In last week’s episode, we heard about the journey that led designer Birgitta Helmersson to create clothing and sewing patterns that follow zero waste principles. This episode (#55) features the second part of our conversation, and in it we get stuck into Birgitta’s process and the challenges faced when producing ZW designs. Birgitta also talks…
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This 54 is the first of two featuring a conversation with Swedish-Australian designer Birgitta Helmersson. Known in the sewing community as a zero waste pattern designer, Birgitta also produces a range of ZW clothing which she sells from her shop/studio in Malmö. Prior to this, Birgitta had a diverse and convoluted career in fashion design,…
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The Check Your Thread podcast is one year old!!!! We just took a fortnight off after creating 52 weekly episodes, and today we’re back with an ‘Ask Me Anything’ episode! Aided by friends-of-the-podcast Julia Hincks and Naomi Bancroft, we read out and discuss some awesome questions submitted by CYT listeners. We cover favourite scrap projects,…
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For the 52nd episode of Check Your Thread, I’m speaking with a fascinating and multi-faceted creative named Bella Gonshorovitz. Originally from Tel Aviv and currently living and working in London, Bella is a fashion designer, maker, author and collaborator who has recently had her first book published. ‘Grow, Cook, Dye, Wear – From seed to…
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Daisy Braid, AKA DIY Daisy, produces fantastic garment-making tutorials. Available via her website, and in a newly released book called ‘Sew It Yourself’, Daisy has made drafting and sewing simple, stylish garments incredibly accessible. By removing the need for prior experience of drafting or even using sewing patterns, Daisy’s designs can be created for bodies…
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Sewing patterns are often the starting point for those of us who make our own clothes. In recent years we have witnessed an explosion in the amount and the variety of sewing patterns available to us. Plus, developments in technology and the sewing industry have resulted in patterns being available in different formats. Then, once…
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For this episode, #31, I got to speak to Liz Haywood, a very talented designer who creates zero waste sewing patterns. After a 20 year career in clothing production, and writing and self-publishing a book called The Dressmaker’s Companion, Liz discovered ZW design and started making her own patterns using this approach. Two years ago,…
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Welcome to Episode 17! So whilst clothing made using zero and low waste practices is as old as clothing itself, zero waste patterns available for home sewing is a relatively new phenomena. This episode is an introduction to the topic, and I plan to build on it in the future with conversations with zero waste…
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It’s Episode 16 of CYT, and the second that features my conversation with Louisa Owen Sonstroem. Last week we heard about how Louisa embraced and became an expert in hand sewing clothing. This week we talk about a different, but equally fascinating topic: a project Louisa started in 2019 called Patternmaking in Public Places. PIPP…
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Let’s be honest, for those of us who sew, spending a couple hours at our sewing machine is probably preferable to the same time spent wandering around the shops or trawling websites trying to find someone the perfect gift. In this solo episode, I’m sharing heaps of ideas for presents we can create for our…
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