Check Your Thread: Sewing More Sustainably

Judith is the creator of, and one of the main driving forces behind, the biggest sewing community on Instagram, SewOver50. Whilst providing a virtual hub for conversation and inspiration for everyone, SewOver50 also pushes for the increased visibility of older people within sewing related industries. In our conversation, Judith tells me about the rapid creation of that community and the goals behind it. She also shares how her own revelations surrounding her wardrobe and sewing output sparked the idea for the fantastically inspiring challenge: #so50sustainablesewing. 

The blog post mentioned in the introduction about handmade washable period pants can be found HERE

Find Judith on Instagram @judithrosalind 

Read about Judith’s revelation in 2018 related to her wardrobe and sewing output HERE and HERE

Stacey Doodley’s documentary Fashion’s Dirty Secrets HERE (not currently available on iplayer but lots of clips are available on Youtube). 

The True Cost, a powerful documentary about the clothing industry, is available on Youtube HERE

See Judith below in one of her awesome tops made using the LB Pullover pattern by Paper Theory.

Judith has posted a lot about her Vintage Linen Coat Project, see below for the incredible way that she handled the rust spots, and read about it HERE. 

She’s using the September Coat pattern by Merchant & Mills. 

Judith’s Insta-pal @redrubyrose is a talented natural dye expert and accessories designer/maker.  

See one of Judith’s natural dye embroidery patches HERE.

The Destash for Kids with Cancer account is HERE (@destash_for_kids_with_cancer)

Find the Sew Over 50 community @sewover50, Judith founded it and co-runs it with Sandy @sunnydayz06 

The amazing blog and community, The Sewcialists is HERE (it’s no longer running but all posts are still up to enjoy)

Blanca @blakandblanca is an incredible older sewist who was the inspiration behind the Blanca Flight Suit pattern by Closet Core Patterns.

#so50sustainablesewing is the hashtag that is definitely worth checking out!  

Wardrobe Crisis podcast by Clare Press HERE.

Maria @velosews made an incredible jacket from a used coffee bean sack (pictured below). Check out her fantastic podcast Sew Organised Style HERE.

A big source of inspiration for Judith, and many others, is Tricia @morrissews.

Equally, Sue Stoney @suestoney is a talented maker and prolific creator. Read her blog HERE.

The Envelope Dress zero waste pattern by Cris Wood.  

In this solo episode of CYT, we’re taking the definition of sustainability in a different direction from the usual environmental meaning. I’m talking about how to sustain your sewing life when you are a parent, particularly of younger kids. It’s basically all the points that I eventually figured out for myself, but wish I’d heard when I first became a parent. If you aren’t a parent of young kids, don’t be thinking that this episode isn’t for you however. There’s lots in this that would apply to anyone who suddenly becomes busier or has been landed with new responsibilities. There are many causes that can lead us to get lost or deprioritised in life. And although this particular episode is about parenthood and includes a few points specific to that situation, it definitely works more broadly with lots of tips and perspectives that will be useful to many.  

Support the podcast over on Patreon!

It’s Episode 10 of the CYT podcast! We’re into double figures now! I’ve got a super interesting conversation for you today with Guy from The Light Touch London (soon to be Bristol). He’s a really thoughtful maker with heaps of fascinating ideas and projects, many of which we touch on in this episode. His investigations into clothing systems, and tracking your outfits enthralled me in particular, and we also get into the Fibreshed movement, the soil to soil life cycle of clothing, his love of wool, millennial sewers, decommissioning garments, making clothes from pieces-together textiles and more.

Support the podcast over on Patreon!

Find Guy and his many fascinating projects on Instagram @thelighttouchlondon. 

Read more about the Fibreshed movement and the soil-to-soil philosophy  HERE, and check out the diagram below that covers the main areas involved. 

Keeping British textile production alive are the Bristol Cloth Project HERE

Guy’s own experimentation resulted in a prototype felted wool waistcoat/vest, that could follow the Fibreshed model HERE, pictured below.

The next Southern Wool Show is scheduled for 3rd/4th September 2022, find out more HERE. 

Find designer/maker/inventor Rachel John (@racheljohntextiles) on Instagram HERE and her website HERE. The picture below features Rachel knitting a rug with giant needles (more info HERE). 

The hashtag where I ‘found’ Guy is #dopemensew on Instagram. 

Fashion on the ration book, available in paperback HERE. 

Guy’s pyjama top made from deconstructed shirts and his previous ‘decommissioned’ pyjama top HERE and pictured below.  

Overlord clothing brand that upcycles vintage textiles, transforming them into new clothing with a utility feel HERE. 

Closet Core Pouf free pattern and tutorial HERE, ideal for getting rid of tiny and unusable fabric scraps. 

Welcome to episode 9 of Check Your Thread. In this one, I chat to my friend and colleague Julia Hincks, who just so happens to be a sewing expert and author. She has written two amazing sewing books, The Overlocker Technique Manual (published in 2014) and The Coverstitch Technique Manual (which has just been released). If you already own an overlocker (AKA serger) or coverstitch machine, or you’re considering investing in either, you need to hear this conversation. Julia gives her expert advice on buying and maintaining these machines, and drops sooooooooo many awesome tips on how to get the most from them. 

Support the podcast over on Patreon!

Find details of Julia’s forthcoming teaching gigs and her books, plus video tutorials, pattern reviews and more on her website House of Miss Sew.

Find her on Instagram she’s @juliahincks, and her YouTube channel is House of Miss Sew. 

Julia’s first book, The Overlocker Technique Manual (pictured below), can be bought HERE. 

The US version, The Serger’s Technique Bible, is available HERE. The book has also been translated into Dutch, French, Spanish and Italian. 

Her second book, The Coverstitch Technique Manual (pictured below), is available in the UK HERE, and the Ebook version is available on Amazon. The US version of the physical book can be pre-ordered HERE. 

Julia’s current teaching gigs include dressmaking classes at Made and Making in Hassocks, East Sussex, UK, and pattern cutting at Dot to Dot Studio in East Hoathly, East Sussex, UK. 

Julia mentions the Babylock Euphoria coverstitch machine which you can see HERE . 

Kitchen appliance covers can be a great option if your overlocker didn’t come with a cover. The one pictured below is from Lakeland HERE. 

Sew Very Crafty has made a great video tutorial for making your own overlocker/serger cover which can be found HERE. 

It’s episode 8 of CYT, and in this solo episode I’ve posed myself the question: is sewing sustainable? I share my musings on the concept of sustainability, particularly as it relates to sewing, and how we need to be wary of over simplification and greenwashing. Plus I discuss what I consider to be the overarching goal for sewing in a more sustainable way, and ideas for how we can achieve it. Making clothing that fits our bodies, personal style and lifestyle requirements can guarantee that we’re making garments and accessories that will see lots of use and last us a long, long time. 

Support the podcast over on Patreon!

Read about my recent linen Arden pants make HERE and see below, as mentioned in previous episode introductions. 

Check out my newly finished autumnal Vali blouse HERE and see below.

It’s Episode 7 of the Check Your Thread podcast and this one was such a joy to record. 

You may recognise Riccardo as one of the finalists of season 5 of the Great British Sewing Bee. However, Riccardo Guido started boldly and fearlessly experimenting with reclaimed fabrics and innovative approaches to garment sewing long before Joe Lycett ever muttered the phrase ‘Transformation Challenge’. Right from the beginning, Riccardo has forged his own path to making his own wardrobe, including signing up to learn pattern cutting before taking a sewing class, and to this day he rarely uses commercial sewing patterns. In our delightful conversation, he tells me about his sewing history, which of the aforementioned transformation challenges was his least favourite, his future sewing goals and lots more. 

Support the podcast over on Patreon!

Find Riccardo Guido on Instagram @rifallo 

More on the Great British Sewing Bee HERE

Wendy Ward’s website HERE and her Check Your Thread podcast episode HERE

Riccardo’s sweatshirt using Wendy’s Felix sweatshirt pattern HERE (pictured below) using scuba off-cuts leftover from his tracksuit project from the GBSB

Find @sewandrew, maker of the embroidered chess piece HERE. Riccardo’s sweatshirt that developed around the embroidery HERE (pictured below)

Riccardo’s technique for piecing scraps HERE (the start of which is pictured below)

Zero Waste Daniel, legendary NY-based designer who uses garment industry waste HERE and on Instagram  HERE

See Riccardo’s sofa bomber jacket HERE and hear him on the un:CUT podcast HERE

Core Arts, the non-profit organisation supporting people who suffer from mental health issues through learning, HERE

Fabrications, based in Hackney, owned by Barley Massey HERE

Zero Waste Fashion Design book HERE (pictured below) by Holly McQuillan & Timo Rissanen 

It’s the sixth episode of the Check Your Thread podcast, and the second episode featuring parts of the great conversation I had with Amy Dyce. Last week Amy shared heaps about her small business, Craft & Thrift. In today’s episode, the conversation moves from running a sustainability-minded business, to running a sustainability-minded life! We discuss ways to share eco habits, the realities of eco-guilt and how making sustainable choices can get murky. Amy also talks about the ways she uses sewing to save her money and how thrifting has made sewing viable for her. Amy also explains how sewing and knitting became a gateway for her to become more aware of social injustice and other political issues, and reflects on the importance of acknowledging and checking your own privilege. 

Craft & Thrift Etsy shop HERE

My Lou Box Top made using a kit given to me from Craft & Thrift (kits HERE)

Tomato victory!

Katie Green Bean youtube channel HERE

The Vintage Book Worm UK Etsy shop HERE

Me-Made-May explainer HERE 

Find Amy’s Me-Made-May videos HERE 

Read more about my hand-sewn sock experiments HERE

Incredible visible mending and darning by Roberta Cummings HERE

Me and White Supremacy: A Guided Journal HERE

The Sporkful Podcast HERE with many episodes about race (and food) including THIS ONE

Welcome to the fifth episode of CYT, this time featuring a conversation with Amy Dyce, a crafty, thrifty environmentally-minded woman who has a small business called Craft & Thrift. Through her Etsy shop she sells thrifted, vintage and deadstock fabric, along with other related sewing products. Amy was so generous with her time that we ended up chatting and recording for over two hours! Because of that, we will release two episodes that include different parts of our conversation. This first half focuses on her business, including how she pivoted from selling tea cosies to deadstock fabric, her (possibly haunted) storage unit and about the shipping containers full of 90s fabric that pushed her business to the next level. 

The scrap-busting related challenges are:

#so50sustainablesewing created by @judithrosalind and hosted by @sewover50

#recyclingremnants created by @elleandthestitches

Lou Box Top pattern by Sew DIY HERE

Lou Box Top kits from Craft & Thrift HERE

Find my guest Amy on Instagram @craftandthrift, her website is HERE and Etsy shop is HERE

The Sew Your Own Undies kits we collaborated on HERE

Jen Gale from @sustainableish’s powerful post HERE

It’s clear that making the most of the fabric we buy is fundamental to keeping our craft as sustainable as possible. In this solo episode I’m making a case for keeping and using your fabric scraps and leftovers from previous sewing projects, and I’m going to run through my 5 favourite uses for scraps and leftovers. 

Support the podcast over on Patreon!

The Closet Core Pattern free pouf pattern, found HERE, is an excellent way to use up scraps for making the outside and can be stuffed with scraps that are too tiny to be used for anything else.  

@crystaltips fabulous pieced-together sun hat can be seen HERE 

Reversible Bucket Hat pattern by Oliver + S HERE

Sorrento Bucket Hat pattern by Elbe Textiles HERE

Serpentine Hat pattern by Elbe Textiles HERE

Free Sandcastle Bucket Hat pattern by Waves and Wild HERE

Free Hat pattern by Liz Haywood HERE

Free SoZo Undies pattern by me HERE

Wonder Undies pattern by Waves and Wild HERE

Free Speedy Pants pattern by Waves and Wild HERE (used to make the undies pictured below)

Superhero Boxers pattern by Waves and Wild HERE

Comox Trunks pattern by Thread Theory HERE

Sew Your Own Undies kits by Craft and Thrift HERE 

Harem Pants pattern by Wiksten. Wiksten are currently only taking wholesale orders so do an online search to find a stockist of this pattern close to you. 

Free Bummies pattern by Brindille & Twig HERE

Free Ringer Tee pattern by Brindille & Twig HERE

Misusu Patterns can be found HERE

My scrap-busting jersey tees project HERE

My Scout Tee made from scraps of viscose HERE

The tiered Maxi Dress made from slinky jersey leftovers HERE

Elbe Textiles blog post about Patchwork clothing can be found HERE

My ‘Scraps and small piece busting’ Pinterest board is HERE

Some shorts I made with leftover quilting cotton waistband facings and pocket bags HERE (shown above) 

My Thelma Boilersuit with leftover gingham yoke lining HERE

In the third episode of Check Your Thread I’m talking with Jacqueline Shaw, founder of Wax and Wraps which offers African textiles sewing subscription boxes. Jacqueline is an expert on the African fashion and textiles industries and has an MA in Ethical Fashion and Sustainability under her belt as well. In this conversation she shares her excitement about what’s going on right now in African fabric production. She educates me on lots of topics related to her experiences and passions, including her perspective on cultural appropriation and dressmaking with African textiles.

Support the podcast over on Patreon!

Wax and Wraps can be found HERE. 

Jacqueline’s sourcing agency, African Fashion Guide, is HERE. 

The blue and white striped cotton fabric handwoven in Uganda is pictured below plus can be viewed on Wax and Wraps Instagram HERE, swipe to see the weaving process. 

Jacqueline’s YouTube Channel can be found HERE.

The stretch Ankara fabric that blew my mind is HERE.  

Fashion Africa, Jacqueline’s book, can be bought from Waterstones HERE or Amazon HERE.