Programs
Sustainable Cloth Challenge
SUSTAINABLE CLOTH CHALLENGE 2026 –
WEAR LOCAL
Chesapeake Fibershed welcomes in the new year with a warm invitation for the community to join our Wear Local campaign.
The more we source our natural fibers locally the more significantly we can support our local producers, and continue to grow and develop the infrastructure needed to sustain a local textile economy. This year we invite you to embrace what is here in our place and to create something of your own choosing from locally produced natural fibers and dyes. This could be as simple as knitting a hat from a locally milled yarn or you could challenge yourself to create a full outfit from local sources. You may also choose to participate by purchasing a garment or houseware from a producer utilizing local sources. Each purchase you make to support locally produced natural textiles takes us all closer to a shared goal of creating vibrant, regenerative and healthy sources for the clothing we wear–bringing greater health to ourselves, our community and to the earth.
If you make or wear something local please share your story and tag Chesapeake Fibershed on instagram, read on to learn how.
How To Participate
Sign the Wear Local Challenge
Sign by clicking the button below. Then, read about the challenges below. Pick the challenge you’d like to complete and ensure you understand the regulations.
Take photo(s) of your Wear Local item
Keep in mind the rules of the challenge! If you need inspiration or help, check out our Sustainable Cloth Resources and Local Designers Resources page.
Write a description of your item
Write your description using the three explorations above as a starting point and post to your instagram* account tagging @chesapeakefibershed (in your post) along with #wearlocal and #wearlocal2026 so we can share more widely on our instagram account!
Not on instagram? Then email the photo and info to chesapeakefibershed@gmail.com and give us permission to share with the world.
To share your work, ideas, and questions, join our Facebook group and the Groups.io Sustainable Cloth group.
The 3 Challenges To Chose From
Explorations
Let’s celebrate and acknowledge the rich resources and capacities available in our immediate surroundings. Embrace this research stream to help select your item.
- All materials are grown and processed within our fibershed. Fibers must be natural (wool, cashmere, mohair, alpaca, flax/linen, and/or cotton, or even a more local fiber such as cedar bark).
- Dyeing must use natural and non-synthetic compounds.
- Notions (threads, buttons, zippers, etc.) from outside our fibershed are allowed
Re-envision…our resources
Extending the life of our existing textiles plays an important role in reducing global textile waste. Re-envision a new life for existing textiles by taking a deep dive into clothing and home good restoration through the artistic and time-honored practices of mending and repurposing. Share your stories through documentation of where and how the original cloth was sourced and made, noting how your materials and methods create a new path towards sustainability for that cloth. Re-envision naturally!
- Repurposed materials must be purchased or found within our fibershed. Check out local thrift stores and reuse stores like The Scrappy Elephant in Charlottesville or SCRAP, the creative reuse center in Richmond
- Provenance of the repurposed cloth must be documented either by an attached label or personally attested history.
- Added components must be repurposed goods. We encourage you to use yarn or roving or naturally dyed thread from our fibershed.
- Notions (threads, buttons, zippers, etc.) from outside our fibershed are allowed.
Borrow…across our boundaries
Sometimes growth requires compromise and the help of neighbors. You may need to extend beyond the Chesapeake Fibershed boundaries in order to source all the materials needed for your project.
- A minimum of fifty percent (50%) of your materials must be farmed within our fibershed.
- Materials from outside our fibershed must be noted and documented.
- Notions (threads, buttons, zippers, etc.) from outside our fibershed are allowed.
How to Document Your Wear Local Posts
See the sample post below as an example of how to document your wear local challenge.
This shawl is made from felt from my heritage Tunis sheep and my angora goats. I felted the wool/mohair from batts processed by Zeillinger’s (sadly no longer in business). I dyed the wool felt that I made in my studio on a longbed needle felter with marigold from my garden and overdyed with madder I “borrowed” from @botanicalcolors. The shawl is lined with silk that I purchased and dyed in the same madder pot. I stitched the dyed angora locks onto the shawl with my sewing machine. #wearlocal @chesapeakefibershed #woolfelt #chesapeakefibershed producer #wearlocal2026
2026 Wear Local
Get ready for another year of the Sustainable Cloth Challenge!
This year let’s Wear Local. We invite you to embrace what is here in our place and to create or wear something of your own choosing from locally produced natural fibers and dyes. This could be as simple as knitting a hat from a locally milled yarn or you could challenge yourself to create a full outfit from local sources.
We’ll still have the three streams of engagement – re-envisioning, borrowing or embracing, – so you can participate in the way that suits you best. We will focus on sharing together what everyone is wearing throughout the year through instagram @Chesapeakefibershed and #wearlocal.