How to reduce microplastic fibre waste

For World Ocean Day

Today is World Ocean Day, the day where people around the world celebrate the oceans and seas that connects us all. As humans we have over polluted and over heated our seas for the past 100 years, if not more. At Fast Fashion Therapy, we have chosen to focus on the microplastic fibres that shred from our clothes into the ocean, causing damaging effects.


The main textile fibre to create micro plastics is Polyester. It might be known by other names in your clothes label. These are brand names from textile companies who have adapted the basic fibre. The general term is Polyester, which is a man-made synthetic Polymer.

Polyester is in 60% of our clothes in the UK and makes up 51% of all the fibres produced globally. It doesn’t require as much water to produce as Cotton but overall it has a more negative effect on our planet.

A polyester shirt has more than double the carbon footprint of a cotton shirt

Fixing Fashion, UK Government Audit Committee 2019

Plastic fibres have been in mass production since the middle of the 20th Century and increasing in use ever since. During 2019’s Fashion Question Time, Laura Balmond, Project Manager for Make Fashion Circular (Ellen MacArthur Foundation) stated ‘[In 2018] there were 100m tonnes of fibres that were produced for all textiles. Over 60% of those are plastic based so it is difficult to swap out like for like. Where would we find 60 billion tonnes of natural fibres from as soon as you needed them?’. It isn’t as simple as immediately swapping the global fibre production to a more sustainable source.

UK charity, WRAP, are funding projects to find new innovations in plastics recycling, including Polyester textiles. They are looking for a ‘state of the art’ solution to this growing problem. Currently, only 1% of textiles are recycled into new clothing, mostly because there isn’t the technology or the logistics to manage this. There is also the problem that once plastic (inc Polyester) has been recycled it is difficult to recycle it again as it becomes a much weaker substrate.

How to reduce Microplastic fibre waste

We don’t have to wait for this new technology, we can make a change now:

  1. Buy less new products, swapping to second hand clothes. Microplastic fibre waste will still be excreted from our clothes when we wash them but virgin materials are not required to create new clothes. Producing new clothes from Polyester causes negative environmental factors such as heat, chemicals and the use of non-replaceable fossil fuels.
  2. When washing fabrics that contain Polyester or other forms of plastic fibres use a Guppy Friend Bag. Or a similar brand. It helps prevent microplastics from reaching our oceans.
  3. Reduce the number of times clothes are washed. It isn’t necessary to wash clothes after every wear. Air the clothes by an open window or outside. Spot clean any stains.
  4. Repair damaged clothes rather than buying new. Need help? We host weekly workshops in London or join us for an online mend-a-long once a month. We have lots of ‘how to videos’ to help you too.

References

https://globalfashionagenda.com/pulse-of-the-fashion-industry-2018-report-released/#

https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201719/cmselect/cmenvaud/1952/report-summary.html

http://www.wrap.org.uk/sites/files/wrap/valuing-our-clothes-the-cost-of-uk-fashion_WRAP.pdf

Clothes mending workshops for May

Our clothes mending workshops were super busy in April. Both in person at The Create Place and online via Zoom. It is really encouraging  that so many of you want to mend your clothes, saving them from landfill to be worn again. We really appreciate the enthusiasm you bring to our workshops, chatting and helping each other with tips on clothes mending and how to live a bit more sustainably. Thanks to everyone who joins in to create this friendly and welcoming community. We are looking forward to being back in Bethnal Green and Brixton this month after a break for the Easter holidays. Please scroll down for workshop booking details.

Join us for a workshop

The Create Place
We are back  on the 9th and 23rd May this month. We are already full for the 9th May but we have lots of places for the 23rd if you want to book your place. Either book via Eventbrite or send us an email to hello@fastfashiontherapy.co.uk to book your place. 

The Remakery
We are back in Brixton on the 16th May. Bring along a couple of items of clothing to repair and we will help get you started.  If there are any particular materials you need, please let  us know in advance. We only have a couple of sewing machines so please bring along some hand sewing repairs too. Book via Eventbrite, £3.50

Online via Zoom
We welcome new attendees to our group of regulars who log in from around the UK, USA, Canada and Australia. It is an opportunity to get through our clothes repairs whilst we chat and share tips, it isn’t a formal teaching session but please ask questions. Join us on 6th June. As a subscriber to this newsletter you will automatically receive joining details.


We have been keeping a basic list of all the clothes that everyone has been bringing with them to our workshops. The idea is that we can compile a basic audit of the number and type of garments that people repair. An audit of the amount  garments that we have all saved from landfill. We will share the half year results before the summer.

Fashion Revolution Week 2022

Money | Fashion | Power

This year, Fashion Revolution is calling on global citizens to rise up together for a regenerative, restorative and revolutionary new fashion system. Throughout Fashion Revolution Week, the groundwork will be laid down for new laws on living wages for the people that make our clothes, brands will be encouraged to shift their focus away from endless growth, and consumers will be inspired to scrutinise the real value of what we buy.

Fashion Revolution Week

How to avoid overconsumption

As a consumer, we have the power to change the fashion system. Shopping can be overwhelming, trying to figure out which brands pay living wages, who are trying to greenwash us, which ones are championing organic and recycled material?

There is a simple answer to this and that is to buy less, value what we have and the new clothes we buy. Fashion Revolution are asking brands to ‘shift their focus away from endless growth’. We can support this cause buy reducing the growth of our wardrobes. Below we share our tips on how to make a difference all year round.

Mend more, buy less

We teach people to repair, refresh and refashion their clothes. Mending clothes means we get to wear the garment for that bit longer. It could be a favourite pair of jeans that has holes from being worn so much. Or a dress that never did fit quite right and needs altering. Maybe even a coat that hasn’t been worn simply because the button fell off. The process of mending is rewarding, taking time over a piece of clothing, feeling the cloth and remembering the times we wore it. As we repair, we understand the construction of the clothes and all the hard work that goes into making them. Helping us to value them more.

Slow down and think about what we are buying. It is not the end of the world if we buy something new if it has been a very thought out decision and we have thought of other options beforehand.

Jen Gale, Sustainable(ish)

Buy second hand

We love fashion, it is in our name! Keeping and wearing our clothes for longer hasn’t stopped us enjoying the shopping experience. Expressing our identity through the clothes we wear, buying second hand is more fun than buying new. The UK’s highstreets are full of charity shops selling clothes in every shape, colour and size. Discovering areas of towns and cities that have the best selection. Buying from charity shops is a double win as we are preventing the clothes from reaching landfill and the charity benefits from the sale. Swishing (clothes swapping) events, buying vintage and using the many second hand clothes apps are also a fun way to shop. Jen Gale started Sustainable (ish) to encourage us all to make ethical choices and not feel bad when we are not able to. This was a result of a year of not buying anything new in 2014, which Jen has pledged to repeat this year. Find out how she gets on, plus lots of other great tips on her podcast.


Greenwashing

A word of warning here. A fashion brand may talk the talk and at first glimpse sound like they are sustainable but there is more to investigate. For example, H&M have their Conscious range. This is a tiny percentage of their overall sales, the rest of which do not follow the same sustainable credentials. The fast fashion system started around the industrial revolution in the 19th Century, increasing over the decades, especially after World War II. This has resulted in a complex supply chain, where often the fashion buyers and product developers don’t know the full journey of their stock from fibre to shop floor. How can they ensure staff are paid a living wage and treated fairly and harmful chemicals are not released if they don’t know where the fibre is produced or where the fabric is woven?


Who made my clothes?

We need to ask our favourite brands this simple question. If we keep asking them then they need to ask their supplier. Usually brands don’t own their own factories. They commission factories, often through an agent, to make the garments for them. The agents or factories can then give some of the work to another factory without the brand knowing. So they can’t always answer this question. We can go deeper and ask who made my fabric? They might know the factory that constructed the garment, but do they know where the fibres were created, who dyed the yarn, wove or knitted the fabric, printed the fabric? ‘Who made my fabric?’ is another important question to ask.


Clothes waste

Online clothing sales grew by £2.7 billion in the U.K. during the pandemic, with physical stores closed total sales still fell by £9.6 billion. This shift in behaviour when buying clothes is expected to continue as more than a third of people say they would carry on with these new buying habits. It is now expected that online clothing sales in the U.K. will overtake in-store purchases this year, previously this was expected to happen in 2025.

It is common for people to order many items online, try them on and then return what they don’t like as many people expect these clothes to be put back into stock for someone else to buy them. This isn’t always true, it is cheaper to throw the clothes away than to repackage and resell them. Luxury and fast fashion brands have also been reported to burn brand new clothes that haven’t been sold to avoid their distinctive designs being sold cheap elsewhere. A report released in 2017 found that 73% of clothing that is thrown away by consumers goes to waste, with 57% ending up in landfill and 25% of this being incinerated.

However, there has been some signs of positive change recently. Since 2020, France has been bringing in new Anti-Waste laws to encourage a shift to the circular economy, one of these means that is now illegal for new unsold clothing and textile items to be burnt or sent to landfill. This law has already changed the way luxury goods companies manage their stock and production. This action is proof of the power that governments have to change the fashion industry and shows the importance of campaigning to pressure governments in other countries to act as well.


Fashion is fun and an important way for us to express our identity. It provides a living for millions of people across the globe. But buying clothes should not at the detriment to the people who make them or the Earth’s resources. Considering all of these aspects when buying new clothes is overwhelming. But it really is as simple as buy less, value what you buy by wearing the garment more. When it needs a bit of TLC, we can help you out.


About Fashion Revolution Week: This is the ninth year in which the charity ask us to challenge our favourite fashion brands with the question #whomademyclothesFashion Revolution was established in 2013 a year after the Rana Plaza disaster that killed 1138 garment workers in Bangladesh. Since then charity have been campaigning globally against the human and environmental consequences of the fashion industry. Encouraging brands to change their practices to a more transparent and circular model.

Clothes mending workshop news

Thanks to everyone who has joined us for clothes mending workshops over the past few weeks. It has been great to see so many of you online and in person getting those clothes repaired and preventing them from being thrown away.  We joined the University of Birmingham to host a workshop as part of their project ‘The Air We Breathe’. Thanks if you came along. Everyone did a brilliant job with their visible darning and patching. The exhibition ‘explores air pollution through the lens of University of Birmingham research’. The exhibition is on until 30th June and we recommend a visit.


Join us for a workshop

We are fully booked at The Create Place this coming Monday. We have lots of spaces available for 11 and 18th April, please email us on hello@fastfashiontherapy.co.uk if you would like to book a place. The next online meet up will be Monday 4 April, book via Eventbrite. There is no workshop at The Remakery in April as it is the Easter holidays. We will be back there on the 16th May, book via Eventbrite

Looking forward to seeing you at a workshop soon.

Visible Mending Workshop x University of Birmingham

This event is presented in association with the University of Birmingham as part of The Air We Breathe

Join us for a practical and inspiring sewing workshop on repair, alteration and upcycling skills. You’ll learn how to mend with darning techniques and patch with scrap fabric and embellishments.

The fashion industry accounts for 10% of global carbon emissions. As citizens, we’re encouraged to live a more ethical life and simultaneously urged to consume more and more. But one small change we can all make is to upcycle or repair clothing rather than always buying new.

This event is presented in association with the University of Birmingham as part of The Air We Breathe – a brand new public programme, with an exhibition, activities and events that explore the close relationships between us, our environment and our air quality. From a hydrogen train to a sci-fi forest, discover the work being done by the University of Birmingham to deliver clean air both in Birmingham and around the world – and how you can get involved.

Materials and equipment will be provided but please bring along an item of clothing you would like to repair (by hand) or practice on the items provided. We will be showing hand sewing techniques on this occasion.

Details:

Where:

The Exchange: 3 Centenary Square, Birmingham, B1 2DR

When:

Saturday 19 March 2022, 14:00 to 16:00

Stitched Up! Protest and the Garment Industry

We are honoured to be included as part of The Cinema of Ideas programme focusing on protest in the garment industry. The line up includes films, a discussion and a darning workshop hosted by us! It is all online. Our workshop and the panel discussion are on specific days. The films; you have two weeks to watch at your leisure. All of this for only £5 ticket.

The Cinema of Ideas programme

Workshop and panel discussion

Darning Workshop
10:30am, Saturday 26 Feb

We are delighted to have Fast Fashion Therapy join us for a darning workshop. Learn how to prolong the life of your clothes by mending holes and fixing seams and save them ending up in a landfill. Darning kits provided by Fast Fashion Therapy are available on their website so you can mend-along with this workshop. Please purchase your darning kit a week in advance so it can be delivered to your home in time for the workshop: https://etsy.me/32QfqRQ

Register for the workshop here (note, you must have purchased an event pass for your registration to be approved).

Live Panel Discussion – How to Support Garment Workers
7pm, Monday 21 February

We are delighted to be joined by journalist Amber Sunner, writer Gracie Beswick and Ruth Ogier from charity War on Want for a live conversation on how to support garment workers around the world on an international and local level.

About the speakers

War on Want is an organisation dedicated to supporting Garment workers around the world fight for their rights.

Amber Sunner is a freelance journalist who has researched and interviewed garment workers in Leicester, publishing an article in October 2020 exposing the exploitative treatment of workers in BooHoo factories.

Gracie Beswick is a filmmaker and writer dedicated to sharing and promoting sustainable and ethical fashion, with an emphasis on small individual changes that can make a big difference.

Films

Made in Bangladesh, streaming 19 February – 5 March

Rubaiyat Hossain’s 2019 drama follows garment worker Shimu as she fights to start a union in her unsafe and exploitative factory in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

The Pajama Game, streaming 21 February – 27 February

The Pajama Game is a classic Hollywood musical starring Doris Day as a union grievance officer who juggles her loyalties to her union and her growing affection for her new manager.

The films will be accompanied by Knitwear Workers Protest March, an archival newsreel from the Media Archive for Central England that highlights Britain’s history of textile production and union action! As the demand for cheap instant clothes has been accelerated by the pandemic, this selection of films is as timely as ever, showing who really pays the price when your t-shirt costs next to nothing.

We’ve got our tickets booked!

Why sewicals are the new night out

‘Garment-mending workshops are opening up across the country, promoting a more responsible attitude to fashion and a space to unwind. Fleur Britten and her holey sweater drop in’ Stella Magazine, The Sunday Telegraph, 23 January 2022

We are thrilled to be included in Stella Magazine’s article on mending circles. Thanks to Fleur Britten for getting in touch and including Fast Fashion Therapy. It is encouraging to see so many clothes mending groups popping up all over the country.

‘People share ideas on the local area, their favourite charity shops and fashion’s lack of sustainability. People arrive with no sewing skills, but leave with their clothes fixed and always happy. It’s addictive.’

Sarah Richards, Fast Fashion Therapy, Stella Magazine

Want to find out more? Come along to one of our London workshops on Monday evenings or join us online if you live further way.

One of our sessions at The Create Place in Bethnal Green

Clothes Mending Workshop at Norwich University of the Arts

As part of their Winterfest event for students

This week we got the chance to go back to Art School but this time we were teaching and not students. Although I was tempted to join the students for the rest of their Winterfest event. Norwich University of the Arts host a week long event to help students with their wellbeing and socialise with other courses that they might not otherwise meet.

We taught an hour long darning workshop, explaining how darning can be used to mend jumpers, T-shirts and woven fabrics. Some of the students were from illustration and graphic design courses so they don’t usually get the chance to sew at college. However, they all picked up the technique really quickly. Practicing on swatches of an old worn out jumper, they are now ready to transfer their skills onto their own clothes.

Patching next and we explained the overstitch, which helps edge the patch and prevent it from fraying. Onto the Japanese technique of Boro and Sashiko. Some of the students also experimented with the traditional blanket stitch.

Thanks to Norwich University of the Arts for inviting us to be part of their Winterfest. I wanted to join the students on their other sessions which included drawing live owls, pottery painting and bingo!

Please get in touch if you are interested in us hosting a clothes mending workshop at your college, work, event or a group of friends. We can visit in person (if not to far from London) or host the workshops online.

Visiting Norwich gave us chance to visit a couple of our favourite charity shops

Sue Ryder vintage charity shop in Norwich city centre is a treasure trove of clothes, homeware, textiles and haberdashery. A short bus ride away is The Big C craft supply shop in Wymondham.An organised haven of art materials, fabric and haberdashery in a large warehouse. It is worth the trip, just remember to take a big bag with you!

5 Reasons to Repair Your Clothes in 2022

1. Prevent textile waste and carbon emissions

Something as small as a lost button can prevent us from wearing our clothes. By learning how to repair or rework our clothes we can prevent that item from adding to the 336,000 tonnes of clothing that end up in UK landfill or incineration each year (Wrap Textiles 2030).

Our clothes can take as long as 200 years to decompose…so our planet is getting polluted by more and more unnatural material all the time.

What ‘s Wrong with Fast Fashion: Pebble Magazine

2. Wear the clothes you love for longer

The majority of the clothes people bring to our workshops are items that they cherish. It might be a pair of jeans that fit perfectly, a Kaftan that was owned by a grandmother, a dress that brings back a lot of fun memories on the events it was worn to. People leave our workshops happy that their favourite item of clothing can be worn again to create new memories.

3. Learn a new skill

You don’t need to be an expert dressmaker or tailor to fix clothes. At least 85% of our workshop attendees have never used a sewing machine before or not since they were at school. Bring along an item of clothing you want to fix and we will show you the techniques you need to repair it. Build up your sewing skills with each item of clothing that is repaired. Materials and equipment is provided.

4. Practice mindfulness

Often participants will talk of how calming simply sitting as a group and hand stitching their damaged clothing can be. As our repair and upcycling workshops are often aimed at beginner sewers, we place a focus on the doing rather than perfection. The practical task of clothes mending and sewing can offer respite from the scale of a problem for a short moment in time. Darning, for example, takes concentration to weave the yarn to build up the hole. Read our article in Pebble Magazine on why mending your clothes is good for the soul.

5. Save money

Window of Royal Trinity Hospice London Charity Shop, Islington.

Fast fashion is notoriously inexpensive to buy but it often doesn’t last very long as cheap fabrics and techniques are used to make them. There is no judgement at our workshops on where your clothes are from. We are happy to help you repair the item of clothing to prevent it from adding to the landfill issue. By mending an item of clothing that you can wear again, it reduces the need to buy something new to replace it. Our workshops are free or offered at an affordable rate.

Join one of our workshops

We host regular workshops in London on a Monday evening. If you are not based in London, we also offer a free online mend-a-long via Zoom. It isn’t a teaching session but we can give you advice on how to mend your clothes and send you videos of any techniques required. Find our list of ‘How To’ videos here.

Find the list of our workshops on our Event Calendar, including more non-London based workshops coming this year. Or sign up to our newsletter to keep updated on how to join us for some Fast Fashion Therapy.

How to shorten sleeves using elastic

Sometimes it is very small things that stop us wearing items of clothing. Take this jumper for example. It sits in my wardrobe, I pull it out to wear it and every time I put it back as I remember that it annoys me. The arms get too long and baggy. I’m forever pulling up the sleeves for them to fall down seconds later.

There are many ways to shorten sleeves of tops and shirts but it is a bit trickier when it comes to jumpers. No problem if you can knit, but sadly I lack this skill. Knitwear and jersey (fabrics that have a knitted, stretchy construction rather than woven), can unravel if you cut them. Useful on a T-shirt as the fabric doesn’t fray. But on knitwear, the knitting would come undone and my jumper would be ruined.

This jumper had a little secret on the side seams that gave me an idea. A length of elastic at the bottom of the sides of the jumper are stitched with elastic. This creates a ruching effect.

In this video I demonstrate how to create the same effect on the sleeves to make them shorter.

This trick can be used on woven fabrics too. I’ve added elastic to shoulder seams to created a ruched cap sleeve. Or one of our workshop participants added elastic to the side seams of a mini dress to turn it into a long top.

Where to buy sustainable elastic

Generally elastic isn’t good for the environment. Made from rubber and plastic it takes years to biodegrade. There are some sustainable alternatives. Buying second hand is sustainable as we are using materials that are already available. We are not using the earth’s resources to make new products. They will not biodegrade but they have been produced so it makes sense to use them rather than throw them away unused. Charity shops are an excellent source of unused haberdashery. Usually stored in baskets amongst the homewares. I often collect elastic and darning yarn whenever I see any in a charity shop.

James Tailoring sells sustainable haberdashery including organic elastic that will biodegrade. Along with sustainable thread, fabric (including denim) and buttons. All available online.