When Jessica McLeod outfits the models for the Out of Hand Fashion in Action runway show, it's like she reverts to her childhood.

McLeod, 23, is in charge of choosing various pieces of clothing, jewelry and other accessories from the designers and artisans featured in the Out of Hand fair.

She then puts them in combinations for the models who stride down a runway.

"I make sure I'm highlighting the best feature of the various pieces," said McLeod, now on her third outing of co-ordinating the fashion show. "And I pull everything together, all of the various looks, in about two hours.

"When the time comes, it's a matter of being able to play with all these amazing pieces," McLeod said.

"It's like a giant toy box, I get to take out whatever I want and pull everything together."

Fashion in Action opens Friday at the Crystal Garden. It's the opening evening of the three-day Out of Hand artisan craft fair. It's a three-day show of shopping, music and demonstrations featuring mostly B.C. designers, chefs and artisans.

This year marks the 24th year for the Out of Hand fair, but it's only the third year for the fashion show.

Fashion in Action features clothes from 15 to 20 designers and artisans from across Canada. But B.C.-made pieces, and especially those from Vancouver Island and the Gulf islands, will get special pride of place.

Also, patrons can make a donation of their own slightly used clothing, warm coats and blankets to Victoria Cool Aid, which performs street-outreach work. Donors will be eligible for great prizes.

Ramona Froehle-Schacht, producer of Out of Hand, said the Fashion in Action segment grew almost by itself out of the long-standing crafts and artisan show.

Froehle-Schacht said young artisans are bringing a new attitude and different materials to what was once a fairly traditional craft show.

Traditional items, like pottery and other home decor, can still be found. But they are now found alongside newer works from the next generation of artisans.

The show might once have featured something like hand-decorated lace to hang in a home, but it now attracts artisans who design jewelry or other pieces with recycled materials.

The new pieces are still one-of-a-kind items, but they now come with a more urban feel to them.

"It's definitely edgier than what people might imagine they would find at a traditional craft fair," Froehle-Schacht said.

About five years ago, she said, she began to fear craftspeople and artisans would all soon retire. She wondered what the next generation would bring, but she has been pleasantly surprised.

"Young people's whole approach to the crafts world is really quite different," she said. "They are much more into recycling and they will look at something, repurpose it, take it all apart and build something totally new out of it. I find it really quite fascinating."

On Saltspring Island, clothing designer Deanna Milligan collects old picture frames and sheer curtains which she fashions into silkscreens to emblazon her clothing line, Cherry Blossom.

Milligan saves on production cost by reusing material otherwise destined for the dump. These homemade silkscreens are used to apply her custom-designed art images to her line of clothes.

She has become especially fond of bamboo textiles for her clothes. She likes bamboo material for its softness, durability and they way it drapes.

Milligan keeps her designs simple with flowing lines and shapes and interesting necklines. But she does her best to add small details. Many now feature pockets, for example, a recent discovery for many women who are now discovering a usefulness men have understood for years.

"My own company rule is I only wear my own clothes," she said. "So it has to be something that I would feel comfortable in, but it also has be something I would be proud to wear."

And a show like Out of Hand with its Fashion in Action runway show is a special event for her because it gives her a chance to interact with customers who are wearing her pieces.

"For me it's an exciting chance to talk to my customers and see my clothes on a variety of body types," Milligan said.

The Out of Hand artisan fair runs Friday to Sunday at the Crystal Garden on Douglas Street across from the Victoria Conference Centre.

Go to outofhand.ca for details.

rwatts@timescolonist.com