February 2023

Stitchin', writin' and self-publishin'

Jan 31, 2023

Hi Everyone,

Welcome to the February newsletter, and a special Hello to new subscribers.

Readers of January’s newsletter may remember I had a holiday stitching project. It was to patch these jeans, which are the type that come with rips pre-done. They were new, acquired via the op-shop’s reject bin.

Anyway, I finished them, tried out some new-to-me stitches, had a blast, and think they look waaay better now.

A Year of Zero Waste Sewing

The big news here is that the next 3 instalments of That Book I’ve Been Working On For A Year Now are ready. They can be ordered in my shop and January is free to preview and download here.

Read about June, July and August on my blog.

A Year of Zero Waste Sewing is a book I’m writing in instalments and publishing as zines. The zine is printed at home as an A5 booklet, with a separate file for reading on-screen.

The sub-title, A year of exploration, making and musings on zero waste patterns and clothes, guides the content. I write about zero waste patternmaking and sewing, sometimes there’s a pattern to try, each month has an piece written by a zero waste designer talking about their process and challenges, and I make up questions to answer in a Q&A column. My agenda is to contribute to the (currently small number of) resources available for zero waste clothes design.

Zero Waste e-Learning Course

It’s almost here! Zero Waste Design Collective (formerly ZWDO) are about to launch their zero waste online course.

This course is designed for those who are interested in zero waste design, but don’t know where to start. The pre-sale discount is no longer available, but you can view the curriculum and register here. According to sources, the launch date is February 15th.

Some things you might enjoy

Whilst researching gussets for the August zine, I came across these Chuck Norris action jeans, for "kicking your opponents in the face"!

A nifty idea and a great pressie for sewing friends: a holder for partly-used sewing machine needles, made on an embroidery machine.

Why are clothing manufacturers not celebrated or given a voice in the way that fashion designers and educators are? Julia from The Sample Room in Melbourne talks (10mins)

Craft in Space: Susan Rogers tells how her handmade Christmas stocking ended up on the International Space Station.

Does your local library offer sewing magazines for borrowing or reading online? Sew and Tell, an offshoot of Peppermint magazine, is available to read via the Libby library app in South Australian libraries, and possibly in other Aussie states.

Want to get started with sashiko stitching and need some hand-holding? Kate Ward invites you to join her LIVE Sashiko Fundamentals mini-workshop on February 18th. One hour, $US17. (Aussies, sorry it's at 2.30am.) It was Kate, along with Jessica Marquez’s book Make and Mend, that got me started with sashiko stitching.

Take a look at the amazing zero waste apron bag. It transforms into an apron or two different types of roomy bags.

On the subject of bags, Robyn of Four Patch Textiles has a free pattern for a zero waste shopping bag that folds into a pouch. Everyone needs one of these!

Homeschooling? Make and use a tape loom.

A fascinating blog post on the history of princess seams and corsets by Frock Flicks, reviewing period costume authenticity in movies.

New clothing label regulations in France became mandatory in January (the French Decree 2022-748 AGEC legislation). It requires fashion brands to give consumers information on recyclability, traceability, re-use, reparability, the presence of plastic microfibres, sustainability, recycled material content and the use of renewable resources. Will this be a game-changer? The EU is bringing in similar laws for Digital Product Passports (DPPs) on garments by 2025, as part of the Green Deal.