Four minute read
Garment designer Jed Phoenix is crafting their own shroud. It will be made from natural, biodegradable materials and covered with messages from friends.
In this blog, Jed shares what inspired them to plan their funeral with Poppy’s and why this has been such an empowering experience.
My favourite TV programmes when I was growing up were ‘The Good Life’ and ‘The Wombles’. My dad had an allotment. My mum’s house had solar panels before it was fashionable. We recycled, grew our own food and made our clothes ourselves.
I’ve been running my own business [creating garments] for 25 years, powered by renewable energy, saving fabric scraps to help reduce waste.
There are always compromises — I’ve had to have a car to trade at events and I use chrome-tanned leather to make my clothing viable. But, in my eyes, leather is less environmentally damaging than PVC — it’s a natural by-product of a different industry.
Helping people and helping the planet has always been part of my life and my values.
‘I should sort out my funeral’
Last year, my mum died. She was the last of my parents to die, after my dad and step-dad. I've experienced friends dying too. There was a two-year period in which about six people close to me died.
I'm 53, I don't have any health conditions, but this prompted me to think, I really need to sort out my will. I’ve decided to leave money to friends, interns and to an LGBTQ+ homelessness charity. That led me to thinking, well, I should sort out my funeral as well.
I knew I wanted a green funeral. I looked at a couple of other websites before I found Poppy’s. Within five minutes of reading it, my eyes were leaking, which was a sure-fire way of knowing this felt right. Then I emailed Poppy’s and started a conversation.
Choosing natural burial for a green funeral
I visited Clayton Wood natural burial ground on the South Downs in Sussex, an area which I have a strong connection with, and bought a plot there.
It's beautiful — there’s a wooded area and there’s going to be a wildflower meadow with some beehives.
I don't necessarily need to be planted under a tree. I like the idea of feeding the soil that feeds the flowers that feeds the bees that make the honey, which then people could be able to buy and eat.
Making my final outfit
Originally, I wanted to have a cardboard coffin that people could decorate with messages, but I’m too tall, so instead I am making my own shroud.
The liner is made from organic cotton printed in the UK, with messages on it. I'm going to have the words facing me, so they will be against my skin.
From an autistic point of view, being able to read the messages that people are going to be put on my coffin, and then being able to arrange them perfectly, is important.
The outer will be made of patchwork leather. The leather is originally from Brazil, but whenever I cut anything out of leather, I save every single little scrap. Over the past eight years, I've built up quite a collection. The shroud will use up a lot of these.
Then, it’s about making the shroud as sustainable as possible. I've sourced linen thread specifically for it, and glue which is completely biodegradable. I can’t have metal or plastic fastenings, so I’m using rope instead.
It's my final outfit and I'm very excited about it!
‘Wrapped in the memories of people that love me’
I put a post on Facebook saying: 'I've no intention of dying anytime soon, but when I do, I want to be wrapped up in the words and memories and thoughts of people that love me'.
Many people haven’t thought about their own funerals, so it's interesting to hear other people's reactions to the fact that I'm doing this.
One of my very close friends, whose mum was dying around the time that I put the shout out, told me it prompted her to ask her parents what they wanted for their funerals.
Reading the words that people have written is so comforting. In moments where I’ve felt a bit down, I've reread the words. It encourages me to stay around for as long as possible, so that I can continue to do the things that people have told me that I'm good at.
Empowering and uplifting
When I found the Poppy's website, it really spoke to me, it felt right, and so did meeting the people at Clayton Wood. It's all just been ridiculously empowering.
When I shared the photo of the finished artwork for the shroud on Facebook, people said it was really uplifting. And, yes, it is. It's uplifting for me. I want it to be uplifting for other people as well, because it's about shifting the narrative around death.
Read about planning a funeral with Poppy's or discover more about natural burial.
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