Metro Roundup: Local artist helps keep community safe, stylish

When 1980s-inspired oversized hair scrunchies came back in style over the past few years, local artists Rachel Brockwell and Emily Liming started to look for ways to make them out of recycled fabrics.

Since August, they’ve been selling these scrunchies at The Clotheshorse, a designer consignment store located off of Rocky Ridge. They call themselves the Party Badger Craft Co. Most of the fabric they use to make their scrunchies comes from cutting up thrift store finds. Other fabric they’ve bought has come from scrap piles at fabric stores. Fabrics they’ve been able to turn into scrunchies have included cashmere, corduroy, velvet, satin and more.

Making scrunchies from recycled materials not only makes sense from an environmental standpoint — Liming said there is typically a lot of waste in the fashion industry — but it also helps keep their scrunchies more affordable. The Clotheshorse typically sells the scrunchies for $5 each.

Brockwell and Liming both enjoy being crafty and creative, they said. Brockwell taught herself how to draw and paint, and she’s currently revising her first novel. Liming spends her time taking photos and making cards for her friends and family.

Working with textiles is both relaxing and therapeutic, Brockwell said.

“I struggle with a lot of anxiety,” she said. “It’s something that I can just focus on. You have to think about just one thing and the way your stitches are going or the way your fabric is folding. It gets your mind off everything else. You can just focus on that one thing and making it look right.”

It’s also a great way for the two best friends to spend time together and do something fun, Liming said.

“She got me into “Gilmore Girls,” so we would just sit, watch “Gilmore Girls” and make scrunchies,” Liming said. “It’s fun, and I’ve gotten better at sewing.”

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit the greater Birmingham area, Brockwell started using her sewing skills for a different project.

“With everything that was going on, we weren’t having a lot of scrunchie sales,” Brockwell said. “So Becky Sager at The Clotheshorse contacted me and asked if I would be willing to make some masks.”

Because of social distancing guidelines, Liming wasn’t able to help Brockwell make the masks. On her own, Brockwell made approximately 100 masks in the first two weeks of selling them at The Clotheshorse.

The masks are reversible and washable. Making the masks has been slightly more difficult than making scrunchies, Brockwell said.

“I had to come up with my own pattern,” she said. “I looked up a lot of different styles of masks that people were making online, but there wasn’t one that I really thought I could do, so I took several different aspects that I liked and put them all together. I wanted them to be cute — I didn’t want them to look like stiff medical masks.”

Becky Sager, who owns The Clotheshorse with her husband, Tim, said she is proud to represent Brockwell’s craftsmanship.

“She sees a public need and fills that void quickly,” Sager said. “Rachel is so talented, and her artistry is second nature. I love that she tries to repurpose and conserve her materials. It’s what makes the world go ’round.”

When the coronavirus pandemic forced many businesses to shut down, Sager began scheduling 30-minute and one-hour private shopping times for her customers. Visit shoptheclotheshorse.com for the latest updates