Fresh Shop: Windward Wearables

Every day, our community grows in unexpected and delightful ways. For our Fresh Shops series, sellers who have been on Etsy for a handful of months or are waiting for those first few sales introduce themselves. Here’s a warm welcome to all our newbies!

Hello! My name is Inge and my shop is Windward Wearables. I make modern, sustainable fashion accessories, using beautiful hemp fabrics, organic cotton thread, non-toxic ink and my own two hands. I live with my boyfriend in the small village of Zeeland in the Netherlands.

I started my shop to combine my love for textiles with my love for patterns and illustration. I knew I wanted to make my products as sustainable as I could. During my search for sustainable fabric, I fell in love with hemp. Hemp is an extremely fast-growing crop that needs no pesticides or herbicides and only about half the water cotton needs to grow. Fabric made from hemp is strong and durable and holds its shape. The fibers don’t break down after repeated washing, like other fibers do, but soften with each wash. It truly is an amazing material.

I love designing prints and finding the right way to transfer them onto the fabric. I started with hand-carved stamps and now also really enjoy painting directly onto the fabric. I love the slightly imperfect and unique look both techniques give, teaching me to embrace what I create in that moment. I’ve taught myself every aspect of the process and look forward to experimenting with other techniques this year to add more prints and products to my shop.

Making something beautiful and useful feels like something worth doing, even though it’s not the best fit for an overthinker and perfectionist like myself. But when I can turn off my head and turn on my heart, there’s nothing like working on my creative ideas to make me feel alive and at peace. I have found no better meaning to my life than to make something with meaning.

Photos by Joop van Roy of Morning Road Photography.

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