Hi Everyone!
April Greetings to you, and welcome to readers of A Year of Zero Waste Sewing (the 1/12th that’s been written of it, anyway).
It’s been a busy first quarter of the year….
March saw the culmination of a couple of months’ work on two projects: zero waste culottes and the first installment of A Year of Zero Waste Sewing.
The culottes pattern had a few (hilarious) false starts but I’m so thrilled with how they turned out. You can read more about this pattern here.
The left-over photography samples have easily worked their way into my wardrobe and I’ve been wearing them LOTS for bike riding, which of course is the activity for traditionally wearing a divided skirt.
The culottes pattern still has 25% off in my shop until the 15th of April.
A Year of Zero Waste Sewing is the beginnings of a book, being experimentally published in installments. You can read about it in this blog post, where there’s a link to download a free copy.
I thought it would be 3 or 4 years before I attempted to write another book, but suddenly I felt the urge, so maybe it’s the right time. If you come across any ideas you’d like explored in it, I’m open to consider all and any topics, and I’m not afraid to tackle the difficult ones (space permitting, of course).
In other news, the Me-Made-May wardrobe challenge is almost here. Read more about this challenge here. This will be my 6th one, and I’m going to try and only wear zero waste clothes for the month of May.
Two lovely reviews appeared lately: the Zero Waste Sewing book on Melanie Kindrachuk’s blog, and the compact backpack in thread&needle (in French).
Some things you might enjoy
Behold traditional Ukranian floral crowns.
Fashion brands make progress paying a living wage to workers.
RaasLeela, a zero waste studio in India, creating beautiful clothes all sewn by hand.
I was alerted to the treasure trove that is high-end Japanese online fashion stores. Take a look at Cavane, 24th of August, Loom-Osaka, Uma Wang, Itoshiroyohinten and Roggyykei.
Are you a fan of exposed overlocked seams? I tried it for my first Xanthea top and my children told me it was on inside out. Still, I quite like them (both the seams and the children).
Are compostable zips in our future?
An interview with the costume designers from Encanto. Dang! - I can’t stop singing that Bruno song!
Aussie fashion exhibitions
Living in the 1970s at the Unley Museum, SA. Museum - details are here.
In breaking news, a photo has been found of Madeleine Weigel and will be unveiled Sunday 10 April 2022 at Templin Museum, near Boonah, Queensland, when their Madame Weigel exhibition (with new additions) will be officially opened. Gates open at 9.30, the opening and unveiling will be at 10am.
Chanel lovers, Fashion Manifesto is on in Melbourne until April 25th. Masks and jabs required. There are some free introductory talks early this month.
In Clare, SA, the gallery in Mill Street is presenting The Mayor with Flair, a sartorial collection of former mayor Allan Aughey. It opens on Friday, April 8th. I interviewed Allan on this blog back in 2017.
The David Roche Foundation in North Adelaide is currently exhibiting Silhouettes: Fashion in the Shadow of HIV/AIDS, on until 18th June. Looks like some really wonderful fashions are on display.
On the blog lately
Talking about the business of fashion - I met two other women with interesting fashion businesses.
A Year of Zero Waste Sewing, the beginning of this new project.
Compostable clothes had me thinking about all the synthetic components in the clothes we wear and sew.
From the blog archives
How to take good photos of yourself wearing clothes you’ve made.
Introducing the Double Fold Waistband - a possible solution if you don’t have any waistband interfacing.
Cheers!