Sewing More Sustainably

Living more sustainably

All over the world, we are witnessing extreme weather events such as devastating floods, wildfires, excessive temperatures and melting glaciers and icecaps, with an ever increasing frequency yet most of us still all carry on as though this is not happening. Whilst we might not be in the category of ‘climate deniers’, we continue to jet off on holiday, I see neighbours driving massive gas guzzling 4 x 4 cars and members of my own family celebrating birthdays with plastic balloons and single use plastics. I’m not saying this to preach nor to shame anyone as I am as guilty as the next person, but I feel it is crucial that we all play a part in stopping climate change in whatever way we can. I totally understand that the problem can feel so overwhelming that it creates a desire to hide away and pretend it’s not happening. And when we see huge corporations or whole countries adding to the problem it’s easy to believe that anything we might do is only a drop in the ocean and a waste of time. But I don’t think we can continue to bury our heads in the sand because we have to believe that every little thing we can do as individuals will make a difference and we all have a responsibility to reduce our own consumption in whatever way is possible for us. This is everybody’s problem, and everybody needs to be part of the solution.

As I said, I have no desire to preach nor blame as no one was every persuaded to change their behaviour by being lambasted by some well-intentioned do-gooder, but it is something I feel increasingly more passionate about in my own life. I want our beautiful planet to be here for my grandchildren to enjoy. As a result I thought that if I shared some of the things I am trying to do to lead a more sustainable life it might inspire someone else or offer ideas you may not have thought about. And hopefully it will encourage you to share some of your tips too… let’s get this conversation started!

Ultimately it is about consumption, and we can all reduce our carbon footprint by reducing our consumption of just about everything. The earth has limited resources. If we could just stop for a moment and think before we buy, whether it’s a holiday, a new car, a new dress, a packet of plastic straws, the plastic wrapped meat in the supermarket etc and consider the impact it might make, we could begin to make better choices. We need to ask ourselves do we need it, is there an alternative, or maybe even whether we could go without?

Reducing meat consumption is one of the single most impactful changes we could all make to help combat climate change. I already eat virtually no meat (although hands up… I do occasionally succumb to a bacon or sausage sandwich) but personally I would find it very hard to convert to a totally plant based diet and I know for others that giving up meat feels equally difficult, but just by reducing the number of meals we eat that that contain meat it can make a difference. We are also pretty good with food waste at home, and I rarely throw food away. I actually love the challenge of using up leftovers. The waste that we do have such as vegetable peelings etc all go into my compost bin which then rots down to use to grow more veg. I try not to put loose fruit and veg into plastic bags at the supermarket (I am the annoying person who places all my onions etc on the scales individually, and then removing them one by one to put in my bag as half of them roll on the floor) but I feel I could buy less of the stuff that is prepacked, so there is still room for plenty of improvement on our food consumption.

But the area where I feel I could do a whole lot more is with clothing and fabrics. The clothing industry uses a massive amount of resources and produces vast amounts of waste. I do keep and wear clothes that I love for a long time and today for example I’m currently wearing jeans and a shirt that are about seven years old, as the recent hole in the thigh of the jeans show. However I am guilty of the occasional impulse buy that hardly ever gets worn and I think I fail particularly where homemade items are concerned, so I have made a pledge to myself to make more of an effort. Also, because I enjoy making, I often sew or knit for the pleasure of the process, and I have several hand made items that never or hardly ever get worn. So these are my aims for the coming year.

·      Not to buy new clothes or new fabric to make clothes unless absolutely necessary (and is it ever really necessary?)

·      To mend or alter clothes I already own where appropriate to extend their life. (That includes unravelling and reknitting a couple of sweaters) I’m intending to do this rather than give to charity shops where possible, as so many items donated never get sold.

·      To use fabrics and yarns already in my stash rather than buying new

·      To explore and use zero waste sewing patterns

·      To try slow sewing – take more time and finish fewer garments. The intention is to make less and make better!

I am sure I will add to this list as the weeks go by, as I discover other ways in which I can be more sustainable with my desire to make and create as well as wear nice clothes. I will report back here every so often with what I hope will be a fairly regular feature on living a more sustainable artistic life.

So with that in mind I would like to tell you about my latest sewing project which I am actually thrilled about. I have discovered over the last few years that I enjoy wearing shirts but until recently I have never tried to make one, despite owning a shirt pattern. (Simplicity 1538) I was intending to buy new fabric to make my first shirt but then I remembered a whole box of Stewart’s old shirts stashed away in a box under the bed. There were two that particularly caught my eye in different size dark red checks.

I considered whether I might use existing elements of the shirts to construct my new shirt but as I have never made one before I wasn’t confident enough with the construction to feel I could do this and obtain a professional finish, although I did manage to use one of the original shirt pockets. Instead I deconstructed each shirt keeping as much fabric that I could and cut out my pattern pieces from the harvested fabric. Now you would think that two men’s shirts would provide more than enough fabric to construct a single woman’s shirt, but it was not the case. I intentionally wanted to mix and match the patterns but despite that I still had to make it a slightly smaller size than I would like. Nor could I get two full length sleeves from the fabric available. I solved that by adapting the pattern to make three quarter length sleeves, which as I always wear my sleeves rolled up was a desirable design feature rather than a compromise. I took my time, sewing over several days rather than rush through the project as I might usually do.

The aim was to get something I will wear rather than a bodged job that I’m not happy with. I wanted to use the original shirt buttons but as I didn’t want white buttons I decided to dye them. It was my intention to make a video showing the process of dying buttons, which if you have never done it before is incredibly satisfying. However I failed on that front as the saucepan I have always kept for things like dye no longer seems to be in my possession. I’m sure, or at least I hope I had a good reason for getting rid of it, but I certainly was not going to buy a new one as that rather defeats the purpose. Instead I dissolved the dye in boiling water in an old food carton and immersed the buttons in the hope they would absorb some colour.

The result was pink buttons rather than the dark fuchsia I had hoped for but still more interesting than white. I absolutely love the finished shirt and I’m sure I will get a lot of wear from it even though it is a little bit snug, plus there is the satisfaction of knowing two old work shirts have had a new lease of life.

Most of the scraps left over from this project have been kept in a large bag rather than throwing them away as I might have done in the past and when I have enough I’m going to use them to stuff a draught excluder for our living room. Which will be another sustainability win given how cold and draughty our old house can be. But there were enough pieces left to make this little doll’s dress too. This is just one of several little dolls made from scraps that are going into my ‘presents’ box.

And another sustainable sewing win this week has been a wash bag made entirely from reclaimed fabrics. On our recent holiday Stewart took his toiletries in an old plastic shopping bag so for his birthday this week I decided he definitely needed a new wash bag. The outer was made from remnants from an old pair of jeans and a pair of my son’s corduroy trousers that had ripped beyond repair (the other leg of the trousers is going to be used to make the draught excluder), the zip had been reclaimed from an old garment that I can’t even remember, and the lining was cut from another old shirt.

And all this has left me with loads more ideas of sewing projects that I want to start using up stuff I already have, so watch this space as I will be reporting back. If you would like to read or listen to loads more inspiration about sewing sustainably I can recommend the Check your Thread podcast from Zoe Edwards, who has been giving me masses of inspiration while I’m sewing and during my dog walks. And thank you to my special friend Gill who recommended the podcast in the first place and whose sewing and dressmaking skills always inspire me.

But before I start on my next project, I have a pile of mending to tackle first. Wish me luck and please do tell me about any ideas you have for sewing, crafting and living more sustainably.