Check Your Thread: Sewing More Sustainably

I’m guessing that most of us find that a cluttered crafting space affects our creativity. It can also lead to over buying when you repurchase something you already own but weren’t able to locate. Very good friend of the podcast, Shams el-Din Rogers, is back to talk to me about the tactics she’s been using to get her space and her in check, and the impact that’s having on her creativity. Maybe these are tactics that would work for you….

Support the podcast over on Patreon!

Find Shams el-Din Rogers @sepia_textiles on Instagram.

Listen to her on previous episodes of CYT:

Shams is on the board at the Textile Museum of Canada, Toronto.

Shams’s favourite embroidery designers:

Listen to Shams on the Black Women Stitch’s podcast, Stitch Please:

Whether or not you’re a New Year’s Resolutions kind of person, setting some intentions about what you’d like more or less of in your life as you head into a new year can feel really positive. All of us want to spend more time making and being creative, and less time being sold to. My guest, Hayley from Sew Hayley Jane, and I discuss the issues faced by makers and small business owners when it comes to navigating social media, and Hayley makes some great suggestions that we can all apply today to spend more of 2026 doing the things that bring us joy. 

Support the podcast over on Patreon!

Read more about Puff and Pencil’s ‘Hands First January’ challenge. 

Find Hayley on Instagram @sewhayleyjane and discover the Thready Set Go community that she runs. 

Hayley loves the Fold Line, especially their ‘New In’ section, for discovering new potential sewing projects.  

A recent project that helped Hayley level up her skills was the Falconer Pants by Helen’s Closet Patterns:

Do you want to feel more connected to the place you live and the people who also live there? Then consider not buying new fabric. My guest, Berlin-based Mariel Davies, chooses to live a frugal lifestyle, both to reduce waste, and to create and deepen her connections with others. We also discuss the gamification of resource acquisition, and her radical approach to gift giving. 

Support the podcast over on Patreon!

Follow Mariel on Instagram (@a_to_zerowaste)

Learn more about Holly McQuillan’s Spiral trousers on the Zero Waste Design Collective’s website.

ZW designer Liz Haywood has explored historical pattern making and tessellating sleeves. All the ‘A Year of Zero Waste’ zines and book are available on Liz’s Etsy shop, and January’s FREE instalment can be downloaded via her ‘The Craft of Clothes’ blog.

Learn more about writer Mark Boyle, AKA The Moneyless Man. 

Bea Johnson is the author of ‘Zero Waste Home: The Ultimate Guide to Simplifying Your Life by Reducing Your Waste’.

Follow green-living activist Robin Greenfield on Instagram (@robin.greenfield). 

The @destash4palestine account is a great source for genuinely pre-loved dressmaking fabric. 

Edinburgh-based mending legend, Mary Morton, can be found @edinburghstreetstitchers and @mvm13 on Instagram.

Learn about the Lutterloh pattern system. 

Whether or not you plan to participate in the Winter of Care and Repair challenge, we all have items we’re responsible for maintaining. Although, if you’re anything like me, there might be things you don’t even notice that are well within your control to improve, and will make your life better as a result. In this episode, we hear from a bunch of amazing CYT Patrons about what items they intend to fix over the coming season and how they plan to do it, to provide inspiration for the rest of us. 

Support the podcast over on Patreon!

Image source: Kwon Junho via Unsplash

Access and download the FREE WOCAR tracker sheet. 

The Winter of Care and Repair challenge was invented by Jeanna Wigger. Jeanna can be found @thepeoplesmending on Instagram. Jeanna also has an excellent Substack which includes this explainer about WOCAR. 

Listen to my previous conversations with Jeanna:

Find and order Jeanna’s book written with Mary Morton, ‘Stitch it, Don't Ditch it’. 

Watch the tutorial by Arkdefo for the reusable party hats that Mary Morton mentioned. 

Addams Family Stitches by Yonah and Rebecca:

PSA: The Winter of Care and Repair challenge is kicking off on 21st December! I used its imminence as an excuse to talk to the challenge’s creator, mending expert and author Jeanna Wigger, about the wider impact participating has had for her. Jeanna tells me how it’s helped her shift her consumption habits, challenge her perfectionism and reframe her ideas around productivity. Maybe it will do something similar for you! 

Support the podcast over on Patreon!

Access and download the FREE WOCAR tracker sheet. 

Photo credit: Elaine Pieczonka. 

Jeanna Wigger can be found @thepeoplesmending on Instagram. Jeanna also has an excellent Substack which includes this explainer about WOCAR. 

Listen to my previous conversations with Jeanna:

Find and order Jeanna and Mary’s book, ‘Stitch it, Don't Ditch it’:

Katrina Rodabaugh, author of ‘Mending Matters’, played a key role in Jeanna’s mending journey. 

Jeanna’s men(D)iagram! Click through to read her explanation. 

We all experience shifts in our personal style. Usually, those shifts are gradual, but occasionally they can happen rapidly. My friend, freelance musician and singer, Lindsay Ashworth Fraser and I are both at a style crossroads ourselves. In this episode, we talk about where we’ve found ourselves stylistically, what brought us here, what’s next and how to ethically pass on the items that are no longer serving us. 

Support the podcast over on Patreon!

Lindsay Ashworth Fraser can be found @lindsayashworthfraser on Instagram.

You might have heard Lindsay in the previous episodes:

Check out the episode of Love to Sew podcast that got Lindsay thinking about the three-word method of definition your personal style:

The green jumpsuit Lindsay wore to the cinema to watch Wicked with her choir:

A pattern that was a key turning point in a previous style shift I had was the Luna Pants pattern by Made by Rae:

Is there any point in trying to sew more sustainably for kids when they’re just going to grow out of their clothes in five minutes? Of course there is! And there are a TON of ways to do it. From pattern and fabric selection, to ensuring durability and repairability, in this solo episode we cover ways to create clothes that the kids you’re sewing for will love to wear, for as long as possible. 

Support the podcast over on Patreon!

Check out related episodes:

Apple Tree Pattern Co. has a ton of ‘Grow With Me’ styles, including this cool Dolman hoodie pattern:

Check out the ‘outgrown’ extend system by Columbia clothing company:

Buttonhole elastic is great for making adjustable waistbands:

My son’s ‘Pig from Bunny Vs Monkey’ World Book Day costume with leggings that he now uses as PJ bottoms:

The ‘Looshkin’ costume that became a regular sweatshirt when the white tummy was removed:

No shame in buying a ready made patch to make a garment more wearable to a child!

Does shopping for natural fibres and more sustainable fabrics mean that you’re limited to solid colours in muted tones? Do you have to ignore your love of vibrant colour and bold prints? My guest today would answer “NO!” to both these questions. Tanya Brooman from Bornella Fabrics tells me about the sustainability ethos that underpins her fabric business, and what most frustrates her about the fabric industry today.

Support the podcast over on Patreon!

Tanya Brooman is the owner of Bornella Fabrics. You can also follow them on Instagram @bornellafabrics. 

Tanya appeared in the previous episodes:

Tanya has a useful webpage on ‘Sustainable Fabric Lowdown’. 

If developments in fabric production interest you, check out this episode:

Guest interviewer, Kat Camfield, is talking to author Natalie Fergie about Natalie’s incredible historical novel, The Sewing Machine. Based on real, historical events that took place at the Singer Sewing Machine factory in Scotland, the novel follows two families: one belonging to a worker at the factory who went on strike, the other belonging to the owner of one of the sewing machines that the striker helped make. If you’re interested in sewing as a lens through which to look at social history, then you’re going to find this conversation fascinating. Natalie and Kat also geek out over vintage sewing machines and their sizable collections!

Support the podcast over on Patreon!

Kat Camfield is a sewing teacher and sewing retreat organiser living in Victoria, Canada. You can follow Kat on Instagram @cooperativekatsews. 

Hear Kat on previous episodes of CYT:

Learn more about author Natalie Fergie and her books: The Sewing Machine and 25 Library Terrace:

Watch the silent film ‘Birth of a Sewing Machine’ from 1934. 

Look up the model and age of vintage sewing machines via the International Sewing Machine Collectors’ Society website. 

As a garment sewer conscious of waste, you know how quickly fabric scraps leftover from your projects can build up. But imagine you run an entire clothing brand range committed to saving and using up every piece of scrap. Designers Birgitta Helmersson and Sam Grose tell me about their brand, Helgrose, that operates in precisely this way. Plus, they’ve just written an awesome new book that shares the main three methods they use for turning fabric scraps into desirable, wearable pieces, so you can do the same at home. 

Support the podcast over on Patreon!

Birgitta Helmersson and Sam Grose design and make clothing and accessories for their joint brand, Helgrose.

Birgitta is, of course, best known in the sewing community for her Zero Waste sewing patterns. 

Listen to Birgitta’s previous episodes:

Birgitta and Sam have written a new book, ‘Sewing with Scraps’, buy it online here. 

This is Birgitta’s second book, her first is ‘Zero Waste Patterns’. 

Zero Waste pattern designer, Liz Haywood, has an excellent blog where she often reviews ZW sewing patterns created by other designers. 

Check out the amazing sofa they recovered using fabric scraps:

The Cloth Lab is Birgitta and Sam’s creative hub where they host workshops. 

As well as Liz Haywood, Birgitta is also a fan of ZW clothing design company, Decode. 

Birgitta and Sam love both Sway based in LA (including their community dye bath)

Studio 234+ in Malmö.

Other CYT episodes about scraps: