3 Ways That We Like To Upcycle!
•Posted on June 11 2021
We like to reuse faulty fabric, ends of fabric rolls and off-cuts from pattern cuttings to repurpose our waste into new garments and accessories. Whether it’s a snood, beanie or a dress, Sustainable Fashion have got you covered. Check out our latest ‘Branching Out, Merino Edit’ collection to see our new zero-waste styles.
Reuse, reduce, repurpose.
It’s those three words that seem to be encompassing what we are all doing and striving for these days as mass consumerism continues to loom. Whether it be as simple as buying less plastic, getting a compost bin or reusing old clothes as rags, it’s all the small wins that add up to the greater good for our planet.
The fashion industry is one of the biggest industries in the world accounting for 2% of global GDP (1). Sadly, due to this it’s become the second biggest contributor to pollution after oil, due to consumer’s high demand for fast fashion and excessive consumption of new clothing (1). Clean up Australia found that every 10 minutes, Australians are dumping 15 tonnes of clothing and fabric waste, which adds up to 31kg per person every year! (2).
The realisation of statistics like this, has left a lot of consumers asking why and is it really worth the toll on our planet?
With this demand, the need for zero waste products and upcycled clothing within the industry is beginning to flourish. Zero waste and upcycling helps to eradicate this destructive and repetitive cycle of landfill dumping; minimising the volume of discarded materials, excessive production, greenhouse gas emissions and other natural resources.
That’s why at Sustainable Fashion we’ve been upcycling and repurposing fabric throughout our styles for years. For us, following a zero-waste lifestyle is not a choice, it’s a necessity. Every garment is 100% Australian made and all produced locally which helps minimise our carbon footprint and waste in delivery and transportation materials. All our garments are made with sustainably and ethically sourced natural fabrics, many washed with rainwater and produced only using solar powered and renewable energy.
In the production of every range, Sarah saves anything and everything to reuse later in her designs. She does this by upcycling parts of faulty fabric, ends of fabric roles and off-cuts from pattern cuttings.
From our past collections, some of our upcycled styles include:
- The Mist Maxi Skirt in Black Viscose, which has been made from unwanted deadstock fabric that would’ve been sent straight to landfill.
- The Archive Tops, which have been made from an assorted bunch of leftover fabric rolls that were not big enough for a production run.
- The Perla Patched Tops, which have been made from an assortment of organic cotton knits from previous ranges and small rolls, that couldn't be used for normal production. The small panel features on the top have been constructed from offcuts as well.
- The Retrieve Scarf, in both lengths were made from off cuts off our Robin Top from 2013.
- Shorn Scarfs, which have been patched together from offcuts pieces of woollen fabric.
- Merino Snoods, which have been made from offcuts from our merino wool garments
If that wasn’t enough, our new ‘Branching Out, Merino Edit’ collection dropped last week and features numerous upcycled styles that we've been very excited to share with you!
Some of these include our new:
- Essence Dress, which has been made in house by Sarah from the ends of fabric rolls from 2016 collections.
- Mist Midi Skirt, which has been featured again as it’s an amazing garment made from deadstock fabric that would have gone to landfill. Sarah brought this fabric for a great price which gave her the ability to create a very high meterage on the skirt that she normally wouldn’t have been able to because of the high costs.
- Interlude Scarfs, have been made in house by Sarah, from an offcut panel down the side of the tunic from the 2010 collection.
- Slouch Beanies and Cosy Arms, which have been made from ends of rolls and gaps between pattern pieces when making our wool Nellie pants.
Despite what it may seem, incorporating off-cuts and deadstock fabrics is not an easy task and for most businesses using a new roll of fabric is a lot more time and cost efficient. However, we aren’t most other businesses. Our zero-waste policy means that wasting perfectly good materials is something we will simply not stand for.
So, if you’re as passionate about zero waste fashion and upcycling go have a look in our shop section of this website. All the styles mentioned above are available online, some of which have limited stock so get in quick!
Thank you for supporting us and everything we stand for.
Love Claire x
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