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Sustainable clothing
Work shirts are brilliant for recycling. Not only is it environmentally friendly to recycle and reuse existing clothes rather than buy new but there is a big practical benefit for sewists - often the more difficult elements of sewing such as the buttonholes, collar and cuffs are already done so you just needs to do some clever cutting and easier sewing - win win!
In the month that COP26 came to Glasgow, I produced a short film on sustainable fashion highlighting the environmental impact of the fashion industry, suggesting action that can be taken to improve the detrimental effect of the culture of fast fashion and highlighting some of our upcycling patterns.
Article with suggestions of some quick and easy adjustments you can make to a work shirt to transform it into a top. Great for the environment to re-use existing clothes and the big bonus is the buttonholes are already done, happy days! Article includes a tutorial on how to create elasticated sleeves.
Ideas to help make your wardrobe more environmentally friendly and sustainable.
I am so excited that three of my sewing patterns have been shortlisted for the British Sewing Awards 2021.
The Portobello Pocket Dress is up for Best Sewing Pattern and TWO of my sewing patterns have been nominated in the Best Eco-friendly Product category - the Jeans to Joppa Dress and the Barra Button Back Top.
Each of my patterns has a one page Quick Guide which is great for experienced sewists who maybe do not need to read the full instructions or for using once you have made the pattern once and just need a reminder of the steps to keep you on track. This post includes a copy of the Quick Guide for the Stornoway Cape.
This week I wrote an article for vocal.media and am delighted for it to have been chosen as a Top Story in the Earth Community section.
The article was for a challenge sponsored by fiskars.com (Finnish company making all sorts of home, craft and gardening tools including, of course, dressmaking scissors!) and talks about my love of recycling fabric.
It was an interesting project and great to focus again on the reasons why recycling and reusing our existing textiles when possible is important and fun.
Happy recycling!
When I find a fabric that I love, I have to resist the temptation to make some clothes and cover the house in it whether it’s cushions, chairs, lampshades, bedspreads or pillows!
Loved doing a jumper to capelet refashion last month for Mollie magazine @molliemakes
Details of the make are in this month’s issue (no.143).
You can see a preview of issue 143 at https://bit.ly/Mollie143