Rising Stars: Meet Jordan McKibbin of Denver

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jordan McKibbin

Hi Jordan, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I’ve worked in the coffee industry on and off for the last decade, and in that time, there has been a lot of effort put into making the industry more sustainable. I’ve always been passionate about sustainability, and I’m always looking for ways I can incorporate sustainable practices into my day-to-day life. When I was working as a coffee roaster I was disappointed to learn that burlap coffee bags are considered a single-use item and seen as ‘just packaging’. The bags have such beautiful artwork on them, and burlap is such a nice material that discarding them seemed like a missed opportunity. For some time I was trying to find a use for the bags until I landed on making hats. I have always enjoyed wearing fun, colorful, and unique hats, so I decided to see if it was feasible to make hats using burlap coffee bags.

I went out and bought a sewing machine from Facebook marketplace and started prototyping different methods and hat styles to see if it was possible. I had never used a sewing machine before, so it took some time to learn how to sew and then even longer to develop a way to make the hats on a domestic machine. It has taken me about a year to get to a spot where I am really pleased with the final product. The other fabrics I use besides burlap are all upcycled. I do not use new fabrics. Generally, I try and find scrap fabric; this helps to keep the hats unique, as I can generally only source enough fabric for one, maybe two hats. Luckily, my partner’s parents own an upholstery business, so I also source a bunch of materials from their leftover fabrics. I also try to use secondhand threads and hardware when I can find them in thrift stores or at Recreative (which is a secondhand arts supply store).

Originally, the hats were for personal use, and I gave them away to friends and family as presents. However, I enjoyed sewing so much and made so many hats I needed a way to offload them so my house wasn’t just full of hats. I started wearing the hats at my job (I manage Tablon Coffee Roasters in Virginia Village) to spread the word. This worked well; as other baristas/cafe managers came through the shop, they recognized that the hats were made from coffee bags and would ask me where I got them. This would start a conversation and sometimes resulted in me selling a hat. Most of my sales at the start were through word of mouth, which works well in the coffee industry. Along with hats I also make tote bags, I really like the totes because they show the complete artwork on the bags.

The Denver coffee community has been incredibly supportive and I now receive bags from a range of roasters here in Denver, this gives me a wider variety of bag designs to work with. The hats and totes are now in two locations around Denver, with a few more locations in the pipeline. My work has also made its way to El Salvador, Costa Rica and Honduras in the form of gifts to different coffee producers, which I am super stoked about.

One of the coffee producers in El Salvador with whom my cafe works with closely was gifted a hat last year. He was super excited about the idea of reusing the burlap bags, he has decided that next year he’s going to print a tote bag pattern on the inside of the burlap bags so anyone can make their own tote!

Alongside hats and totes, I’ve also branched out into upcycling old blankets, quilts, and tablecloths into different kinds of clothing.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
The hardest part has been developing a method to make the hats look professionally made while only having access to an at-home sewing machine. Burlap is not the easiest material to work with.

Hand-making each hat and sourcing materials is incredibly time-consuming. Translating the time spent into a price for the hats has been a challenge.

Following on from the second point, finding enough time to sew and source materials is difficult since I work full-time and try to pursue all my other hobbies.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am a Barista/Manager at Tablon Coffee Roasters in Virginia Village. I’ve had many different jobs over the years, including Systems Engineer, Designer, Technical Writer, Coffee Roaster, and Research Assistant. Having experience in such a wide range of professions has helped me build and grow my ideas.

Pricing:

• hats are $40

Contact Info:

• Instagram: made_by_jordy

Image Credits
just putting image context here.

First photo: is my first ever market stall
Second/third photos: 5-panel hats
fourth: this is my sewing set up I have in my living room
fifth: Current stock of coffee bags
sixth: Example of a tote bag