Check Your Thread Zoe Edwards

Does the climate and ecological crisis just feel too massive to deal with sometimes? When it all feels so overwhelming, it can be tempting to tap out completely and disengage. That’s totally understandable. However, my guest today, Beedy Parker, shows us that it is entirely possible to participate in climate related activism and action, whilst continuing to lead a happy and exciting life. From attempting to influence legislation to hemming her neighbours' trousers, Beedy has been getting stuck in since 1970. Sadly, we can’t all be Beedy, but we can all take heart and inspiration in her example. 



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The leather glove thimble is made in Japan by Little House but it probably sourced most easily via Etsy. 





Beedy Parker is a committed naturalist and social and environmental activist living in Maine, USA. 



Read more about Beedy (unfortunately this link doesn’t seem to work in Europe, frustrating I know!). 



This is another piece about Beedy. 





Beedy recommends sourcing a copy of ‘The Needleworker's Constant Companion’, first published in 1978.





I referred to an article by Christina Garton called Weaving While Neurodivergent on the Handwoven Magazine website that is a fascinating read. 



Check out Beedy’s pants bags and felted wool slippers:









Wool Yes, Plastic Fleece No By Beedy Parker, Camden, Maine



So how about wool, anyway? Here is a wonderful natural fiber that grows on the backs of gentle animals, who, Shmoo-like,* provide meat and manure, and even milk and cheese. When sheep are rotated through pastures, they improve the land and keep the farm open – and yet, the use of wool for clothing and blankets seems to be disappearing, as are the sheep. People who raise sheep in New England and around the world receive less and less money for their fleeces and must depend solely on the meat market for income. What's been happening in the world of wool?



I went on a woods hike this fall with an environmentally minded group and was surprised to see that everyone else was wearing recycled plastic fleece jackets and pullovers, the same people who, five or 10 years ago, would have been wearing beautiful hand knit sweaters and woolen Maine hunting jackets. Even their mittens and scarfs and caps were mostly synthetic. Well, I guess the weather is warmer these days, and the advertising blitz has been successful, and that "fleece" really is sometimes made of recycled plastic soda bottles, which adds a measure of virtue to the apparel, but is this really what we want to wear?



Do we want to wear "oil," with its unfortunate "cradle-to-grave" trail of pollution? Synthetics made of oil attract their relatives, oily stains and synthetic odors and solvents, the outgassing of other plastics in our environment, and these pollutants sink in and stay. To 5 reveal the true nature of plastics, try this little fiber test (cautiously): Singe a few threads of different fabrics with a lighted match. The cotton (or any vegetable fiber) gives off a pleasant wood smoke odor. Wool smells like the burning hair that it is. Synthetic plastic fabrics melt into a sticky black puddle that gives off noxious fumes, a transformation into its original self, as shocking as the melting of the witch in "The Wizard of Oz." This stuff poisons people when it is mined, when it is refined and manufactured, when it outgasses in normal use, and when it is burned in municipal waste; whereas wool comes out of the land, via photosynthesis and protein synthesis, and when we're done with it, microbes can reintegrate it into the land.



Many things have changed in our lives since the days when wool was the dominant fiber in cold weather countries. We now spend most of our time indoors and in temperature controlled cars; we hardly need coats. We don't walk much and our health suffers accordingly. In the past we trusted our wool jackets and socks that breathed when we sweat; that could sh

Have you ever found yourself unsure of how to proceed with fixing a damaged garment? The two most common stumbling blocks are knowing what mending technique to use, and knowing what materials are the best choice to create a long lasting repair. Today mending expert Jeanna Wigger and I guide you on how to triage your mending pile and answer those tricky questions. We then go on to respond to some mending dilemmas submitted by patrons of the podcast. By the end of this episode, you’ll have a much clearer idea of how to tackle your next repair.



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Find some great pre-owned sewing resources whilst getting essential funds to Palestinians in Gaza via the @destash4palestine Instagram account. 



You can follow Jeanna on Instagram @thepeoplesmending.





Listen to my previous conversations with Jeanna about the Winter of Care and Repair challenge:




Ep. #115: Winter of Care and Repair with Jeanna Wigger



Ep. #132: A Season of Mending with Jeanna Wigger




I help you consider the two main approaches to mending:




Ep. #68: Visible Vs Invisible Mending




Jeanna adopted a ‘hidden in plain sight’ approach to fixing these T-shirts:





Find Erin Lewis-Fitzgerald via her website, and on Instagram @erinlewisfitzgerald. 



Hear Erin’s episodes on CYT:




Ep. #39: Modern Mending with Erin Lewis-Fitzgerald



Ep. #40: Experimend with Erin Lewis-Fitzgerald




Erin also has an online shop, Modern Mending, where you can find high quality mending supplies.  



With help from lovely listeners, we explore the use of fabric scraps:




Ep. #127: Scrap Strategies Part 1



Ep. #128: Scrap Strategies Part 2




For more info on patching:




Ep. #47: Introduction to Patching




Amy Meissner (@amymeissnerartist) is an Alaskan-based artist.  



My recent knee-replacement mend on my son’s joggers:

Are you interested in mending your clothes but you’re just not sure where to begin? For this episode, we’re taking a different approach to the topic of mending in that this episode is for complete beginners, no prior knowledge of sewing is needed or assumed AT ALL. But for the regular listeners who already engage in sewing and mending, this episode is kind of for you too. It’s an excellent resource to forward on to people in your life who are interested in keeping their clothes in use for longer, and who you feel might be open to learning how to do it for themselves.This episode is one part pep talk, one part practical guide. You’ll be left feeling empowered to start repairing your own clothes. 



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The climate action NGO WRAP has published studies on the impact on keeping our clothes in use for longer. 



The items I think you need for a basic but very effective mending kit:



So you’ll need:




Hand sewing needles: try to find a pack that includes needles that range in thickness. Different thicknesses of needle will be suitable for different thicknesses of fabric.



Sewing thread: go for reels polyester or 100% cotton thread made by a known brand like Guterman, Meltler or Coats/Moon. Cheap, or very old, sewing threads are liable to break. If you bought a sewing kit that includes some thread, treat yourself to some stronger, higher quality stuff anyway. It’s a good idea to keep a small range of common colours in your kit (black, white, navy, red, grey and cream perhaps) which should cover the majority of your projects, and add other colours to your collection as you require them.



Small, sharp scissors or thread snips: a basic, shop-bought sewing kit may or may not include these but they are definitely necessary. Cheap thread snips are available in most haberdasheries, but sharp nail scissors will also do.



Pins: a pack/tub of sharp pins is very helpful to keep things in place during your repair or alteration. Only an octopus could successfully complete every project without some pins. Pins that come with little plastic shapes or spheres attached to the end are easier to pick up. 



Safety pins: a few safety pins in a range of sizes will likely come in very handy. They can be used instead of pins for some projects to keep things in place, and you will be less likely to get stabbed whilst using them. Safety pins are also invaluable for threading elastic through a channel. 



Seam ripper (AKA stitch ripper/quick unpick): these sharp metal hooks with plastic or wooden handles are useful for removing stitches carefully. Using scissors or snips to do so is more likely to result in holes in the fabric. 




Additional items and materials to allow you to make patches and expand your repertoire of repairs:




Tape measure: This is for working out how big you need to cut a patch. Fancier, retractable tape measurements are available if you wish, but the basic kind that you sometimes win in Christmas crackers is also fine! 



Tailors chalk or fabric marking pen/pencil: This is for drawing out the size and shape of the patch you require before cutting it out. There is a wide range of fabric marking tools available. From the basic triangle shaped tailor’s chalks, to chalk wheels that dispense chalk dust, to marker pens with ink that disappears when you iron it. They all do a similar job, so buy whichever appeals to you and see if you like using it. 



Fabric scissors: they are going to make cutting fabric to create patches a joy. Using other types of scissors such as paper scissors or kitchen scissors is an option of course, but using blunt or unsuitable scissors for the task will be frustrating and may damage the fabric. So use non-fabric scissors at your own risk.



Fabric scraps: As you can imagine, these are to make the actual patches. You’ll need a variety of types of fabric, basically try to gather a selection that represent the types of fabrics you’d f

Mending your clothes to keep them in use for longer is a vital part of sewing and living more sustainably. But how can we amplify the positive impact of mending our clothes? Answer: By mending them in public! By mending in public, not only are you reducing the annual carbon and water footprint of your clothing, but you’re helping to normalise these actions for other people! On the 20th April 2024 hundreds of mending in public events took place around the globe, the endeavour having been initiated by the Fashion Revolution movement in collaboration with the Street Stitching movement. I attended an event hosted by Diana Uprichard, owner of Dolly Clothing in Lewes, East Sussex, and I got to see first hand the positivity and power of mending in public. In this episode, you’ll hear from five different people I spoke to at the event, each with their own unique angle on why it’s so meaningful. 



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Support the podcast over on Patreon!





Check out the Seated Makes Challenge on IG #seatedmakeschallenge2024.



Mending in Public day was organised by Fashion Revolution in collaboration with the Street Stitching movement. 



Diana Uprichard is the owner of Dolly Clothing in Lewes, East Sussex UK. They can also be found on Instagram (@dolly_clothing). 





Melissa with her grey cardigan with its ongoing repairs:





Attendee Sarah Elwick (@sarahelwick) on the left with Mica Janiv (@micajaniv), sustainable business consultant. 

Dedicating an entire season to acts of mending is a bold move. As you may know, the most recent round of the Winter of Care and Repair challenge just wrapped up. In this episode the challenge’s creator, Jeanna Wigger, and I catch up to review the experience, both as individual participants and as members of this vibrant and inspiring global community of menders. So whether you’re in the southern hemisphere with Winter just round the corner, or you’re in the northern hemisphere and the next round is some way off, you’ll find out what benefits it could bring you, should you decide to participate. 



Support the podcast over on Patreon!





You can follow Jeanna on Instagram @thepeoplesmending.



Listen to my previous conversation with Jeanna about the challenge:




Ep. #115: Winter of Care and Repair with Jeanna Wigger




Other mending-related episodes you might enjoy include the three-part mini-series about Make Do and Mend:




Ep. #28: Make Do and Mend



Ep. #29: Lessons from the 1940s



Ep. #30: Tips and Takeaways from Make Do and Mend




Plus these solo episodes:




Ep. #47: Introduction to Patching



Ep. #68: Visible Vs Invisible Mending




Jeanna tested out multiple methods of lightweight sock repair and reviewed the results. 





Image source: Jeanna Wigger



Examples of Jeanna’s mending, all of which fit within her definition of a mend that is hidden in plain sight, designed to look like it's "supposed to be there.":

Do you want to create well fitting clothes, but you’re put off by having to make lots of changes to your pattern plus multiple toiles to test the fit? My guest, Elisalex Jewell, is an anythor and one of the founders of sewing pattern brand By Hand London. Elisalex tells us why self drafting using your own body measurements might be for you. 



Support the podcast over on Patreon!





Elisalex Jewell is the co-founder of sewing pattern brand By Hand London. You can also follow her on Instagram (@elisalex).



Elisalex´s mum is Orsola de Castro (@orsoladecastro), the co-founder and creative director of Fashion Revolution, a not-for-profit activism movement which works towards a sustainable fashion industry



Elisalex has written a book with self-drafting tutorials and hacks called ‘Made to Measure: An Easy Guide to Drafting and Sewing a Custom Wardrobe’. 





Elisalex prefers dot and cross paper for pattern drafting. UK-based people can order it from William Gee and from Morplan, among others. 



Elisalex recommends DIY Daisy´s book, ‘Sew It Yourself’. You can listen to my conversation with Daisy:




Ep. #46: DIY Drafting and Inclusive Sewing with Daisy Braid




Rosie Martin has the blog ‘DIY Couture’ and wrote the book ‘No Patterns Needed: DIY Couture from Simple Shapes’. 



Elisalex featured on Episode 30 of The New Craft House Podcast. 



By Hand London’s circle skirt calculator is the original draft-it-yourself pattern!



Find all of By Hand London’s Draft It Yourself products on their website, including the Lucy dress (pictured below):