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Skills required for making your own clothes |
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| mainly sewing, but also... | |
| Felting | |
| Knitting & crochet | |
| Leatherwork | |
| Natural dyes | |
| Weaving | |
Starting out |
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| Clothes-Press | good little site covering everything you need to think about if you want to start making your own clothes |
| The Guardian | a stitch in time… guide to getting started in making your own clothes |
| The Guardian | five small steps to greening your wardrobe |
DIY womenswear |
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| A Dress a Day | blogger who teaches you how to make a different dress every day |
| AllFreeSewing | seemingly unlimited free sewing patterns for everything you can think of |
| Angela Kane | hundreds of patterns and videos, some free |
| BurdaStyle | open-source, pattern-sharing site |
| Did You Make That? | make your own coat |
| DIY Couture | make-your-own fashion |
| Fehr Trade | articles, advice, patterns, inspiration |
| Freeneedle | browse over 5000 free patterns and tutorials |
| Instructables | DIY lingerie |
| LovetoSew | lots of info on sewing, plus designing and making your own clothes |
| Modern Sewing | patterns for dresses, jackets, tops, coats, maternity wear and lots more – all free |
| SewMamaSew | free tutorials and patterns |
| So Zo, What do you Know? | tutorials, free patterns and a section on refashioning old clothes |
| Tilly & the Buttons | ‘Hi! I’m Tilly, a DIY dressmaker. I help people to start making their own clothes’ |
| Threadbanger | lots of videos on ripping up and re-doing clothes |
| VeryPurplePerson | make your own knickers |
Textile design |
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| Be Fab | accessible Digital Fabric Printing Bureau in Edinburgh |
| Centre for Sustainable Fashion | promoting sustainability in the clothing industry |
| The People’s Print | DIY digital textile design |
DIY menswear |
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| DenimHunters | fantastic article about how to make a pair of jeans |
| Freeneedle | over 30 free patterns for men’s clothes |
| Made by Meg | how to make a man’s minoru (waterproof coat): I want this one |
| Mark Montano | make your own boxer shorts |
| Modern Sewing | patterns for trousers, jackets, shirts, coats and lots more – all free |
| TaylorTailor | ‘I’m on a mission to design and create my entire wardrobe from scratch. It’s going to take a while’ |
| Viking Tunic Construction | oh go on! |
DIY unisex stuff |
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| DenimHunters | how to make a classic leather belt |
| House to Home | knit your own winter socks |
| Hub Pages | how to get started with knitting socks |
| Instructables | make your own shoes |
| Knitting Help | free knitting patterns for hats |
| Knitting Help | free knitting patterns for scarves |
| Knitting Help | free knitting patterns for socks & slippers |
| Knitting Help | free knitting patterns for gloves & mittens |
| Mother Earth News | interesting article, plus patterns, on making your own cold-weather clothing |
| Primitive Living Skills | how to make sandals from old car tyres |
Recycling, repairing & altering |
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| About.com | 10 clothing fixes that everyone should know about – from zips to patches – including step-by-step tutorials |
| AllFreeSewing | lots of free refashioning and recycling patterns |
| Canadian Living | why you should repair your clothes |
| Creating my Way to Success | 500+ clothes upcycling projects |
| The Guardian | upcycling masterclass – how to put a twist on unused clothes and accessories |
| Love your Clothes | campaign to help people get as much value as possible from their clothes |
| Planet June | how to take up trousers |
| Swishing | clothes swapping events |
| Textile Recycling Association | The UK’s trade association for used clothing and textile collectors, sorters and reprocessors |
| TLC | how to alter clothes |
| Traid | collecting, repairing and selling used clothing to fund development projects |
| Uniform Reuse | alternative fabric database – promoting remanufacturing and reuse of fabrics |
Starting a business |
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| Chron | starting a second-hand clothing business |
| Chron | starting a small business boutique that buys & trades used clothes |
| Etsy | sell your work direct to the public |
| SewMamaSew | how to turn your love of sewing into a pattern business |
| StartUps | how to start a clothes shop |
Ethical clothing / campaigns against sweatshops |
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| The Business of Fast Fashion | 90-second video highlighting the problems caused by the ‘fast fashion’ trend |
| Clean Clothes | improving working conditions in the global garment industry |
| Fair Wear Foundation | works with companies and factories to improve labour conditions for garment workers |
| The Humanist | the case against sweatshops – short article by a 17-year-old |
| Labour Behind the Label | supporting garment workers’ efforts to defend their rights |
| Let’s Clean Up Fashion (pdf) | 29-page pdf – check out which brands are taking action to protect workers’ rights, and which ones aren’t |
| No Sweat | fighting sweatshop bosses all around the world |
| Source Database | database of sustainability / ethical information for the clothing industry |
| Sweat-Free Communities | US site assisting sweatshop workers to improve conditions and form unions |
| United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS) | US group fighting to hold to account companies running sweatshops to produce college apparel |
Other information |
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| Bamboo Clothing | why it’s a good idea |
| Organic Trade Association | all about organic cotton |
| WRAP | sustainable clothing action plan |
