About

Hi! I'm Elizabeth, founder and CEO of Rebundance. My mission is to help makers create more and waste less.

 

I learned to sew from my mom and aunt when I was in elementary school to get free tickets to the fair by doing 4H projects. In college I wanted to make gifts, art and clothes inexpensively and stay true to my deeply held value of sustainability. At thrift stores I found sheets, table clothes, and curtains and transformed them into quilts and costumes. A few years later I had the idea to make it easier for other crafters to use upcycled materials by doing the sourcing and processing for them, but at the time I was busy having a "real job" and was too nervous to make the jump to being an entrepreneur. When the Covid-19 pandemic hit there was a severe mask shortage and I was working full time in healthcare administration, so I felt the need for masks acutely.  I wanted to contribute to preventing infection for frontline workers and vulnerable populations, so I dug back into the back of my closet of upcycled fabric and started making mask kits for neighbors to sew.  I made 500 kits, which were sewn and then donated in the community.  It reignited my desire to make crafting more eco-friendly. In March 2023 I took the leap and started Rebundance. 

When you walk into a craft store, there are so few sustainable options.  As someone who loves to create and has two little kids, I felt more and more complicit in adding to the unnecessary waste and consumption of modern life.

I'm just a gal that wants to be able to make a giant plush banana for burning man *and* reduce harm to the planet by making it out of 100% recycled materials. Is that too much to ask?  NOPE. **evidence**

large banana toy made from upcycled sustainable fabric

Rebundance allows me to combine my values of sustainability, creativity, and community so other makers can also keep create more and waste less.

 Collaborations

I love opportunities to collaborate with makers, artists, educators, and recyclers. I can source specific prints and patterns, prep fabric for botanical/natural dyeing or printing, and swap scraps and notions. 

Classes & Workshops

 I teach classes and offer workshops from beginner to advanced on upcycling fabric, mending, and upcycled textile arts. Recent classes include how to crochet a rag rug and making quote/protest banners. I am available to teach in the pacific northwest.