March 2024

A Year of Zero Waste Sewing, great book recommendations, and some links you'll enjoy

Hi Everyone!

Welcome to the March newsletter, and a special hello to new subscribers.

It’s getting close to Publishing Day (March 11th) for A Year of Zero Waste Sewing, my WIP for the past two years. This book was experimentally published as a series of zines, but now these have been formatted into an actual book.

If you’re an Australian resident, you can pre-order direct from me here. For the rest of the world, give it a couple of weeks and you should be able to order it in your own country via online booksellers or from your local bookshop (the distributor is Ingram).

Here’s a preview:

Here’s the blurb: Liz Haywood presents an eclectic collection of zero waste patterncutting techniques, ideas for garment longevity, mythbusting and stories from zero waste designers. Discover innovative strategies for making zero waste patterns and reducing waste within a bigger picture of responsible fashion. Step-by-step instructions for five projects are included: a jacket, satchel, dress and two tops.

In case you’re wondering how similar the book is to the complete collection of zines, the answer is “almost the same”. I changed some fonts, spread out the sewing instructions since they weren’t confined to the zine format, and some of the Zero Waste Stories have been tweaked so the book is as up-to-date as possible.

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Current reading

Booklovers, some great library books have arrived here lately.

Clockwise from top left: Karl Largerfeld Unseen. A hefty coffee-table tome that’s all glossy photographs, like a photo album. Full of behind-the scenes fashion photos (of models waiting backstage etc). Chanel - The Making of a Collection. A beautifully designed book containing no photos- all the images are colour illustrations. Lots about Chanel’s design process. This book went to press the day Largerfeld’s death was announced. Miss Dior - A Story of Courage and Couture. Biography of Christian Dior’s sister, Catherine, who was in the French Resistance. She was captured by the Germans and sent to a camp, so not exactly light reading. The second half of the book describes after the war. Dressed for War - The Story of Vogue Editor Audrey Withers, From the Blitz to the Swinging Sixties. Absolutely couldn’t put this down - so interesting! It’s a biography of Withers encased in the history of British Vogue magazine during WW2, where it emerged with its own style and voice. Wear Next - Fashioning the Future. Highly readable thematic essays on how the fashion industry might look in the future and ways we could get there. Lots of interviews with creatives and change-makers. The Art of Dressing Curves - The Best-Kept Secrets of a Fashion Stylist. I don’t personally have curves (I’m a “column”!) but I thought I might learn something. Just started reading this - first takeaway: invest in great, supportive underwear. Africa Fashion. The book to accompany the V&A’s exhibition. I haven’t started this yet, but my knowledge of African fashion is absolutely zip. We don’t really hear about African fashion here in Australia, so looking forward to reading this book.

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Some things you might enjoy

If you have access to Apple TV+, you can watch The New Look, a show about Christian Dior (played by Ben Mendelsohn) and Coco Chanel (Juliette Binoche). The trailer is here.

Do you use the decorative stitches on your machine? (If yours has them?)  Here’s a pretty idea from @sewmanyflowers. (Instagram)

The iconic Diana Von Furstenburg wrap dress turns 50, with a re-release of the Vogue pattern.

A fascinating article about movie costume companies and how costumes are re-used in different movies.

Swedish textile recycler Renewcell has filed for bankruptcy after failing to secure sufficient long-term funding to continue operations. Renewcell developed a process to recycle of cellulosic textile waste, eg worn-out cotton clothes and factory scraps, transforming it into a new material called CIRCULOSE®, which was included on TIME Magazine’s list of the 100 Best Inventions 2020.

Echigo-jofu is a treasured Japanese textile for summer clothes with vibrant colors cured in a snow-covered field during the winter months. (video, 28mins)

The global phenomenon of grandmothers using shortbread biscuit tins to store sewing supplies. (Instagram)

Readers of the December newsletter may remember Yvonne Zhang's masters project.  She's finished it and the University’s showcase is at London College of Fashion, east bank (Stratford), open to public during 12 Feb - 9 Mar, Mon- Sat, 10-17pm . Yvonne's website is here where you can try out her drafts and templates.

Vale Claude Montana, who died last week aged 76. I have very fond memories of sewing a Montana for Vogue sewing pattern as a teen (still got this dress). Also, in breaking news, style icon Iris Apfel has died aged 102.

London Fashion Week turns 40 this year. An article looking back at four decades of fashion week highlights.

A quick tip for tying a short thread to a long one. (Instagram)

Aussies: the David Roche Foundation in Adelaide is hosting a quilt exhibition The Fabric of War: The Annette Gero Collection of Quilts made from military fabrics. It runs until the 18th of May.  

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On the blog lately

A roundup of the past month’s blog posts from my website, lizhaywood.com.au.

Feel free to subscribe to my blog for weekly posts direct to your inbox, however, if you don’t need more emails in your life, I always do a roundup here.

We’ve all got ‘em! Here’s a complete and unabridged catalogue of my sewing UFOs (UnFinished Objects).

How to adjust a zero waste pattern. (And asking: does it matter if it’s no longer zero waste?)

Crafting a book: A Year of Zero Waste Sewing. Sharing the process of independently publishing a book.

Creating the cover for A Year of Zero Waste Sewing.

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From the blog archives

3 beaut cushion sewing tips.

Blast from the past: PVC clothing.

Cheers!

Liz x