Hot, cramped factories. Pesticides and highly toxic chemicals. Child labor. Those are the well-documented realities workers, many in developing countries, endure as they dye, cut and sew garments for large manufacturers in low-paying and sometimes no-paying jobs.
Thousands of miles away in her Oakland studio and fiber shop, Vejar -- a self-described "natural dyer" -- is trying to get people to think about those workers and the impacts of the clothing they buy.
"I feel a responsibility -- or the ability -- to possibly change some of that in some way," Vejar said. "For me, it's trying to teach as many people to knit and sew as possible, and trying to sometimes convey there is someone sitting at a sewing machine sewing. This is not a mechanized process."
The 38-year-old Oakland resident isn't alone in wanting to shift the way people think about their clothing.
For years, adherents of the "slow fashion" movement -- named for its focus on sustainably produced wearables that outlive the constant churn of fast fashion -- have been stitching their own garments, upcycling their wardrobes and finding other creative and less wasteful ways to get dressed.
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But Vejar has carved her own path, transforming her passion for sustainability, fiber and textiles into a vibrant community center that's also a successful business.
At A Verb for Keeping Warm, Vejar's San Pablo Avenue shop, people can take classes, attend workshops or sit in on events such as a recent slow-fashion forum that touched on sustainable clothing production, handmade wardrobes and the politics of affordability in the movement, among other topics.
Customers can also buy locally sourced wool and organic cotton yarn dyed at Verb with leaves, flowers, insects and other natural material. And through Vejar's Seam Allowance project, people can pledge to make at least 25 percent of their own clothing, and get the support they need to do it. Vejar's book, "The Modern Natural Dyer," published last year, also teaches people how to dye yarn and fabric at home.
"Kristine has created a special community for makers, sewers, dyers and artisans to work together and lift one another up," fashion designer Natalie Chanin, founder and creative director of the high-end slow-fashion brand Alabama Chanin, wrote in an email.
Community has played a major role in Vejar's passion for fiber and textiles since the beginning.
It was while visiting her grandmother and friends in rural Illinois during summers that the Minnesota native learned to knit and sew.
Later, as an art history major at Mills College in Oakland, Vejar traveled to India and fell under the spell of textile production there, in particular the cloth she saw dyed in huge open-air vats and freshly dyed saris drying on river banks under the sun.
"Textiles just came rushing back to me," Vejar said.
But it was spending time with the Rabari, a group of desert-dwelling nomadic herders from the Great Rann of Kutch who are famous for their intricate and highly symbolic embroidery, that Vejar began to think deeply about clothing and the large corporations so heavily influencing personal aesthetics back home. "It's interesting to think about our consciousness as to what we're engaging with, what we choose to buy and how we choose to dress," Vejar said. " 'What is it you want to convey with your clothing like the Rabari convey?' That was going on in my head and is probably more alive today than it was then."
After returning to Oakland and receiving a Fulbright grant, Vejar traveled back to India and immersed herself in learning natural dyeing methods. Once home, she worked for a Berkeley organic mattress and bedding manufacturer and then began sewing yarn bags for knitters. Vejar also learned how to dye, spin yarn and knit, slowly building the business that later became Verb, which opened at its current location in 2011.
Today, her work extends beyond the rustic yet airy space that includes a classroom and a demonstration dye garden featuring coreopsis, indigo and other dye plants grown by Vejar's partner, Adrienne.
In 2014, she was tapped to participate in "The Possible," a show at the Berkeley Art Museum that turned the exhibition space into a center for creative production. In addition to helping run the indigo dyeing vats, Vejar brought in other collaborators and "expanded the scope of the whole element of the exhibition," said curator David Wilson.
"She really does have this spirit that's interested in serving the community."
Vejar is also helping create business for farmers, including Capay Valley cotton developer and breeder Sally Fox, who pioneered growing organic naturally colored cotton in the late 1980s. Vejar buys wool from Fox's merino sheep, wool later dyed at Verb in rich, earthy colors before heading to customers.
A longtime proponent of sustainable fashion, Fox thinks Vejar has a keen eye for wearables that are beautiful and practical as well as ethical and sustainable.
"Her method is not a guilt trip thing," Fox said. "Her method is 'Isn't this a wonderful way to get to know textiles and history and to help the world be a healthier place?'"
Kristine Vejar
Age: 38
Hometown: Oakland
Claims to fame: Natural dyer, author of “The Modern Natural Dyer” (Stewart, Tabori and Chang, 2015), owner of the business A Verb for Keeping Warm
Quote: “How insane and how amazing it is that we are able to feed and clothe the amount of humans on this planet. That the earth provides this is absolutely unbelievable. It’s amazing. Truly amazing.”
