Check Your Thread: Sewing More Sustainably

Dedicating an entire season to acts of mending is a bold move. As you may know, the most recent round of the Winter of Care and Repair challenge just wrapped up. In this episode the challenge’s creator, Jeanna Wigger, and I catch up to review the experience, both as individual participants and as members of this vibrant and inspiring global community of menders. So whether you’re in the southern hemisphere with Winter just round the corner, or you’re in the northern hemisphere and the next round is some way off, you’ll find out what benefits it could bring you, should you decide to participate. 

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You can follow Jeanna on Instagram @thepeoplesmending.

Listen to my previous conversation with Jeanna about the challenge:

Other mending-related episodes you might enjoy include the three-part mini-series about Make Do and Mend:

Plus these solo episodes:

Jeanna tested out multiple methods of lightweight sock repair and reviewed the results. 

Image source: Jeanna Wigger

Examples of Jeanna’s mending, all of which fit within her definition of a mend that is hidden in plain sight, designed to look like it's "supposed to be there.":

Do you want to create well fitting clothes, but you’re put off by having to make lots of changes to your pattern plus multiple toiles to test the fit? My guest, Elisalex Jewell, is an anythor and one of the founders of sewing pattern brand By Hand London. Elisalex tells us why self drafting using your own body measurements might be for you. 

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Elisalex Jewell is the co-founder of sewing pattern brand By Hand London. You can also follow her on Instagram (@elisalex).

Elisalex´s mum is Orsola de Castro (@orsoladecastro), the co-founder and creative director of Fashion Revolution, a not-for-profit activism movement which works towards a sustainable fashion industry

Elisalex has written a book with self-drafting tutorials and hacks called ‘Made to Measure: An Easy Guide to Drafting and Sewing a Custom Wardrobe’. 

Elisalex prefers dot and cross paper for pattern drafting. UK-based people can order it from William Gee and from Morplan, among others. 

Elisalex recommends DIY Daisy´s book, ‘Sew It Yourself’. You can listen to my conversation with Daisy:

Rosie Martin has the blog ‘DIY Couture’ and wrote the book ‘No Patterns Needed: DIY Couture from Simple Shapes’. 

Elisalex featured on Episode 30 of The New Craft House Podcast. 

By Hand London’s circle skirt calculator is the original draft-it-yourself pattern!

Find all of By Hand London’s Draft It Yourself products on their website, including the Lucy dress (pictured below):

How can you attend a large sewing event more sustainably? Is it possible to avoid getting overwhelmed, to avoid regrettable impulse purchases and to actually enjoy yourself? I take my pal and previous-guest Kim Witten to her first major sewing event, The Stitch Festival in London. We gather advice on how to make the most of these events whilst getting inspired, making considered purchases and connecting with the wonderful sewing community. 

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Show notes:

**Click here to find the How to Sew Clothes from Fabric Scraps downloadable PDF**

Kim and I went to The Stitch Festival in London in March 2024. 

Kim Witten is a Transformational Coach and Research Consultant. 

Listen to Kim in previous episodes:

Kim enjoyed the printed jerseys on the Dots ‘n’ Stripes stand.

Zoe and Kim spoke to Charlotte (IG @lottejamiesoncrafts) on the Emporia Patterns stand. Emporia recently released two new patterns: Tony Shirt and Zoe Dress patterns.

Vicki Reid’s new fabric designs and buttons were produced in collaboration with Pigeon Wishes and can be found on her website What Vicki Made, along with her woven labels.  

Sharon from Maven Patterns gave excellent advice about taking photos of things you like before committing to buying them. Listen to Sharon’s husband Richard on the podcast:

Fauve (IG @sew_fauve) and Asmaa (IG @sewgical_endeavours) from GBSB 2024 are collaborating as Imperfectly Perfect (IG @imperfectlyperfectbyfna) to run sewing classes in South Wales.

My lovely colleague Claire was working on the Fabric Godmother stand wearing a dress made using the Vali Dress & Top pattern from Pattern Fantastique.

We bumped into previous-guest Tony Rea (IG @tonyr.maker). Listen to the episode:

Kim plans to use her olive green denim to make the Cosecha Pants pattern by Sew Liberated.

Would you like to have new types of creative fun whilst saving money AND reducing your environmental impact? Sewing clothes from fabric scraps gives you all these things, AND the results are always completely unique. Today I’m sharing everything I’ve learnt over the years about sewing clothes from scraps. And although there’s never a right way or wrong way to approach sewing with scraps, these pointers will help you get started quickly if it’s something you’d like to try. 

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**Download the guide that accompanies this episode ‘How to Sew Clothes From Fabric Scraps’**

Listen to the following related episode:

Fast track your fabric knowledge with the downloadable ‘Introduction to Garment Fabrics’ guide. 

Pattern suggestions for self-piecing:

Brindille & Twig (all children’s)

Grainline Studios

Helen’s Closet

Named Clothing

Tessuti Patterns

True Bias

Waves and Wild 

Pattern suggestions for pattern-led piecing:

Bel’Etoile

Blueprints for Sewing

Elizabeth Sweetwater 

Jennifer Lauren Handmade

Matchy Matchy Sewing Club (most of them)

Megan Nielsen

Misusu Patterns (most of them) which include childrens as well as adult designs. 

Sew Liberated:

Tessuti Patterns

Tilly and the Buttons:

Here are some wonderful, creative businesses and individuals who are creating awesome garments with piecing fabrics:

Improv quilters, modern quilters and boro practitioners are also a fantastic source of piecing inspiration. Take a look at the following:

Two more resources that might be useful:

Have you got your fabric scrap strategy sorted yet? This is the second part of the Scrap Strategies episodes and we’ll be discovering more systems, solutions and uses from the Check Your Thread listeners. Then we summarise all we’ve learnt to help YOU choose what’s best for you!

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Image source: Ksenia Chernaya via Pexels

Listen to:

Check out the resource Amy spoke about regarding textile recycling.  

Thread and Sprout on Instagram (@threadandsprout) is a great source of inspiration for how to combine fabric scraps.  

If you’re a garment sewer, I’m sure you’re more than aware of how quickly fabric scraps and leftovers can start to pile up. Your fabric scraps contain so much creative potential, but you need some strategies in place so they don’t overwhelm you. In this episode, we hear from CYT listeners who share what scraps they keep, how they store them, and what they use them for. Use these responses to form your own scrap strategies and solutions!

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Image source: Fiona Murray via Unsplash

Are there fabrics in your stash that you’re just too scared to cut into? I talk with Stephanie Canada, vintage sewing pattern and fabric seller, about when and why it's ok to use the precious fabric. Plus she shares her sourcing secrets, and tells us when it’s important to chuck vintage sewing resources in the bin… 

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The website I used to research the sustainability credentials of various banks is bank.green. 

Find Stephanie’s shop at her website ‘Backroom Finds’. 

You can also find her on Instagram @backroomfinds and on Youtube @StephanieCanada.

Listen to the first episode with Stephanie:

Stephanie bought an entire sewing shop!

Stephanie recommends these reproduction pattern companies:

@WithLoveKristina on Youtube is Stephanie’s pal. 

My most precious length of fabric:

Listen to:

Do vintage sewing patterns make you swoon but you’re scared to try actually sewing with them? Vintage pattern obsessive and Youtube queen, Stephanie Canada, unpacks the perceived obstacles that may be holding you back. We also discuss the enjoyment of vintage style without the perpetuation of vintage values, and how using vintage resources might help us sew more sustainably. 

Support the podcast over on Patreon!

Sign up to the newsletter via the home page of CYT.com.

Find Stephanie’s shop at her website ‘Backroom Finds’. 

You can also find her on Instagram @backroomfinds and on Youtube @StephanieCanada.

Stephanie recommends these reproduction pattern companies:

The podcast episode I mentioned that featured Gretchen Hirsch (Gertie´s blog for better sewing and Charm Patterns) was The Craft Industry Alliance:

Laci Fay can be found on Youtube @LaciFayTheVintageGirlNextDoor. 

Stephanie made a video addressing the question: Why are Vintage Patterns So Small?

What would it be like if we could enjoy complete freedom within our sewing lives? Free from the shoulds and shouldn’ts, the fears and even past experiences? My guest, Tony Rea, tells us how this mindset took him from sewing newbie to top-three-finalist of sewing’s most famous competition: The Great British Sewing Bee. Plus, Tony shares his formula for sewing more sustainably (spoiler alert: it involves a lot of thrifted duvet covers…).

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Find out more about Tony on his website, and see his latest projects on Instagram @tonyr.maker.

Tony’s Etsy shop is stocked with handmade cycling caps in fun prints.  

This Postman Pat shirt was clearly inevitable:

If you find yourself in Plymouth, swing by the Plymouth Scrapstore.

Tony made a Fabric Godmother Peony dress for his wife to attend Christmas events in. 

Tony first encountered zero waste sewing patterns during the pattern challenge on GBSB:

Tony adapted Birgitta Helmersson’s ZW Block Pants and ZW Workwear Jacket patterns for his style and frame. 

Image source: Birgitta Helmersson. 

Tony wore a denim ‘suit’ created using these patterns which he modelled on the runway at the Knitting & Stitching show in London, October 2023. 

Tony recently embarked upon the Studio Trouser Low Waste pattern by Norwegian brand, Indigo Indigo (@indigoindigo.no on IG). 

Is your wardrobe stuffed with me-mades? Whatever role garment sewing plays in your life, after a while, the clothes can really start to pile up. So how can we continue to take pleasure in sewing, without adding to your problem of too many clothes?

Image source: Megan Lee via UnSplash

Idea No. 1: Challenging ourselves.

Hear more about hand stitching clothing:

Learn more about improving fit:

Options for online courses to learn and develop new skills:

Idea No. 2: Sewing things that aren’t clothes.

My favourite bag pattern designers:

Start your sew making journey at I Can Make Shoes.

Get inspired to make a quilt more sustainably by listening to the following previous episodes:

Idea No. 3: Sewing clothes for other people

Idea No. 4: Sewing for charity 

Make washable menstrual pads for:

Make reusable tote bags for Boomerang Bags.

Make dress and other children’s garments from pillowcases for Little Dresses for Africa.

Idea No. 5: Mending!

Hear from super creative mending expert, Erin Lewis-Fitzgerald:

Get her book Modern Mending:

Consider the spectrum of mending possibility: