It's a pretty basic need: You gotta eat. But sometimes you can't eat it all. The easy solution is to cover your bowl of leftovers and pop it in the fridge. But over the course of a year, reeling off yards of plastic wrap to cover all those bowls just isn't cool. What to do?
Spokane mother-daughter duo Kim and Aimee Cash were happily making crafty items and selling them at area events, mostly because it gave them an opportunity to spend time together when Kim had an inspiration.
"I wanted some bowl covers," she says.
"She had a vision of the old plastic shower-cappy ones like her mom and grandmother used," Aimee says. But those plastic-coated ones had to be hand washed and even then quickly fell apart. Beeswax fabric bowl covers also didn't wear well and also required hand washing.
After a search for a fabric that was durable, machine washable and kept food in the bowl fresh while still preventing odors from seeping out into the fridge, Kim says she happened upon the perfect thing — an antimicrobial polyester material with a special lamination. They sewed up a few covers.
"We took them to one of our craft fairs, and people went crazy for them,"Aimee says. "The Spokane community just really embraced the bowl covers."
The duo now create all the designs for their fabric, which is then custom manufactured. The exact fabric is a trade secret, but it lasts a long time. "Mom and I are still using our first covers from 2013. They can be washed hundreds and hundreds of times," Aimee says.
Choosing fabric designs is a collaborative process. Sort of. "We disagree all the time," Kim says. "We just go ahead and get whatever the other person wants." Adds Aimee, "We have different aesthetic tastes, and it's actually a strength with the two of us having different styles." The duo's adept at responding to customer requests including adding gender-neutral prints and even cat-themed fabrics — "Cats do very well, but neither Aimee nor I have a cat!"— Kim says.
Aimee preps the raw fabric, and Kim sews up the covers on her vintage Husqvarna machine. "She's sewed to the moon and back," Aimee says. The covers come in assorted round sizes, and also rectangles for 9-by-13-inch pans. Though the covers are offered in boutiques and co-ops on the West side, for now Eastside shoppers can find them on Etsy at SemiSustainableGoods.
"It's really gratifying to make a product that is useful, sustainable and having a positive impact on the environment," Aimee says.
Find bowl covers on Etsy at SemiSustainableGoods.
