Sustainable Sewing: Zero-Waste Product Swaps

For the last six months or so I've been seeking out swaps I can make around the home, switching our usual products for non-disposable versions. There are, of course, heaps of fancy-looking, eco-products now available in ethical shops and online to help with this. But I've been relieved to find that a basic level of sewing ability and the reinterpretation of textiles we already own has saved me a stack, even if my versions aren't so pretty! I know that a lot of people are trying to make similar changes, so in the hope of providing inspiration, here's what I've been making:

1) Dish scrubbers. There was a surprisingly involved discussion in the comments section of my IG post about possible alternatives for what to use to when washing up. I bought a couple of VERY cute, fruit-themed, crocheted pads from Etsy, however they disintegrated pretty rapidly when they were put to the task of actually washing up multiple times a day. I finally landed on making these towelling circles for washing up, instead of the disposable, synthetic, sponge scrubbers we were using. I cut up an old, 100% cotton towel that was already pretty abbrasive, and overlocked/serged two layers together. You could even stuff them with scraps if you wanted to make them bulkier and possibly easier to grip. I made three so that I could chuck them in the wash regularly, and after six months of intense use, I can report that they are only just starting to develop a couple of holes. I don't think this is bad going, considering we don't have a dish washer and therefore do A LOT of washing up. And because these are 100% cotton, I feel much happier about eventually chucking them in the textile recycling bank (which may actually mean landfill because sadly who knows where it all actually goes).

2) Surface wiping cloths. Instead of using the same synthetic sponge scrubbers that we used to use to wash up with, or those foam-y sponge cloths that eventually disintegrate, I cut up yet more of that sacrificial towel (which we got via Freecycle about 10 years ago) and simply overlocked around the edges. Pat actually prefers these to wash up with as well; I think I made the circle ones a bit small for him. Anyways, these have been great.

3) Hands/face cloths. A former baby towel that got too ratty for bath-time got cut up into squares and the edges overlocked. We use them dampened for dealing with sticky toddler hands and faces after meals times. I'm not proud to admit that we used to keep a pack of disposable wet wipes/baby wipes on the dining table for this purpose. Marilla Walker recently shared on IG that she'd made some far more attractive ones of these using scraps of vintage towelling, but whatever works!


4) Nappy changing wipes. When we emerged from the 'milky and puke-y' stage of babyhood, we were left with a mountain of muslin cloths. I've still got some on hand for mopping up spills and covering the table when it's painting time, however, I've given a couple of the softest muslins the old cut-into-squares-and-overlock-around-the-edges treatment. I've been using these to further reduce the amount of disposable wet wipes/baby wipes we get through by dampening one before a nappy change to use if it's just a wee-based situation. I then chuck the used wipe directly into the washing machine to be washed in the next round of laundry. I still use regular wet wipes for dealing with pooey nappy changes, but these muslin squares alternative have meant we are buying the disposable kind far less frequently. I'm kicking myself for not doing this when my daughter was a baby/toddler too; I shudder to think how many of those things, plus the plastic packets, we've sent to landfill.

5) Handkerchiefs. I wrote about my foray into making fabric hankies to use instead of paper tissues here, but they have since been embraced by the whole family, so we needed MORE. This batch are bigger, 'man-sized' hankies (45cm x 45cm before hemming) made from a soft, old, bed sheet. I've discovered that when choosing suitable fabric for making them, softness really is the most important factor. Even though we have this new stack in addition to the previous ones, we still don't have enough if one of us has a cold or a bout of hay fever, so more are on the way. Plus Dolores has lost most of hers at school. 


6) Menstrual pads/Panty liners. Last year I made a batch of menstrual pads/panty liners, and I'm pleased to report that they are still going strong. I have not bought any panty liners since making these, which is a total win.


7) Wash mitt. I made a basic wash mitt for myself from yet more of the sacrificial towel. I zigzagged two layers of towelling together that I'd cut into the shape of a mitt. I used some leftover bias binding to finish the edge of the hole where your hand goes in, and some grosgrain to make a hanging loop, although I never actually hang it up. Picture an oven mitt made from an old towel. It didn't warrant a photo, but it does gets used everyday.


8) Cotton pads. I don't use cotton wool pads very often because I prefer to remove my make up with a foaming face wash, rather than specific make up remover. However, when my current stash of cotton wool pads runs out, I plan to make some like these from the Helen's Closet blog for taking off nail varnish.




So what about you? Are there any product swaps you've made that have been made easier and/or cheaper because you have a sewing machine and stash of textiles? Have you made any alternatives to products not listed above? I'm always looking for new ideas!

So, I Was in The Guardian Talking About Sustainable Clothing...

(image credit: Graeme Robertson/The Guardian)

Earlier this week The Guardian newspaper published an article called 'Don't feed the monster!', which included some interviews with people who no longer buy new clothes by way of discussing approaches to dressing sustainably. I was lucky enough to be included in the article, in effect to represent the DIY facet of the topic. What 'sustainable clothing' actually is is complicated of course, and means different things to different people (if they've spent any time thinking about it in the first place!). But it's clear from all the stats that RTW, and the lower-end 'fast fashion' business model in particular, is incredibly damaging to the environment and the workers involved in its manufacture. So sustainable clothing is something that we all need to address and consider for ourselves.  

I am incredibly grateful to have been asked to contribute to this discussion on a broader platform than this blog and my Instagram account usually provides, and I'm so happy to have some new followers to both since the article's publication that are clearly the kind of people who consider sustainability important. I feel that some of what I was trying to get across in the interview ended up being a little disjointed, and I'd like to explain my stance more freely here.

(image credit: Graeme Robertson/The Guardian)

Firstly, I want to emphasise that I don't think that sewing your own clothing should necessarily be considered a sustainable option by default, and certainly is not as sustainable as sourcing all clothing secondhand. Even though I personally try to use secondhand fabric and thrifted garments as a starting point for some of my sewing projects rather than always buying new fabric, I'm careful not to ignore the fact that home sewing still produces a lot of waste and uses a lot of resources. And I doubt that any fast-fashion garment workers working in unpleasant and dangerous conditions for barely any money would thank me for opting out of buying mass-produced clothing completely. 

Yet I do think that, as far as environmental impact goes at least, home sewing can be more sustainable than buying RTW. All the choices that sewing your own garments requires you to make (are you starting with a sewing pattern, which version, any changes to the design or fit, what type and colour of fabric, what buttons/notions blah blah blah...) means you can't help but end up with an item that is uniquely yours: that becomes an investment of self. And the more you learn about your own style, preferences and lifestyle requirements, and the better you get at altering and fitting garments to your own body, the more likely you are to end up with a garment that is entirely custom to you and you have deep investment in. Theoretically, most home sewn garments, if created with care and thought, should get countless more wears than the average fast-fashion item. Which is four, out of interested. 

(image credit: Graeme Robertson/The Guardian)

A year and a half ago, I wrote this post about how we can be more sustainable in our home sewing, and I'm sure this is something that I will continue to think and write about going forwards. Of course, one way you can make sure you're getting the most out of your existing selection of home made garments, and learn lots of useful lessons to help make your future projects as successful as possible, is to challenge yourself during this year's Me-Made-May! If you have any thoughts or feelings about dressing sustainably, or more sustainably to be accurate, in relation to handmade clothing or more generally, I'd LOVE to read them so please leave a comment below or hit me up on IG (@sozoblog). 

The Unsustainability of Sewing

Have you heard about Earth Overshoot Day? Its definition (that I pilfered from this excellent website) is the date that marks when humanity’s demand for ecological resources and services in a given year exceeds what Earth can regenerate in that year. We maintain this deficit by liquidating stocks of ecological resources and accumulating waste, primarily carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. You want to know when 2017's overshoot day was? 2nd August. How depressing is that? So, seeing as governments and businesses aren't taking committed action fast enough to reverse this, it also has to be up to individuals to take steps, where we can, to cut our consumption and therefore the use of energy and raw materials. And let's face it, those of us who have the time to write and read blogs about sewing are probably lucky enough to live relatively comfortable lives, most likely in a developed country. We're the individuals that are in a position to make some changes.

(my newly shortened gingham ruffle Tova dress)

So I've been thinking a lot lately about the unsustainability of sewing, and it has lead to a fair dose of soul searching. I used to think that making my own (and more recently my children's) clothing was a way in which I was making a contribution to reducing my carbon footprint and being more sustainable. In fact, as you may have noticed, the sub-heading of this blog is 'Sewing Sustainably with Style'. (Granted, I came up with that when I was making a lot of garments out of reclaimed textiles, usually secondhand clothing that otherwise might be heading to a landfill, which is probably a more environmentally sound approach than making stuff from brand new fabric.)

My thinking was: if I was making my own clothing, then I wouldn't be contributing so much to all that energy used by hauling raw materials, fabric, trims and finished garments around the globe, from cotton field to the shop floor. I would only be contributing to the fabric production and distribution bit, and powering my sewing machine and heating my iron. And I guess that that is true to a certain extent, but more recently I've been facing up to the fact that sewing is an energy and resource hungry pass time, and that it is unlikely that the carbon and water footprint of the stuff we sew for ourselves is much different than something we may have bought from Topshop. For example, making things in many multiples rather than singly saves a lot of energy per item, and fabric through tighter layplans. A lot has been written in recent years about the ills of the fashion industry, but I have yet to hear about an energy and resource study that makes a direct comparison between mass-produced and home sewn garments, anybody know of one? If one has been done, sadly I don't think us home sewers/ists would come off lightly.

My feeling is that the most sustainable way to dress yourself has to be by simply wearing the garments we already have, and when those things wear out, replacing them with second hand items. However, I'm not advocating that we all stop making our own clothes; you'll have to prise my sewing machine and fabrics sheers out of my cold, dead hands. There are heaps of benefits to sewing your own clothing, Tilly unearthed many of them whilst researching her fascinating provocation paper back in 2011. So my thoughts turn to how can we make home sewing a more sustainable thing to do?

Whatever way I approach this question, I always draw the same conclusion: we have to use our skills to make things that we want to wear many many times, and that will last for years. Obviously, that's probably not going to be possible straight away if you are new to sewing, it's impossible to learn without making mistakes. But when you've got some skills under your belt and know a bit about what you like, here's some things we can all do to ensure that we're sewing as sustainably as possible:

• Use the best quality fabric you can afford. I know that I definitely plan a project more carefully and take my time to get a great fit and finish when I'm using some really special fabric. Not only is the outcome likely to be more to your taste and body shape, but a better quality fabric will probably hold up to repeated wear and laundering. 
• Make a toile/muslin. Although making a toile/muslin as well as the finished garment effectively uses twice the fabric than just ploughing ahead with your 'fashion fabric' (not sure why I hate that term so much), but that toile can help iron out any potential fit issues that will lead to a successful finished garment. A 'meh' garment that gets worn only a few times, or  never, may well have been avoided. Plus, once you've perfected the fit of a sewing pattern, you're more likely to make multiple versions that you know will be a success, so working through that initial toile/muslin would have been even more worth while.
• Returning to an imperfect make. If you can dig deep and find the patience to rework a sewing project that wasn't quite right, you are likely to thank yourself later. Remember this gingham modified Tova dress I made a few months ago?  I eventually mustered up the arsed-ness required to make a very simple modification, raising the hem so that the proportions of the garment worked better, and now it is literally my favourite garment I own and I feel fabulous in it (see pics above). 
• Analyse your style. Like many sewers, I use Pinterest to ascertain exactly what themes, styles and colours of clothing appeal to me. I then frequently refer back to my boards for inspiration and to check that a new garment project idea is likely to be something that gels with my style and I'll really want to wear. Personally, I collate images of RTW (modern and vintage), other people's creations, sewing patterns I'd like to own, kid's clothing ideas and lots of other categories. Of course, you then have to apply another layer of analysis to check that what you'd like to make is also something that fits with your lifestyle, but I really think that Pinterest has been a huge help in learning about myself and reducing my number of sewing fails. I wish Pinterest has been around during those first couple of years when I was making my own stuff...
• Getting a good fit. This is linked to the point about making a toile/muslin, of course, but it's worth emphasising again I think! Making a garment that not only look good on you, but also that feels comfortable and non-restrictive, will keep you reaching for that garment rather than passing it over when you're getting dressed in the morning. Let's be honest, if a garment is really comfortable, we'll often even over-look the 'looking good' bit! Hands up who's continued to wear maternity clothing for more than a few weeks after your baby was born... There is a TON of fitting advice on the interwebs, as well as many amazing books on the subject. Recently, I subscribed to a jeans fitting class on Craftsy which includes access to an amazing teacher that you can post questions to and share photos with who will respond with expert advice. 

I'd love to hear from you about this. Do you think 'sustainable sewing' is possible? Is the impact of this pass time a concern you've had? Can you think of any other tips for eliminating sewing project duds and making long-lasting clothing you love wearing?

Achieving a 'Sustainable Wardrobe'

(the nautical knot dress that now resides in the 'to refashion' pile)

Recently, I've been thinking a lot about, and working towards, a better functioning and more sustainable wardrobe. I once read a statistic that women generally wear 80% of their clothing 20% of the time, and 20% of their clothing 80% of the time. I reckon that many of us can relate to finding a large selection of clothes when we open our cupboards and drawers, but still we tend to put on the same handful of things again and again. I also read (possibly in this book) that women today own on average twice as many items of clothing as women did in the 1980s. Do women nowadays need twice as many clothes? I can't imagine so. I can't see that we have double the social or familial roles, for example, that may require so many more outfit options. I don't think that owning twice as many tops as our mums did at our age makes us happier, or makes it easier for us to get dressed in the morning.

These two statistics I mentioned above come to my mind a lot and feature greatly in the my personal definition of a 'sustainable wardrobe'. I want to reach a point where I wear 80% of my clothes 80% of the time! And for that to be possible, I'll probably need to pare down to an amount of garments that a 1980s lady would be more used to having (but NOT the styles!). So here's what a 'sustainable wardrobe' means to me, and how I plan to achieve these goals:

• Clearing out clothing that I definitely won't wear again

• Actually wearing the clothes that I like and that fits me

• Mending, altering and refitting the clothes that I like but I don't currently wear

• Choosing future sewing projects that will be worn regularly

(the nautical sundress that also now awaits the refashioning treatment)

Clearing out clothing that I definitely won't wear again:

This always sounds like it's going to be easy, doesn't it?! But it's amazing the emotional attachments we develop with our clothing, especially if we made the damn thing ourselves. When you've chosen the fabric, painstakingly cut everything out and stitched every single stitch yourself, the investment of time and money you put into that garment can make the ties very strong, even if we know that we're not going to wear it again. However, I've managed to be pretty brutal in this area recently. Admittedly, some of the stuff has gone to the half-way house of the refashioning/remaking pile if I think that the fabric can be salvaged for something else. 

I know that for some people, being surrounded by lots of stuff makes them feel secure, but for me it can feel claustrophobic. Having less stuff makes me feel unencumbered and freer to take advantage of whatever life may offer me, including on the very practical level of being able to move house/city/country easier if that is what I choose to do. 

I must also admit, that the concept of owning lots of 'stuff', including clothing, that you rarely use feels really uncomfortably 'hoard-y' and selfish to me. I can't help but associate a greedy, childish 'mine' kind of mentality to this behaviour that I feel is really damaging to society, as well as to the environment which cannot support the accelerated levels of manufacture required for the excessive acquisition of products. To donate my unworn, me-made clothing to charity shops (whether they are then deemed appropriate for resale so that others can buy and enjoy them, or if they then get sold on as rag to be shredded, processed and recycled), can be hard but also cleansing.

Actually wearing the clothes that I like and that fits me:

Thinking about going through what garments I have, finding new outfit combination to wear it in, and then actually wearing it, as part of sustainable approach to clothing dawned on me embarrassingly recently. I was getting caught up in what I didn't wear and what I might make to wear, and had somehow forgot to concentrate some attention to what I already have to wear. Wow, did I feel stupid!

I don't expect to able to wear 100% of my wardrobe 100% of the time. There is my wedding dress, some special occasion/fancy clothes, and some very seasonally-specific clothes that realistically have very limited usage. But everything else needs to worn semi-regularly to earn its keep. I recently started wearing my corazones rockabilly blouse (pictured above) more often, and it has received an insane amount of compliments at the playgroups! Not that my aim was to garner compliments, but of course it is nice!

Challenges like Me-Made-May are great for prodding us into wearing the (specifically, self-stitched) clothes that we have but often forget about. Bringing those practices into the rest of the year is what I'm trying to do now.

(the Mimi blouse that I recently made a little looser around the upper arms)

Mending, altering and refitting the clothes that I like but I don't currently wear:

This usually the most boring one, isn't it? My personal trick is to do one altering or mending task in between every 'started from scratch' sewing project. That's the only way I can rev up the motivation. Oh, that and by telling myself that I'm pleasing the Sewing Gods by fixing something that's a bit off. Then hopefully they will, in turn, bless me with a successful subsequent 'from scratch' sewing project!

It sounds perverse, doesn't it, to prefer to start a new sewing project, and invest all the time and effort that that will entail, rather than setting aside half an hour to fix something that I've already invested heaps of time and effort into? Tell me I'm not alone! It reminds me of a friend we had called Max back when we lived in Barcelona. She hated the flat she lived in and was always moaning about her flatmates. But she admitted that she would rather moved countries than find somewhere the other side of town and go to the effort of moving in to it.  

(the recently completed sailboat raincoat which I wore every day last week)

Choosing future sewing projects that will be worn regularly:

Possibly the most fun of all the aspects of creating a 'sustainable wardrobe', as I see it. I've already talked about my own personal sewing projects that I have a good idea will actually get worn in my nippy weather sewing plans post. As we get older, (hopefully) we get more of a sense of who we are and how we want to present ourselves to the world. And specifically to clothing, what we like to wear and what suits us (colours, silhouettes, fits, fabrics, textures, fibres) tends to 'stabilise' and not swing violently from one trend to another, or perhaps one subcultural identity to another. Obviously, people's taste continue to evolve, often in response to if not a reflection of popular culture. But slowly and occasionally adding to and updating a wardrobe with new pieces (shop-bought or self-made, or both) has got to be a more sustainable way to go about dressing than reinventing yourself every year or few months, as many teenagers (myself included!) are prone to do.

This isn't meant to come across as an attack on the youth, however! Learning who you are through the prism of how you dress is an essential phase that everyone must and should go through, I would argue. But having come out the other side of that experimental period, it makes planning sewing projects that are likely to get worn regularly much easier.


I would LOVE to know what your thoughts are on creating a 'sustainable wardrobe'. What would be your ideal selection of clothing? What motivations effect what you make/buy? How often do you purge the things you don't wear? Do you enjoy a large selection of clothes, or does it annoy you? 

Guest Post: Jen's Top 5 Sources for Secondhand Fabric

(image source: Make Do and Mendable)

Hopefully you've already 'met' Jen from Make Do and Mend-able, who is preaching to the choir round these parts with her investigations into living ethically and sustainably with an emphasis on handmade. If you haven't then I thoroughly recommend you visit to her lovely blog, and whilst you're over there, check out her fabulous Ted X talk about the year she and her family pledged to buy nothing new. Everything she is doing is so positive and relevant, and her manifesto makes me want to scream 'YES TO ALL THIS!'. If Dolores wasn't in bed asleep right now, I'd probably scream it out loud for real. Anyways...

Jen posted her Top 5 Sources for Secondhand Fabric back in May, and it was so good to read. I'd been brewing a similar blog post for a while in response to the many questions that I've received in the topic both in blog comments and at the classes I teach, but had failed to get as far as clicking the 'publish' button to date. It's something that I think is incredibly important for limiting the impact of our hobby on the environment, and thankfully Jen has allowed me to repost her original post in the hope that it may inspire more sewers to get hunting.... Thanks Jen! 

Sewing your own might seem the 'greener' option, but fabric production is a pretty resource and labour intensive business. Growing cotton uses vast amounts of water and pesticides, and has a heavy environmental impact. An easy way to still sew your own, but lessen your 'sewing footprint' is to source your fabric secondhand. Here's my Top 5 places to find secondhand fabric:

(image source: The Guardian via this post)

1. Charity Shops 

If you get lucky, charity shops will sometimes have donations of 'acutal' fabric from someone who is having a clear out. Failing that, keep your eyes peeled for old duvets and sheets-there are often fabulous retro prints, and you get TONS of fabric for your money. Also check out the clothes rails for skirts and shirts in larger sizes, as the fabric from these can be salvaged to be made into something else.

2. Vintage Shops and fairs 

No excuses are needed for a rummage around a vintage shop, but while you are, be sure to keep a beady eye out for old curtains, and again, sheets and duvets, or even tablecloths. Sometimes there will be stashes of French linens, and tea towels, which are great for home furnishings.

3. Facebook 

Have a look on the Make Do and Mend-able Pre-loved Craft Stuff group. You can post a wanted if you are looking for something in particular eg. stretch fabric, or red cord etc. There are also lots of other groups like Fabric Addicts Destash and the Vintage Fabric Addict Support Group.

4. Instagram 

Some crafters will periodically have a 'de-stash' and list their unwanted fabric on Instagram. Search using #fabricdestash or #fabricforsale. It's a bit hit and miss, but you might unearth a gem! Also follow sewers whose blogs you admire, and you never know when they might choose to destash...!

(image source: Etsy)

5. E-bay, Pre-loved, Etsy 

These are all good places to find fabric, if you are prepared to do a bit of searching. Keep your search terms as specific as you can. If you just search "fabric" you will get thousands of suggestions! If you search for "red stretch knit fabric", or "yellow polka dot cotton" you are more likely to find what you are looking for more quickly.

One word of caution, there are lots of new fabrics for sale on E-bay now, and lots of people have set up E-bay shops to sell new fabric. If you just want to avoid the new fabrics coming up in your search, be sure to check the 'Used' box under Condition, in the search terms on the left hand side.

Thank you so much, Jen! That was great to read. I have a few more points to add on this topic, so I'll revisit it again soon. So, what about you? Is sewing with secondhand fabric something you think about? Have you scored any fab secondhand fabric recently? Do you have any tips on how/where to find it?

Thoughts on Organic Cotton

Right. This is a post I've been wanting to write for about six years. The reason it has taken me so long to actually get something down in black and white is that my thoughts and feelings have fluctuated a bit and I was never sure exactly what I wanted to say. I'm not sure I've nailed it now exactly, but here goes...

Organic cotton sounds like a great idea, doesn't it? We have all (hopefully) read or heard about the damage done to ecosystems and communities by the pesticides that are used in the production of cotton. Now we can buy clothing and fabric that doesn't contribute to that aspect of pollution and damage? Fabulous! Or is it? Let me tell you my concerns.

Water Footprint:

About six years ago I read 'Confessions of an Eco Sinner: Travels to find where my stuff comes from' by Fred Pearce (pictured above). Mind. Blown. I can't recommend this book enough. Fred Pearce is a journalist who in this book investigates what kind of impact the things he owns has on the world. He takes lots of everyday items and investigates their production, and sometimes also their disposal. It's freaking fascinating, eye-opening and, at times, alarming. But knowledge is power and all that. 

Anyways, one of the chapters is about the environmental and social impact his clothing has, and as part of that he looks into both organic and regular cotton production. He found that organic cotton, although obviously superior to regular cotton in its lack of pesticide usage, actually requires more water than regular cotton to grow and process. Cotton production is responsible for serious drought in various parts of the globe, included the truly frightening shrinkage of the Aral sea to just 10% of its former size (pictured below). So perhaps you could argue that the 'benefits' of organic cotton are somewhat outweighed, and maybe swapping all cotton production to the organic model would have even more dire consequences.

(image source: Wikipedia)

That is the perspective on organic cotton that I have carried with me for a number of years, but it was challenged at the end of last year when I attended a talk by Gina Pantastico, the Director of Operations at Cloud9 fabrics, which took place at the Village Haberdashery. She spoke a lot about the growing and processing of the organic cotton used in their fabric ranges. She assured us that the growing methods used by their suppliers in fact uses less water than conventional, non-organic cotton production. I have no cause to think that either she nor Fred Pearce is lying, so I conclude that either some cotton growers, including Cloud9's, have figured out superior methods, or that organic cotton growing in general has improved is the six+ year period since Fred researched and wrote 'Confessions of an Eco Sinner'. 

Carbon Footprint:

What does still require a large amount of water, however, is the processing and dying of the cotton, even when the dyes that are being used have been certified as safe for local ecosystems and the workers that are exposed to them. As she described the rest of the production process, from raw cotton crop to finished rolls of beautiful printed fabric, I couldn't help but think about all the energy that would also be used to power each stage. And then all the oil used to transport the cotton at its various stages of processing and to distribute the final product. I can't see that the amount of fossil fuels burned would be much, if at all, different from non-organic fabric production. 

(image source: Cloud9 Fabrics)

Conclusion:

I sometimes feel that when the word 'organic' is written on a garment or fabric label, it is perceived by some as a magic word that absolves us from any impact that the production, processing and transportation of it has had at all. I know that not everyone has the time or inclination to really look into what is involved in fabric production (myself included, I've only read a book and a few articles over the years), but it's important not to feel like we are wearing a halo because we bought an organic product. The conclusion I personally drew from having read 'Confessions of an Eco-Sinner' has not changed after the Cloud9 talk: we really need to reduce cotton production of all types because there is no method of cotton production that is environmentally sustainable.

We need to work out how slow down cotton consumption altogether, perhaps in part by focusing on using and reusing the vast quantities of textiles that already exist on our planet. Obviously, mass-produced poor-quality 'disposable' fast fashion is a major culprit, but home-sewers are not exempt from making better choices. I'm not suggesting that everyone who sews should stop buying fabric until their stashes are all used up and their local charity shops are empty, but we sewers definitely need to collectively rein it in a bit and be more mindful in our purchasing. This is a topic that I'm going to re-visit in another post very soon (bet you can't wait hahaha!).

So bringing it back to the topic in hand. Organic cotton is undoubtedly a better choice when buying fabric for lessening pesticide-related damage and, are far as Cloud9 are concerned at least, for reducing water usage in cotton production. If we can't source suitable second-hand, already-in-existence fabric for our projects, maybe organic cotton is the next best thing for home sewers? 

Sourcing Organic Cotton:

As I say, I've been thinking about this topic on and off for six years, so why am I'm finally writing about it now? Well, I got offered some free stuff. Within a short space of time, three businesses offered me some free organic cotton to sew with and review on my blog. Now, as committed as I am to sewing with existing textiles where possible, I'm not a crazy person. I'm not going to say no to some lovely fabric that I can make a cute garment for my daughter out of. Plus, more broadly, if I/we do need to source new fabric from time to time, we need to know what's available and what it's like to make garments from.  

The three businesses that have given me fabric recently are Only Organic Fabric Shop (who gave me the maroon jersey used to make the garments in these photos which I'll blog about separately very soon),  myfabrics.co.uk (who gave me some printed jersey for a garment that is currently on the sewing table, which will be blogged about in the next few weeks) and The Village Haberdashery (who gave me some of this Small World by Cloud9 needle cord, which I have great plans for...). 

I've also seen that Offset Warehouse has some excellent organic garment fabrics and Kitschy Coo seem to be the place to go for fun printed and plain organic jersey. Any other sources that you can recommend?

So, what about you? What are your thoughts on organic cotton? What is your thought processes behind making fabric purchases? Do you think the extra expense for organic cotton is worth it? Does anyone exclusively sew with the organic stuff? Jump into the discussion, I'd love to know what you think...

Big Spring Contest: Vote for Miriam!!!

So you remember the Big Spring Contest that I was a judge for? And you remember how Miriam was chosen to make her 'Everyday Awesome' entry using some gorgeous organic hand-block printed cotton? AND you remember how lovely and thought-provoking her thoughts on what 'Everyday Awesome' means to her were? Well, it's time to get voting people....

What you are seeing here is the result of Miriam's mad sewing skills, how she turned the delightful fabric into a stunningly cute dress to help make her day and everyone else's who sees her in it that bit more awesome. But aside from creating a beautiful, wearable garment (Check out the fit! Check out the pattern panel matching!), I feel that Miriam deserves to win the heap of prizes that are up for grabs because she has put real heart and spirit in to her entry (check out the blog post here for her full write up plus construction details):

"When I read Zoe’s theme – everyday awesome – I loved it. What better thought to carry around in your heart than: there are ways as creative people to make everyday awesome. We are given this day, others were not. Some people’s days are taken from them by death, by force, by poverty, by slavery, by chance. We are given this day. This is a day to celebrate. As a mama I have well known the pyjama filled days, those days of distaste at the stretch marks that have turned my tummy into something that resembles a deflating balloon. But I also know that getting up and dressing up for the day, choosing that favourite dress, those shoes that make you feel indestructible, those earrings given to you by someone who thinks you are wonderful – those days are better days. Sometimes by being everyday awesome and wearing something special instead of saving it for a ‘proper’ occasion, we make someone smile. 

And so I was so thrilled to be chosen to make a dress from Offset Warehouse’s collection. Because I believe creativity is important and I am excited to see people helping us to do that in better ways – ethically, sustainably, leaving a gentle footprint. I am trying to make choices that reflect my respect for this great human family and for this wonderful earth we are charged to steward. 

For the last 3 years I have journeyed through 10,000s of earthquakes in Christchurch, as the earth has destroyed grandma’s china, houses, sewer lines and lives it has also built communities that are knit together, it has made empty spaces that creative people have filled and it has taught us that what matters and what remains unshakeable are relationships. It has taught me that joy and love and shared laughter are my gifts to the world and I will give them with all the generosity and in every creative way I can think of. It has taught me that I can, and should, use and enjoy my special things everyday or I can save them, only to find they are destroyed anyway. The value is not in the things themselves, it is in the use and pleasure we derive from them. It has taught me to use, wear, enjoy, and share today. I’m not waiting for a special occasion. Today is awesome. Every day is awesome. I am not the youngest, oldest, wisest, strongest, prettiest, cleverest, slimmest woman in the world and so I owe it to myself, to other women, to my children and to others to declare (often with how I dress,) to say I’m not waiting for a special occasion, a better body, a better day. I am taking hold of today and I am declaring it to be awesome."

Amen to that! So PLEASE go to the Offset Warehouse's Facebook page and vote for Miriam (D) so she can win the lovely prizes I feel she so deserves. You know that she will treasure and use the prizes, and anything she doesn't I have no doubt she will not allow to sit around her home gathering dust, she'll pass them on so others can derive pleasure from them. Go on, please vote for Miriam!!!!!

Offset Warehouse's Big Spring Contest! What's your idea of 'Everyday Awesomeness'?

**THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED. THANKS SO MUCH TO THOSE WHO ENTERED**

Oh hi sewing-competition fans! Ethical fabric purveyors, Offset Warehouse, have just launched the Big Spring Contest, and guess what...? I’m one of the blogger judges! Hurrah! Want to win some fabric and a whole bunch more stuff? Of course you do. Read on, friends...

As one of the judges, I’ve been asked to come up with a theme and judge all the entrants for that theme. I get to pick one lucky winner who will get sent the fabric of their choice to make their design in three weeks. If you are selected as the overall winner out of the four 'theme finalists', you will win a whole goodie-bag of prizes!

The theme I've come up with is 'Everyday Awesomeness': garments that you wear day in day out that make you feel great, whatever that means to you. To enter, let me know what you would like to sew for the theme of 'Everyday Awesomeness' using fabric from the Offset Warehouse. You could choose an existing sewing pattern, commercial or self-drafted; you could adapt an existing sewing pattern; or you could design something entirely from scratch. Whatever you come up with, if chosen, you will need to be able to actually make the garment design you have submitted. Make sense?

To submit your idea, please email me your 'Everyday Awesomeness' idea by Sunday 16th March to sozoblog (at) gmail (dot) com. Your entry could be a link to which existing pattern you'd use, a sketch of a new design idea, a photograph: basically whatever you want as long as it adequately conveys to me what you would like to make. Along with your design/pattern choice, you must include details of which Offset Warehouse fabric you’d make it with, plus a sentence or two explaining what's 'everyday-awesome' about your submission. Please include 'Big Spring Contest' in the subject line of your email.

After that date I will choose a finalist who will be sent the fabric/s they need to make their garment. After those garments have been made and judged, an overall winner from the four theme finalists will then be chosen to win the goodies.

To get started, have a browse on Offset Warehouse's site and see what fabric inspires you! Or have a browse of the other themes. Here are all the bloggers participating and the themes you can choose from (click on each image to be magically transported to their blog for details of their themes):

'So what can I win?', I hear you ask! Well quite a-bloody-lot actually!

These bambu Adjust-A-Bowls are the ultimate 'hold everything' bowl and Green Tulip are generously giving one of each - a hemp organic denim one and a cork one. Fold 'em down, or pop 'em up, use them to store your sewing bits and bobs, pop it in the kitchen for fruit, vegetables or bread etc. Hemp has eight times the tensile strength and four times the durability of other natural fibers, and is mildew resistant and anti-microbial. Cork is renewable and biodegradable, and cork forests are essential to preventing soil erosion, maintaining water resources and storing CO2.

This gorgeous leather trim buckle basket is handmade in Morocco with palm leaves. It is lightweight, strong and free standing, great for shopping, the beach, picnics, gym, nappy bag and much more! The leather handles are incredibly soft and long enough to go over your shoulder and tuck under your arm. With the added bonus of a leather strap and buckle to keep everything safe - it'll be your new best friend!

DIY Couture: Create Your Own Fashion Collection, by Rosie Martin (former interviewee here on this little blog). The DIY Couture collection is 10 stylish, easy to make pieces of clothing that can be endlessly reinvented in different fabrics, textures and colours. This is the perfect book to give to someone who always sighs wistfully saying 'I wish I could sew...' whenever you rock up in a new creation! With no complex sewing patterns, even beginners at sewing can make their own beautiful clothes.

Make It Your Own, by Anna Alicia, the designer-maker behind eco-ethical homeware and jewellery label A Alicia, brings you 25 beautifully designed projects to help transform your home into a wonderful living space that truly reflects your personal style. The gorgeous photography throughout shows how the projects can work with your existing décor to transform your space. Anna also gives tips on using eco-ethical and vintage materials, a subject close to her heart. Whatever kind of space you live in, this book is about creating beautiful handmade objects that will make it really feel like your home.

For more details, check out Offset Warehouse’s site here. Now go and get your crayons or have a rummage through your pattern and start planning your everyday awesome garment!

New Baby: New Clothes?

It's time to address a subject that I've had seven months to develop an opinion about now. I am of course talking about baby clothes and how I plan to dress my baby. What have we got for our baby to wear when she comes out? SO MUCH: is the answer!!!

After the first scan went well, I started hitting up the charity shops and a nearly-new sale for baby grows, vests and anything else that looked in good condition. At first it was a few things here and there, then we found that the charity shop at the end of our road sells all its baby clothes for 30p a garment! Umm, I went mental in there and hoovered up all the nice things, regardless of colour (i.e. gender) which seemed to really confuse the more conservative shop assistants, particularly when I told them we already knew the sex of our baby! And then the donations started to come in. Friends and relatives with babies and toddlers started giving us bags of baby garments (and heaps of equipment and other stuff). Even an associate of my best friend's dad who I have never met kindly gave us what must be over a hundred pound's worth of stuff. 

Sorting through it all I realised we had more 0-3 months things than we would possibly ever need so I had to place an embargo on myself when near charity shops and start donating some things to a friend of mine who is also expecting but not quite as prepared as we are in terms of 'stuff'. These two drawers pictured above and below are stuffed full with all of the 0-3 months clothes we now have, except for a couple of outdoor padded suits that won't fit in here. 

So, aside from a few pairs of tiny socks (eye-wateringly cute, BTW) and the trousers I have made (blog post to follow), EVERYTHING we have acquired so far, clothes, equipment, furniture, etc, is second-hand. The reasons behind this are predominantly ethical and secondarily financial. 

Ethical

As I have talked and written about many times, I dress myself exclusively in self-made or second-hand garments, aside from bras and hosiery. I do this consciously and deliberately for a variety of reasons that I feel passionately about. My feelings about the environmental damage caused by the production and transportation of mass-produced garments, the welfare of the workers in those industries, the 'disposability' of fast-fashion and the comparative lack of satisfaction shopping awards us compared to sewing or thrifting are not going to go away because I'm about to become a mother. In fact the opposite is happening. I'm more aware than ever of the shitty state our global eco-system is in (BTW, have you watched 'The Island President' yet? Such an amazing film) and the way our capitalist financial systems prioritise profit over human life, safety and well-being, and I feel guilty and embarrassed about the world we are leaving our children. 

My daughter is not going to be in any danger from second-hand clothing that has been thoroughly laundered before she wears it. Nor from unbroken equipment or furniture that has had a good clean before she touches it. There is so much damn baby stuff already out there in existance that has barely or not even been used (so many of the garments I've bought second-hand or been given still have the original price tags on), it will not make me a bad mother for (re)using those existing resources rather than buying more brand-new mass-produced items that will be useless to us within a couple of months. 

In fact I believe the opposite. I believe I'm a better mother for trying, at least in some limited way, to put less pressure on the social and environmental fractures that unchecked consumerism is causing. I am the first to admit I live a far from 'perfect' life (if such a thing exists) in terms of my carbon foot-print etc., but I will at least be able to have something to say for myself when she inevitably asks me what me and her dad where doing to stem the damage our generation is inflicting right now.

Financial

Aside from the ethical reasoning behind buying (or receiving) second-hand things where possible for our baby, ourselves and our home, there is no denying that there are real financial benefits to be enjoyed. I've written and spoken in the past about how being self-employed since losing our jobs has had its ups and downs and how it helps to have a certain disposition to ride those waves. 

Recently Pat and I attended a four week course called Parentskool that was chock full of advice for first-time parents of 0-6 month babies. A lot of the discussions revolved around what items and types of items are good and not so good to buy for a baby, including buggies/prams, high chairs, breast milk expressing machines, clothing, cots/bedding, nappies and much more. After a couple of sessions it dawned on me that none of the other couples had any intention of buying second-hand items for their babies, aside from the items that friends and family had already given them. I guess prioritising second-hand options when sourcing things is now so ingrained in me that it occasionally surprises me when people that I can really relate to in many other ways don't feel the same about that too. Then thinking about it a bit deeper, I realised through all the discussions we'd been having that all the other couples were in a much higher income bracket than Pat and I so they didn't have that extra incentive to source the cheaper second-hand options. 

We are kind of in a funny situation in that we are classed (in the UK) as a low-income household, but not low enough to be entitled to any assistance or benefits. I have applied for and been told I'm entitled to Maternity Allowance (the self-employed person's version of a salaried employee's maternity pay) which isn't much but will help with my disappearance of income at the end of my pregnancy and first chunk of our daughter's life. Plus, when she comes along there are some benefits and assistance we will then be able to receive that are designed to help make sure she is secure and well-nourished. As I've said before, I'm not in the habit of overly planning or worrying about the future, so we'll see what happens. 

However, the upside of being self-employed and therefore more flexible is that, unlike the other Parentskool couples who all have complicated plans for their maternity and paternity leave and for what will happen when those allocations dry up, we have time on our side. All being well, touch-wood, Pat and I will be able to share childcare so one or both of us will be with her all the time. We won't need to worry about finding the cheapest nannies or nurseries to leave her with, or experience the guilt (not that anyone should necessarily feel guilty about going back to work) of leaving their baby with strangers, or wrestle with the frustrating reality that childcare costs about as much as the wages you are going back to work to earn. 

We've had a tricky spell, financially speaking, recently. And I'm sure that if we'd gone out and bought new all the things we've so far acquired second-hand, we would be in a really difficult situation right now. And there really is enough to concern ourselves with at the moment with the prospect of very shortly becoming parents. 

The Importance of Refashioning and Stash Busting

Today I feel a need to talk about why I think that refashioning existing garments and sewing from your fabric stash is really important. I was planning a post like this anyhow, but watching The Island President last night brought the whole subject to the top of my 'stuff to write about' agenda. Not that refashioning, stash busting or even the garment industry are at all directly discussed in this film, which is actually an incredibly interesting look at the politics of climate change. But when faced with the sad truth that millions of people, particularly those who live in island states (like The Maldives of which the truly awesome Mohammed Nasheed pictured up there is/was the president of) are currently watching their countries be washed away by the rising sea levels caused by global warming, and then being shown the depressingly self-interested politicians wasting last-ditch opportunities like 2009's Copenhagen climate change summit to do anything constructive to prevent the escalating destruction, it reminds me that every single person on this planet has some responsibility to try to make a change. Plus  we really don't have very long to try round the current status quo of elevated C02 emissions.

'So what the hell does that have to do with my fabric stash, Zo?', you may be thinking. Well, manufacturing and transportation use phenomenal amounts of fossil fuels, not to mention use whole oceans-worth of water and release harmful untreated chemicals and dyes into the environment reclessly destroying natural habits. Therefore fabric production and distribution are responsible for much of the emissions that are causing the sea levels to rise, so by this logic I (and hopefully heaps of other people living comfortably in developed nations who have noticed that governments and Big Business clearly have little/no interest in making noticeable changes) have been making a real concerted effort to consume less newly manufactured products. For a few years now I've furnished my home exclusively with second-hand furniture, I don't run a car and use public transport to get anywhere that my legs can't carry me to, and am committed to using second-hand fabric or existing garments to make my own clothes, and buy what I can't make (knitwear, footwear, accessories like belts) second-hand. I know there are lots more areas in which I could make better choices to raise my sustainability game, like in the area of food which we are starting to focus on lots more (having just pledged to dramatically cut down our meat intake), but everyone has to start somewhere with one or two areas of their lives otherwise it's all too overwhelming.

(industrial fabric dyeing plant)

Fabric production and processing are notoriously wasteful and damaging industries, not to mention all the shipping and transportation that the raw materials and finished products go through to get them to where they need to be so they can be consumed by us. If you make your own clothes rather than buying them already manufactured for you, you are already cutting out a lot more shipping, trucking about and C02 emitting, as well as avoiding being directly responsible for the exploitation of millions of ill-paid workers suffering terrible and dangerous working conditions. However, as sewers I feel we can do more to discourage unsustainable manufacture, in particular fabric production and processing.

At this point of a debate on this topic, I often hear the (perfectly valid and understandable) argument, 'But I want to support my local fabric shop', or 'But so many people's livelihoods, particularly vulnerable people in developing nations, depend on production and manufacture'. Believe me when I say that I totally hear that argument and am aware of the complexity of this whole thing, and do not want anyone to be pushed (further) into poverty. But as has been proven over and over again, governments, manufacturing companies and retailers are failing to make changes to green-up their activities despite thousands of scientists spelling out to them and us all that no changes in practices equals irreversible global destruction that has already begun. As horrible as it sounds, it's hard to talk about the livelihoods of anyone involved in the production, transportation or selling of manufactured goods when, with no change, there will literally not be a planet that we can live on. Expect the phrase 'climate evacuee' to become more commonly used over the next decade.

So that is why I have decided to completely stop buying new mass-manufactured clothing and to dramatically reduced the amount of new fabric I buy to sew with. I know that I was incredibly lucky to have worked for a time for a textile recycling charity so had access to lots of second-hand fabric which I still have quite a bit of for my sewing projects, but even when it's all used up, I'll still be committed to avoiding buying new fabric and sourcing already existing textiles. It is hard, I'm obsessed with beautiful fabric as much as the next sewer, but I wouldn't feel comfortable freely shopping for fabric knowing about the damage fabric production and processing creates.

I don't know a single sewer that hasn't been sewing for more than five minutes that doesn't have even a modest stash of fabric, and I know literally no-one who doesn't have some unused garments sitting in their wardrobes or cupboards. If I have managed to avoid it so far, this is where I may sound a bit preachy: I think all of us who enjoy sewing should look to what we've already got to start our projects, if not always then more often. There. I said it. And if you don't like what's currently in your stash, or don't feel particularly inspired by it, then attend or organise a fabric swap with other sewers. That way you can off-load the pieces you just aren't feeling for pieces that do float your boat.