Check Your Thread: Sewing More Sustainably

Me-Made-May is a popular annual wardrobe challenge that helps participants improve their relationship with their handmade wardrobe. It also gives you the opportunity to learn lots of useful lessons t…

Shortly after the COVID pandemic reached the UK in early 2020, artist and maker Sophie Passmore responded to the craziness and confusion by founding the Mask Makers UK community. This Facebook group …

Before many of us were even aware of the damaging aspects of fabric production, Charlie Bradley Ross was researching better alternatives. Her desire to share that extensive research and the connectio…

Sewing and mending are important life skills, as well as being a source of fun and creative expression. However, with fewer and fewer schools offering any kind of sewing or textiles lessons, are us a…

For Episode #32 of Check Your Thread, I got to talk with textile activist Shams el-Din Rogers. For me, this is the most powerful and thought provoking conversation I’ve had for the podcast to date. S…

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…

This is the third and final instalment of my mini series about the Make Do and Mend campaign. We pick up where we left off in the second episode and explore some more themes and lessons from the 1940…

This is the second instalment of my mini series about the Make Do and Mend campaign. As I was reading and writing about that era, I couldn’t help but think about the situation we find ourselves in to…

This is the first episode in a mini series I’ve made about a topic that fascinates me: the Make Do And Mend campaign of the 1940s. ‘‘Make do and mend’ is a phrase often used today to refer to the eth…

This episode follows myself and friend-of-the-podcast Julia Hincks as we attend a workshop and try our hands at rag rugging! We were invited by former guest and rag rugging expert Elspeth Jackson to …

For Episode 26, I had the pleasure of talking with Eliu Hernandez, a quilter and maker whose work focuses on reclaimed denim. Eliu has developed an approach to deconstructing unwanted jeans that allo…

For our quarter-century episode, I’m having a deep dive into the topic of handmade period pants with lingerie and pattern designer, Yelena Buck. If you’re a period haver, or there’s one in your close…

Welcome to Episode 24 with the wonderful Rebecca Evans-Merritt, a maker that I’ve long admired for both her gorgeous makes, AND her intelligent, thoughtful approach to making. Last year she created a…

Happy New Year! Episode 23 is a solo one made with a helpful dose of listener feedback. The start of a new year is a great time to think about new habits you’d like to implement going forwards. I’ve …

It’s the last episode of CYT for 2021, and a first for the podcast: a conversation involving three people! I talk to Carla Bruni, the founder and organiser of Community Glue Workshops which are regul…

It’s Episode 21 of CYT, and today we’re busting a big myth: that you have to be completely serious and joyless to be passionate about the environment, or to have any impact. I’m chatting with New Zea…

Welcome to Ep. 20. In this solo episode, we literally check our thread! Of course, what fabrics we sew with is a big factor in the impact our garment sewing will have. And, increasingly, there are mo…

Welcome to CYT! This episode (Ep.19) features a fascinating, wide-ranging and inspiring conversation with quilt-maker, Shelly Sommer. I thought we were going to be mainly discussing quilting, potenti…

Welcome to Episode 18. As you may have noticed, I’ve always got my eyes peeled for interesting and useful ways to use up fabric scraps. In this episode I’ve got for you a conversation with author and…

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 episo…