We all come to sewing for different reasons. Some of the most common are:

• we struggle to find clothing that fits our bodies or our taste level in stores
• we struggle to find good-quality clothing at reasonable prices
• we want to know more about who makes our clothing and under what conditions
• we want to avoid mindless purchases and wear clothing with intention behind it
• we want to make better use of our resources: time, money, and products

Consider how many of these goals can fit under the umbrella of ECO-sewing.

This is not an “official” sewing style or designation, but rather a loose grouping of concepts and ideas that communicate a desire to sew in a manner that feels more responsible, sustainable, and with better stewardship.

It includes buying less in total, and zero fast fashion. It includes repairing and maintaining what we love in our closets to make it last longer, which is part of investing in good quality clothing to start with. It includes trading, selling, and buying secondhand. It includes upcycling our used garments into new garments, housewares, and even scraps. All of these are ways we can make our wardrobe and our sewing MORE SUSTAINABLE.

Thinking about my sewing and its impact

The lessons, videos, and projects in our new League of Dressmakers video series Sustainable Sewing are built on this framework. They are designed to cover the underlying ideas of WHY we might want to alter our sewing habits in a way that thinks beyond the finished project, and HOW we can do that–without sacrificing the aesthetics of what we sew or our own creative practice.

I introduce a framework that gives us room to develop our ideas of where our fabric comes from and where it goes, and how to explore the world of clothing construction–even when we know this planet has a LOT of clothing already.

Sewing clothing in a world that can dress the next six generations

I have spent a lot of time recently considering the GOAL of my sewing. I want well-made garments, that fit me, and suit my personality. I want clothing made from natural fibers whenever possible, because the rising impact of man-made fibers causes me concern–both for my own health and for the global repercussions. And I want garments made in a way that I feel good about, by me and not an underpaid worker, from fabrics I’ve sourced knowing where they came from, that will last a long time with less waste.

At the EXACT SAME TIME, I am keenly aware that there is SO MUCH CLOTHING in the world today, and that’s put me in a bit of a crisis.

I LIKE sewing clothing. Honestly, I LOVE it, I think about it to a (borderline) unnatural degree. When I have trouble falling asleep, I close my eyes and think about my next sewing project; I read sewing books–even technical ones–for leisure; I collect fabric; when I run into people at parties, they naturally talk to me about whomever they know who’s “interested” in sewing (like, you guys, we don’t all KNOW EACH OTHER, OK?).

How do I reconcile the idea that there’s enough clothing on the planet to dress the next six generations with the joy that making MORE CLOTHES brings me, personally and creatively? With the boost that I get to my sense of identity and self-image from wearing things I have made with my own hands? Can those two things exist at the same time?

Making my sewing more sustainable and intentional

I believe the answer is YES. Not because I have rationalized my answer, but rather because with careful consideration, I believe we can all minimize the wastefulness that’s become habitual for so many, while also making lovely garments that we take joy in wearing and that will stand the test of time.

I’ve organized my thoughts about the best way(s) that I know to do this into a three-tiered approach:

Reconsider

Repair

Reclaim

(Remember when we were told to “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle”? This is like that, except it’s not a marketing campaign.)

This is a video series, but it’s also a conversation. The best part of all the good parts about The League is that we share a space where we can ask hard questions and discuss the answers. The question of how we make our sewing more intentional in a world where there is SO MUCH clothing and SO LITTLE of it is good quality, well-fitting, made of natural fibers, and at a taste level & price point, where fast fashion has erased the individuality out of getting dressed, and where waste is rampant? That’s a BIG question. And it’s one The League is ready to tackle with insight, thought, and compassion. (Plus humor and wit!)

Before, during, and after constructing garments for ourselves–as an act of creativity and expression and even resistance–we can incorporate the ideas that follow into a flow chart of sorts that will allow us to better utilize our resources and be as mindful as possible about how we sew.

I wanted to build a flow for myself that helped me organize my thoughts about sewing, waste, fashion, and the clothing industry–and I needed it to leave space for the creative act of sewing clothing for myself. I wanted to carve out room in the most deliberate way I could to exercise my ability to create garments from scratch and feed that part of myself, which also appreciating that sewing without that focus and vision is just as wasteful as buying fast fashion that will ultimately be thrown away.

The videos, lessons, conversation starters, and more than one dozen tutorials & projects included in the Sustainable Sewing video series hopefully inspire us all to be as consistent as we can be in applying those ideas to our personal creative practice, and to sew with as much integrity as possible!

We begin the process by playing in our closets to evaluate what garments work for us and which don’t. From there, we can decide what to do with the ones we don’t love, and what handmade garments might supplement the ones we already love so that we wear more of what we like!

From the garments we don’t love, we learn to alter and mend, including tailoring a tee shirt to the perfect fit with a full video tutorial. We harvest usable parts, we break garments down into fabric that can be made into new garments or upcycled housewares, and we break down scraps into smaller pieces that can be added to the garden as compost or used to stuff cushions!

I hope you’ll be part of it! Every lesson and video from this series is designed to build on the ones before, like an e-course. There is space for comments below each post to create a thread of conversation and The League hosts a private social platform where we can interact in real time to share photos, ideas, and questions with one another. Our community is SO SMART, sharp, funny, and wise–I want you to be part of it to hear what you have to say, and how your sewing can feed you even more deeply.

Use this link to JOIN THE LEAGUE!

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JOIN THE LEAGUE!