A dissertation a lifetime ago

In 1997 I graduated from university, it seems a whole lifetime away now, but recently I've been thinking about my dissertation.

For those of you who don't know, I'm dyslexic so, my dissertation was a massive obstacle for me.
As I was on a design course most people (there weren't many of us) chose to do theirs on history of a designer or a decade etc. But I needed something I could really get to grips with, something out of the ordinary and argumentative lol
It was a time in the fabric industry where people wanted natural unbleached cottons and silks, normal everyday people were becoming more aware of the environment and the impact we had on it and supermarkets were manufacturing thier clothing from it.
I can't quite remember how it became about, probably something to do with me doing anything against the flow, but I ended up writing about the fact that in reality cotton growing at that time was really quite bad for the environment compared to some man-made fibers. I ended up getting an amazing mark for it, far more than I could of ever wished for.
Nearly 16 years on I've been thinking about that piece and how my work effects the environment. Of course things in material manufacturing have moved on, dyes are much safer, less toxic and manufacturers are much more aware of the effects they have, carbon footprints etc. etc.

I try and be as effective as I can, if I can source locally I will, it doesn't change the fact that I use cotton, that its dyed and that its got a carbon foot print.
So I'm trying to use every scrap of fabric I can possibly use.

I firstly designed the bigger poplin, then I made a medium and a small but noticed I still had scraps and unless I made a miss-matched poplin they were sat in a drawer. I contemplated using them in patchwork quilts and did cut lots into squares but as I've become more busy I just don't have time to make quilts.
Then the Pram sized poplin was born out of scraps, a great size for babies and a lot more mobile for pushchairs, but recently its been bothering me I've still got scraps.

After a friend challenged me to make a tiny poplin it started me thinking, if I could save my tiny scraps then I could make a little poplin out of them.....a Scraplin.
So after 16 years the dissertation is still in my mind, up til now hidden away but still in there somewhere!
Definitely something to think about.

I still have minute scraps but they're not big enough to get anything out of...but if in the future I can find someone locally who makes handmade paper...they would be great for them :-)

Keep your eyes out for the new Sraplins!