When the Sewcialists survey results were out, I was super excited to see that sustainable sewing was one of the top votes! In the past few years the sustainable fashion movement has really gained momentum and it is fantastic to see the sewing community pick this up as well.
So what about the theme month? Well, we’ve designed it to be an introduction to the idea of sustainable sewing and what it means to you. That means kicking around ideas for approaching your sewing practice differently, and of course sharing some finished projects which were made with sustainability in mind!
If you are new to the sustainability movement, it can be challenging to know where to start. After all, what does sustainability mean? Whilst a dictionary definition of sustainable will refer to the ability to maintain at a certain rate or level, its application to terms like a “sustainable life” or “sustainable sewing” is open to interpretation. Personally, I have found that you can’t look at sustainability without coming across these sorts of buzzwords:
But honestly it really doesn’t matter what labels we use to describe what we do, or whether you think most of the stuff is a load of rubbish or you believe in all of it. The common theme that speaks to me when I see all of these terms is less. Using less, buying less, being more conscious. But that is just me – for you, its your choice how you want to tackle sustainability and there is no right or wrong answer.
Below is a small list of resources and fun stuff I like which has a heavy sewing and sustainability focus, plus some things I’ve done. Also included are some non-sewing specific favourites I’ve seen floating around in the sewing community.
I know that the list could do with a whole lot more diversity. We’ve done some googling but not come up with a lot and to be honest, I’ve noticed a general lack of diversity when looking at sustainable fashion and lifestyle resources (that’s a separate discussion for another day). So we would really appreciate if you had anything to add that you share it in the comments with us!
Blogs / websites
- Megan Nielsen (pattern designer) – sustainable sewing blog series
- Wendy Ward (pattern designer and author) has sustainability posts on her blog
- Meghann HalfMoon (pattern designer) – ethical fabric shopping directory here
- Seamwork article – zero waste sewing
- Aboubakar Fofana (more textiles than sewing related) – read his Instagram posts about African arts and traditions and the textile trade.
- Grace @Bad Mom Good Mom blog – as well as sewing, Grace writes a bunch of environmental related posts – and is highly qualified to do so! You will always learn something from her.
- Josie @songofthesewingmachine blog – Josie does a lot of upcycling and I love to see her unique and colourful creations.
- The Makery – Refashioners – an annual sewing challenge in Sept/Oct, great for finding inspiration if you don’t know where to start with refashioning
- Louisa @wornvalues blog – a philosopher, sewer, knitter, lots of thoughtful posts about slow fashion
- My own blog Time to Sew – textile production, social commentary on sustainable fahsion, and interviews with changemakers and sewing.
- Alex @Sewrendipity (blogger) – how to build a meaningful wardrobe (with capsules!) blog
- Elly @takeitupwearitout (blogger) – sustainable fashion and style blog from a costume maker (PS she loves vintage)
- The Fibre Trade – platform for buying and selling fabric and yarn
Books
- Anuschka Rees (blogger and author) – The Curated Closet
- Amy Twigger Holroyd (academic and author) – Folk Fashion: understanding home made clothes: a book with an academic view of the sewing and knitting world (note – key word being academic, it is not a light read)
- Marie Kondo (author): The life-changing magic of tidying up
Podcasts
- Love to Sew podcast – episodes on sustainability here and here, and #slowfashionoctober
- Clothes Making Mavens – sustainable sewing podcast episode with me
- Stitchers Brew Podcast – a sustainability episode with me and Alex
- Declutter Your Sewing Space podcast – does what it says on the tin!
Do you have any more sustainable sewing resources that you love? Please share in the comments below!
Kate is one of the Sewcialists editors. An import to the UK from Australia, she shares her love for sustainable fashion and sewing over at Time to Sew.
Thank you! Embarrassingly, I really didn’t know what the term sustainable sewing meant! I’m interested to learn.
Hopefully you’ll get lots of great ideas during the next couple of months on how different people interpret it. There is no one right answer!
Great post, Kate – thanks for the list of resources. I have one to add: the super-helpful Craft Sessions blog series Stash Less (http://thecraftsessions.com/stash-less/). Not only does she get into the nitty gritty of a smaller but more useful stash, but the mindsets and emotions we bring to stashing and buying. Meant for knitters but just as applicable to sewists.
Hi Shelly, thanks for this, just had a quick peek at the series and its definitely just as applicable to sewers! Sounds a bit like the #makeyourstash challenge I ran with Pilar in March. Thanks for sharing.
The Renegade Seamstress blog and her book The Refashion Handbook has lots of great tips and projects to upcycle and tailor thrift store finds.
oh wow! I’ve never seen the Renegade Seamstress! I’ll have to follow that one too – Gotta love another woman that likes chips dipped in cottage cheese! 😀
Super, thank you for sharing!
https://www.newdressaday.com
Marisa Lynch upcycles dresses from op shops!
what does OP Shop mean?
Lol! That’s what we call thrift shops in Australia! ‘Opportunity shop! Didn’t realise it was an aussie term!
oh, that’s excellent to know! thank you!
Thank you for sharing – I love Aussie websites 😉 Alas, where I live there aren’t a lot of good op shops. The good stuff has largely been sifted out already, perhaps for the population of expensive vintage shops in my area!
The BEST thing about Kate’s approach, which I totally subscribe to as well, is any participation is better than zero. We’re not the green police. That’s just nonsense and exhausting. This is from a good place in your heart and soul, and you need to be able to sustain being sustainable! 😀 I try to add on more sustainable practices every year, and keep up the best I’m capable of. Thank you Kate for keeping it real! xoxo
Thanks Becky! Western society is not set up to help us live a less-consumption life, so it has to be driven from the heart as you say and something you can feasibly do. We need grassroots movements to combine with industry led change to be effective. There has already been quite a bit of progress in sustainable fashion – material innovation is occurring all the time and people are becoming more aware of the impact of fashion on planet and people. What hasn’t been solved is the need for brands – sustainable or not – to sell more, which clashes with the buy less message. But buying less is the opposite to how we measure economic progress. Optimistically, I might be retired by the time the economic model is reinvented!
Thanks so much for including a link to my blog! Just search “sustainable sewing” and a whole bunch of posts will come up 😊
I really dig Kestrel Jenkins’ podcast Conscious Chatter, she interviews an array of professionals and creatives involved with sustainable fashion in one way or another. https://consciouschatter.com/
Yes I know that one – there are loads of sustainable fashion related resources I could share but I was trying to limit the list to more sewing focussed ones! Thanks for sharing though 😊
[…] we get eco-burnout. It’s a real thing. Chloe touched on it in her post, and Kate talked about all the confusing buzzwords and green-washing. We want to do good, but we can only […]
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