Check Your Thread: Sewing More Sustainably

How does the space we create in affect the resources we collect, and vice versa? And why did the Ikea look become the default, acceptable aesthetic for spaces dedicated to sewing? Textile activist Shams el-Din Rogers and I have a fun and thought-provoking conversation about fabric stashes, storage and space. As always, Shams brings her insight and wisdom as we explore many of the implications of these topics as they relate to sustainability, and we compare notes as an American and a European. 

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Find Shams el-Din Rogers on Instagram @shamseldinrogers.

Listen to her on other episodes of CYT:

I also highly recommend checking out Shams’ episode on Stitch Please: the Black Women Stitch podcast, Ep.#123: Don’t Trash it! Sew it!: Sustainable Creativity with Shams el-Din Rogers. 

Explore ‘Works in Progress Toronto’ via their website and on Instagram @works.in.progress.to.

Instagram based contests that Shams is participating in:

#lastsewiststanding created by @miss.taeschli.

#whole30fabricchallenge created by @pinkmimosabyjacinta.

Textile Museum of Canada is in Toronto and has a truly epic-looking shop!

Shams recently bought some issues of Tauko magazine.

Check out two blog posts I made including round-ups of free kid’s patterns:

Listen to the episodes Shams referenced about sewing for and with kids:

I use the the basic version of the Trello app to catalogue and manage my fabric stash and project ideas. 

Shams’ goal is based on the 2-door Pax wardrobes made by Ikea.

A new mending book is about to land in bookshops around the globe, and it’s something really special. It’s the creation of regular CYT guest and mending expert, Jeanna Wigger, and super experienced mending volunteer and organiser, Mary Morton. In this episode, we’re going to hear all about how this excellent book came to be written by two women who had never even met each other, and exactly what makes ‘Stitch it, Don’t Ditch it’ so significant in the mending book genre. 

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Jeanna Wigger can be found @thepeoplesmending on Instagram. Jeanna also has an excellent Substack. 

Mary Morton can be found @edinburghstreetstitchers and @mvm13 on Instagram

Listen to my previous conversations with Jeanna:

Mary volunteers at the Shrub Coop, a ZW charity based in Edinburgh, Scotland (@shrubcoop on Instagram). 

Find and pre-order their new book, ‘Stitch it, Don't Ditch it’:

Suzi Warren is the creator of the Street Stitching movement:

Mary was a guest of the long running Woman´s Hour BBC radio show. 

Mary and Jeanna regularly recommend the ‘Repair What You Wear’ website to would-be menders. Also @RepairWhatYouWear on YouTube. 

They made the following videos mentioned in the episode:

How do you respond to expectations? How easy is it for you to get things done, both the things that are asked of you, and the things you want to achieve yourself? And how does that play out in your sewing and creative life? We’re taking a deep dive into the Four Tendencies framework devised by writer and podcaster, Gretchen Rubin. Understanding how we, and those around us operate, can be so useful in achieving our goals. We look at each of the tendencies and talk to a well-known previous CYT guest about how their tendency impacts their crafting. 

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Read about the Four Tendencies and take the Four Tendencies Quiz, created by Gretchen Rubin. 

My Obliger guest is Jeanna Wigger (@thepeoplesmending on Instagram). Jeanna also has an excellent Substack. 

Listen to my previous conversations with Jeanna:

Jeanna referenced ‘Better Than Before’, Gretchen’s book about habit change:

My Questioner guest is Kim Witten, visit her website and follow her on Instagram (@witten.kim). 

Listen to my previous conversation with Kim:

Sign up to Kim’s excellent, free, weekly newsletter. 

Learn more about the Pomodoro productivity technique on the Undo podcast:

My Rebel guest is Lise Bauer, who posts about her personal projects on Instagram @miss.taeschli, and hosts the Last Sewist Standing and other community projects via @the.craft.camp on Instagram.

Listen to my previous conversation with Lise:

Last Sewist Standing, for those who may be new to this podcast, is the no-buy sewing supplies challenge created by Lise Bauer. The challenge is in its fifth year, and 2025 is my second time participating. It’s time for a catch up with Lise, and to answer the question that no one is asking: are Lise and myself still in the running???

Support the podcast over on Patreon!

Find my new podcast ‘Can I Dig It? Food Growing for Busy People’ wherever you listen to podcasts!

Visit the CIDI Patreon which you can JOIN FOR FREE!!!!!

Find Lise and the Last Sewist Standing challenge updates at @the.craft.camp on Instagram. 

Check out Lise’s personal account @miss.taeschli on Instagram.

View the IG posts relating to the #lastsewiststanding challenge.

Listen to Lise discuss the challenge in the previous episode:

I bought some excellent pre-loved fabric from the @destash4palestine account. 

Destash for palestine

I bought some Fluro Indian Dobby Cotton fabric from Merchant & Mills:

I intend to make a top using the Vali Top & Dress pattern by Pattern Fantastique (available in paper form from Fabric Godmother in the UK). 

I’m seriously considering buying the Palazzo Pants pattern by Sasha Starlight. 

Have you ever made a garment that you thought you were going to love, but ended up rarely reaching for it because you’ve realised that the colours drains you, or somehow makes you feel meh? It’s so disheartening when that happens. So this week I’m talking to stylist and colour consultant, Numba Pinkerton, about how to make successful colour choices for our garment projects, and the rest of our wardrobes. Plus, Numba tells us why most of us should remove the black holes from our clothing selections!

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Find out more about Numba’s work at her website, and you can follow her on Instagram (@stylemeflawless). 

You can sign up to Numba’s weekly newsletter at the bottom of the homepage on her website, and check out her e-book, ‘The No Black Project’. 

If you are interested in studying colour analysis, Numba recommends checking out the London College of Style which offers an online Advanced Diploma in Colour Analysis for Creatives. 

How do I resist temptation whilst working in a fabric shop? Do I feel conflicted working for a fabric company whilst also personally promoting a reduction in consumption? Just two of the fun and occasionally spicy questions posed to me when I was invited to chat with attendees in the Virtual Sewing Room at the beginning of the year.

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My blouse that I rarely wear because I feel the base colour doesn’t look good on me:

Learn about the Last Sewist Standing challenge: 

The Whole 30 Fabric Challenge is hosted by @pinkmimosabyjacinta. 

We heard about the Five Fabrics rule in:

Yet again, I mentioned the Four Tendencies framework devised by Gretchen Rubin. 

The discussion about deadstock fabrics:

Can we reduce consumption whilst still supporting small business?:

An alternative way to be a small business in the sewing industry:

My response to one particularly spicy email:

Read more about B Corp Certification for businesses. 

What do sewing machine repair and servicing professionals do that you can’t do yourself at home? And what CAN you do at home to make problems with your machine less likely? And what noises coming from your machine should you definitely NOT ignore? These are just some of the many questions that sewing machine technician, Bizz McKilligan, answers for us today. I first spoke to Bizz over a year ago when she’d just started up her sustainability-focused sewing store, The Green Thimble. She gives us an update on how it’s going and what she’s learnt over that time.   

Support the podcast over on Patreon!

You can learn online about sewing machine maintenance and repair via Sewing Doc Academy. 

Bizz McKilligan in her self-made hoodie!:

Bizz McKilligan is the owner of The Green Thimble, an online and bricks and mortar sewing shop in Victoria, Canada, that helps to recirculate existing sewing resources. Here’s their new logo:

Follow them on Instagram @thegreenthimble.ca.

Listen to Bizz’s first appearance on CYT:

If you rely on a needle threader but your machine’s one keeps breaking, Bizz recommends purchasing an external needle threader like this one:

Check out Bizz’s incredible self made knit dress that she made for, and wore at, a Frocktails event:

For most of us who sew our own clothes, basic garment repairs are not often a huge challenge. However, encountering knit items that are thinning or have holes? That can feel like a whole other ball game, especially if you’re not a knitter. In this episode professional repairer, educator and author, Skye Pennant, teaches us our scotch darn from our honeycomb darn, and shares her sometimes controversial opinions on the best type of threads to use for mending. 

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Photo credit: Kim Lightbody

Skye Pennant created Slow Stitch Club as a focus for her mending activities and business. Find the website, Instagram (@slowstitchclub), YouTube channel and the Slow Stitch Club Patreon. 

Listen to Skye on last week’s episode:

Skye wrote a book! ‘Well Worn: visible mending for the clothes you love’  is available through her website and elsewhere:

Some examples of knitwear repairs by Skye:

On Skye’s advice, I successfully mended my socks using the honeycomb darn technique:

Believing that we won’t be great at something can hold some of us back from giving it a go in the first place. And for those who are confirmed perfectionists, this belief can be even more of a barrier. Skye Pennant, creator of Slow Stitch Club, is a professional mender, mending educator and author, but suffers daily with perfectionism and imposter syndrome. If you experience those tendencies yourself, Skye has some wonderful advice about how to overcome them and become the visible mender you always hoped you’d be! 

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Photo credit: Celie Nigoumi

Skye Pennant created Slow Stitch Club as a focus for her mending activities and business. Find the website, Instagram (@slowstitchclub), YouTube channel and the Slow Stitch Club Patreon. 

The Seam is a UK-based company that matches menders with clients requiring repairs for their item/s. 

Skye wrote a book! ‘Well Worn: visible mending for the clothes you love’  is available through her website and elsewhere:

A chance discovery of a speed weave darning loom in a junk shop kicked off Skye’s fascination with mending:

Skye’s favourite mending book is ‘Mend it!: A Complete Guide to Clothes Repair’ by Maureen Goldsworthy, published in 1980.

Millie Moon is a fabric and haberdashery shop in Frome, Somerset, UK, that has been a big supporter of Skye and her work.  

We’ve been talking about reducing our fabric stashes so we can feel well stocked, but not overwhelmed. But once we’ve passed on the pieces of fabric that we honestly can’t see ourselves sewing, what are we meant to do with what’s left? How can we store it so that its contents are both accessible AND inspiring to us? I’ve developed an organisation method that I call the Seasonal Stash System. In this episode, I explain how it works so you can weigh up if it’s something that might work for you. 

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(image source: Mel Poole via Unsplash)

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