5 Easy Tips To Improve Your Sustainable Sewing Skill

It’s no secret my arms hurt from waving the flag in the name of sustainability, but I’ll never stop! When I look back on my own personal journey into sustainable sewing, I remember how daunting the thought had first seemed. Like most creative souls out there, I had an all-mighty fabric stash. I sometimes rushed through my projects and didn’t save as much fabric as I could have when cutting out. Another cardinal sin may have been to skip the toiling process only to become more wasteful due to unforeseen amendments and/or fitting issues.

Either way, it’s not been a smooth sailing ride. Furthermore, I know this is the reality for many sewists out there too. We all want to do better. Yet sometimes it’s just figuring out the overwhelm on where to start. Well, don’t worry my friend. I’ve got you covered in today’s post.

Here’s 5 simple, easy tips for improving your sustainable sewing.

ONE SHELF STASH

I’m going to rip off the first tip like a band-aid because let’s be honest, none of us want to hear this and on some level, it actually hurts. I’d love to know in the comments how big is your fabric stash?

I have seen people who keep half a cupboard, to dedicated walls… to entire rooms. Most are probably between the two latter storage options. We also merrily joke quite often that fabric shopping is a hobby all in itself. Will you really make it through your entire fabric stash this year? I know January rolls around and we’re full of enthusiasm for the dent we intend on making… but the dent never comes.

My solution to this has been to make an agreement with me and my monkey brain. If I want to add to my stash, it must fit on the shelf. Otherwise, I’m not allowed to buy it until I put my existing textiles to good use and incorporate them into a sewing project. Not only does this keep my hoarding in check, it also makes me tenfold more mindful when it comes to purchasing decisions and this in turn effects my designs. They’re more considered, more cost effective and I can sleep that little bit easier at night. Albeit I might be dreaming of fabric!

Design details

Okay we’ve got the uncomfortable truth out of the way, let’s move onto sustainable alternatives in the name of design details. This is where we can connect to our creativity and inner designer by tweaking, if not improving the design to fit with a more sustainable narrative.

One of my personal favourites is swapping out eyelets for button holes. Not only does this avoid the fiddly process of hammering, swearing at and denting the eyelet, but it saves the planet on a small and tiny trim that can find itself damaged, popping off the garment and very much in landfill. What’s more is you have more versatility and control over the design because whether you stitch button holes by hand or machine, you can dictate which colour thread you want, further elevating your design details! Voila! Let’s be honest, it’s a win-win.

Other considerations could be saving ribbons from old presents and using them as drawstring fastenings in future projects or keeping your interfacing offcuts for nifty little fashion fixes like this one. I would love to hear your suggestions in the comments!

cutting plans

Here at Digital Pattern Library, I’m pretty attentive to the cutting plans. You can find each design has an accompanying table detailing both imperial and metric measurements, two types of fabric widths and two types of cutting plans… both on the fold and flat cutting. It’s a laborious task putting these together but it’s oh so worth it for the results! Instead of cutting on the fold, lay your fabric flat and chalk out your pieces. This may take more time but genuinely saves so much on textile waste!

It’s also really fun using the pattern pieces as a big jigsaw to get the most out of your material.

save those scraps

Keep every. Single. Piece. Of. Scrap. Fabric. Yes, even the teeny tiny ones! They can double up as wadding for future projects, just like how we use them in this free scrap buster pattern!

be a bad-ass bobbin rebel

Finally, and only for the brave, if you have a bobbin full of thread from a previous project that contrasts to your desired project, try stitching with it! The tension on your sewing machine should ensure the bobbin stitch can’t be seen from the right side of your garment anyway (great way to test) and not only does this use up left-over thread that may otherwise go to waste, but it adds an extra design detail to your make!

So there we have it, 5 quick and easy ways to advance your sustainability game in the sewing room. What one will you work on? Do you have any others to share?

Let me know in the comments and I can’t wait to learn from you too!