbox. “There were leftover pieces, so I soldered them and wrapped them around my neck and got a lot of compliments,” says Ames, 28, who just had her first child, a boy.

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