| Archive for Downsizer For an ethical approach to consumption |
| Fee |
Woollen Coffin
http://www.naturallegacy.co.uk/coffins/ |
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| colour it green |
I like the idea and look of the felt shroud
I've asked for a wicker basket coffin for me though 
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| wellington womble |
I wonder if Frewen would felt me one? 
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| mochyn |
I love the Belacouche shrouds. Really beautiful and it seems to me to be a sensible idea! Proper William Morris stuff. | ||||||
| sean |
There's always one of these... 
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| dpack |
willow wicker is what i got for the last one and will use for the next as needed ,unless it is soupy | ||||||
| Bebo |
Not sure that a bit of cardboard and wool would stop me sagging out the bottom as its being carried out of the hearse! | ||||||
| colour it green |
"does my bum look big in this" ? |
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| Bebo |
I think the avatar answers your question. |
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| gil |
Struck me that the felt shroud/coffins might be difficult to carry easily, compared to a rigid box shape that can be shoulder-borne.
Nice idea though. |
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| Bebo |
If you timed it carefully you should be OK. Rigor mortis starts at 3 hours after death and maximum stiffness is reached at about 12hrs. It gradually dissipates until 72hrs after death. |
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| dpack |
handles like a body bag works but is a bit sloppy
the basket ones are proper and elegant recon wicker would contain the bits for tidy sky burial via insect or be good for the more usual hole in the floor /incinerator however im nopt fond of sarcophagic insects i want to be eaten by wolves (maybe pigs and chooks ) 
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| nettie |
Yep i reckon Frewen could do a nifty line in felted portraits of the deceased to go on the lid (mind you she could even do the Kiss coffin in felt, she's that clever) 
dpack you made me laugh out loud with your soupy comment!! |
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| marigold |
Can't see the point in spending loads of money on corpse-dressing myself - a winding sheet made from my old cotton bedlinen will do for me. But not just yet .
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| woodsprite |
None of this is for you though is it, it's for the ones left behind.
FWIW I've been to lots of green funerals using lots of different wrappings. Two stay in my mind for the wrong reasons. The first was a cardboard coffin, it was sagging so badly on the short ( few feet) distance from the trolley ( no way could it have been shouldered) to the hole, that we all honestly thought we might see Mike again before he was planted. His wife and daughters were extremely distressed by this and the bearers needed comforting afterwards. It was an awful funeral because of this. The second was a wrappings only. Surprisingly slightley less distressing than the first, at least Celia was in no danger of being seen but a certain amount of seepage had taken place where she had been laid and when she was picked up to be planted, dripping occurred. Again, not pleasant. Poor relatives. |
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| marigold |
OK, I'll ask my brother to knock up a box from some of his "too good for burning, might come in useful one day" wood stash... Or maybe get the sheets dyed so seepage doesn't show... I think he shares my views though. | ||||||
| mochyn |
I'd say both of those problems could be addressed by good design though. There's no reason why a felt shroud should not have timber supports along the sides (thin of a stretcher) with, perhaps, leather strapping from side to side underneath. The seepage could be solved by thickness of felt. Should I revert to my original though of wishing to be an undertaker?
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| mochyn |
And the Woolly Shepherd has a big felting machine... | ||||||
| judith |
What Woodsprite said. When I was arranging Rob's funeral, I was shown a picture of a body in a shroud being lowered into a grave as one of the options. It completely freaked me out. The thought of having to watch it in the flesh still gives me the heebie-jeebies. No, willow is the way to go for me. Or perhaps one of those nice plaited-effect water hyacinth ones. |
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| mochyn |
Why not a willow bier with a very thick felt shroud? | ||||||
| judith |
The rigidity would help, but being able to see the shape of the person - especially the head - just makes me think that they are going to sit up and start talking.
Is it really worth distressing people for the sake of a nice idea? |
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| mochyn |
No, of course you're right there. But with a thicker felt the form should be considerably modified. What I need now is 2 metres of very thick felt and someone luying down... |
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| judith |
That would be better, but it would have to be very thick.
And what would you use it for in the intervening period before your demise?
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| mochyn |
A wallhanging, of course!
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| judith |
I think it would need to be ready to use. I can't really see the Old Chap running up a quick shroud after you're gone. | ||||||
| mochyn |
I'm sure it could be done. The being ready, not the old chap bit. He can't sew. |
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| vegplot |
Could always chill or freeze first, felt would provide enough insulation before a thaw became the issue. Solves the problem of stiffness and leaking. | ||||||
| mochyn |
OK where can I put a chest freezer! |
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| vegplot |
I know someone who may have a suitable freezer going spare. |
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| judith |
It will have to be one heck of a freezer to get you in lying flat. Otherwise there will be, ummm, inconvenient angles. | ||||||
| colour it green |
you are right of course, but having gone to some funerals of in-laws recently - I am aghast at the waste and expense that goes into some funerals - eg the flower arrangement that went on top of the coffin and was looked at for about 1/2 an hour cost 100 quid I think it does help if you make a few wishes known in advance. for example i have said 'no flowers. none. not a one.' - and it can be helpful to your loved ones if they can wave the will/intention of wishes about at interfering busibodies and say 'it is what she wanted'. of course.. i wont actually be there anymore, so my OH can ignore my suggestions, and not mention it to interfering busibodies if he so wishes.. it will be up to him. Also.. what is practical to use as a coffin depends on how you do funerals in your family - in mine we tend to meet the deceased, in coffin, at the crem. no one carries it anywhere. We have a bit of a speech, a talk about their life, a few songs maybe, and say goodbye.. and leave. if you are more inclined to have coffin bearers, etc, then something sturdier than a shroud or wrapping might be better. I like the wicker basket ones as they are sustainable and sturdy. edit for typos |
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| GSHP |
Reading the newspaper cuttings of my great great grandparents , recently, who died in the early 1900s ...they asked for garden flowers only, which I thought was rather nice. | ||||||
| Frewen Feltmaker |
I couldn't make one of those - I'd need a mongolian team and a large grassy plain, and a gelding to gallop the felt across it.
By which time of course I would be totally redundant, being surrounded by people who were far more skilled in feltmaking than myself
I do want to be buried in one of them though 
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| mochyn |
Now: there's a thought! Foetal position burial! Smaller coffin/shroud, smaller hole... |
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| vegplot |
roll along instead of carry. |
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| mochyn |
Sort of corpse-ball!
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| wellington womble |
Speak for yourself! Us normal sized folk would fit in a chest freezer. And (much more usefully) your average bath....... |
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| Frewen Feltmaker |
There is nothing average about your bath - it's a veritable flotation tank
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| sean |
You're not normal sized, you're tiny. I've seen you. |
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| Frewen Feltmaker |
She has to swim across her bath to reach the taps 
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| wellington womble |
Who fits in the bath, then? Ergo, who is normal sized? Not my fault the rest of you are over grown lumps
I wasn't referring to my bath. Which, as Frewen says, could be rented out to Romans. |
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| sean |
Does it have a diving board? | ||||||
| Mary-Jane |
I must say, I rather fancy the idea of commissioning Mochyn to knit me a coffin
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| wellington womble |
I'm just wondering where we might attach one to. It could work...... |
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| mochyn |
Send me your measurements... |
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| Mary-Jane |
 *Meep* I'll have to lose weight first...
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| Nick |
You'll lose weight after death. Perhaps just delay the funeral a few weeks? |