#203: Sewing with Scraps with Birgitta Helmersson & Sam Grose
As a garment sewer conscious of waste, you know how quickly fabric scraps leftover from your projects can build up. But imagine you run an entire clothing brand range committed to saving and using up every piece of scrap. Designers Birgitta Helmersson and Sam Grose tell me about their brand, Helgrose, that operates in precisely this way. Plus, they’ve just written an awesome new book that shares the main three methods they use for turning fabric scraps into desirable, wearable pieces, so you can do the same at home.
Support the podcast over on Patreon!
Birgitta Helmersson and Sam Grose design and make clothing and accessories for their joint brand, Helgrose.
Birgitta is, of course, best known in the sewing community for her Zero Waste sewing patterns.
Listen to Birgitta’s previous episodes:
Ep. #54: A Journey to Zero Waste with Birgitta Helmersson
Ep. #55: The Challenges of Zero Waste Design with Birgitta Helmersson
Ep. #98: Zero Waste Patterns Book with Birgitta Helmersson
Birgitta and Sam have written a new book, ‘Sewing with Scraps’, buy it online here.
This is Birgitta’s second book, her first is ‘Zero Waste Patterns’.
Zero Waste pattern designer, Liz Haywood, has an excellent blog where she often reviews ZW sewing patterns created by other designers.
Check out the amazing sofa they recovered using fabric scraps:
The Cloth Lab is Birgitta and Sam’s creative hub where they host workshops.
As well as Liz Haywood, Birgitta is also a fan of ZW clothing design company, Decode.
Birgitta and Sam love both Sway based in LA (including their community dye bath)
Studio 234+ in Malmö.
Other CYT episodes about scraps:
Ep. #4: My 5 Favourite Scrap Projects
Ep. #103: Swimming in a Sea of Scraps with Meg Grandstaff
Ep. #116: Improv Scrap Play with Sherri Lynn Wood
Ep. #127: Scrap Strategies, Part 1
Ep. #128: Scrap Strategies, Part 2
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#202: London Fabric Swap 2025
Do you fancy coming with me on a little vicarious trip to a fabric swap? A couple of weeks ago I attended the London fabric swap organised by Yvette from Stash Hub app and Tanya from Bornella fabrics. I recorded a bunch of little conversations with both of them and lots of the attendees, so you can get the skinny on what it was like to organise the event and to attend and swap sewing supplies there.
Support the podcast over on Patreon!
Organised by Tanya from Bornella Fabrics and Yvette from Stash Hub App:
Listen to previous episodes about fabric swaps:
Ep. #144: London Destash Fabric Swap 2024
Ep. #182: How to Organise a Fabric Swap with Nike Baruwa
Here my previous conversation with attendee Mel Keane:
Ep. #152: Sewing for Stillness and Community with Mel Keane
The fabric swap organised by Surrey Sews (@surreysews on Instagram) is taking place on 8th November.
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#201: Making Check Your Thread – with Zoe & Kat, Part 2
Are you ready for a second dose of behind the scenes podcast and sewing chat? Guest interviewer Kat Camfield and I continue our conversation. We get into the joys of Patreon and how it’s evolved for creators, what my own favourite podcasts to listen to are (none of which are about sewing!) and what my favourite sewing snack is (spoiler: it’s actually a liquid!). Plus! Kat has a surprise for me…
Kat Camfield is a sewing teacher and sewing retreat organiser living in Victoria, Canada. You can follow Kat on Instagram @cooperativekatsews.
Hear Kat on previous episodes of CYT:
Ep. #196: Eco Printing - Kat Camfield with Carly from Lorelei Textile Design
Ep. #200: Making Check Your Thread - with Zoe & Kat, Part 1
Author Mary Morton got in touch with her co-author Jeanna Wigger after hearing her on an episode of CYT. Together they wrote the amazing book ‘Stitch it, Don't Ditch it’.
Hear them talk to me about the experience here:
Ep. #191: Stitch It, Don’t Ditch It with Mary Morton and Jeanna Wigger
You can find Check Your Thread on Instagram, @checkyourthread. Please head over and say hi!
Podcasts I listen to regularly:
The Adam Buxton Podcast
Death, Sex & Money
Heavyweight
The Secrets Hotline
Savage Lovecast
The sewing machine I have is a Janome DKS30 (in orange):
The previous guests who kindly submitted a comment to celebrate the 200th episode milestone are:
Numba Pinkerton
Skye Pennant
Jeanna Wigger
Meg Grandstaff
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#200: Making CYT with Zoe & Kat, Part 1
This week’s episode is the 200th episode! To mark this podcasting milestone, I had the honour of being quizzed by previous-guest interviewer, Kat Camfield. This week’s and next week’s episodes are basically a full-on behind the scenes chat about how this podcast gets made and what it's taught me. Today you’ll hear about what I’ve deliberately changed about the podcast since I started it, what I would have been unable to predict four years ago, and what has surprised me about life as a podcaster.
Support the podcast over on Patreon!
Kat Camfield is a sewing teacher and sewing retreat organiser living in Victoria, Canada. You can follow Kat on Instagram @cooperativekatsews.
Kat did an incredible job interviewing eco printer Carly:
Ep. #196: Eco Printing - Kat Camfield with Carly from Lorelei Textile Design
Hear more about the underlying manifesto of this podcast:
Ep. #71: Making Personal Manifestos with Kim Witten
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#199: Wardrobe Curation and Care
We're talking about the curation of a successful, handmade wardrobe and how to select sewing projects with care so that you’re creating items that reflect who you are and that say what you want them to say. We’ll also consider how style trends factor into creating a more sustainable wardrobe, and how to make sure your garment projects will be suitable for the life you really lead. This episode has been taken for the talk I gave at the Fold Line’s Sewing Weekender earlier this year, and it aligns so well with the goal of this podcast that I wanted to give it an airing here too.
Support the podcast over on Patreon!
Image by Priscilla Du Preez via Unsplash
For more guidance on garment fitting, please listen to the following episodes:
Ep. #95: Refining Fit with Kate Roberts
Ep. #96: Pattern Fitting Q&A with Kate Roberts
Ep. #178: What you Should Know about Fitting with Kate Roberts
If you’ve somehow missed what the wardrobe challenge Me-Made-May is all about, here’s a super quick explainer:
Ep. #177: Me-Made-May Explained in Under 5 Minutes
You can access Love to Sew Podcast’s free Design Your Dream Wardrobe Worksheet when you sign up to their newsletter.
Hear about Judith Staley’s discoveries when she tracked her wardrobe for an entire year:
Ep. #179: The Five Fabrics Rule with Judith Staley
Clothing tracking apps include:
Whering
WearTracker (link to iOS)
Indyx
- Do you love sewing, AND are passionate about fighting the climate and ecological crises?
- Are you wondering if your sewing could be made more sustainable?
- Do you want to enjoy your creative passion in a way that really reflects your values?
Join Zoe Edwards, a sewing nerd and creator of Me-Made-May, on her journey to explore how to sew (and live!) more sustainably.
In this podcast we discover ways to sew with sustainability in mind, by flexing our creativity and resourcefulness in new and exciting ways. Check Your Thread’s goal is to show that sewing more sustainably can be fun and fulfilling, (HOLD the side order of guilt, eco-snobbery and FOMO.)
Topics covered include:
-Mending and garment repair
-Upcycling and refashioning
-Natural fabric dyeing
-Fibre and fabric selection
-Slow stitching
-Zero Waste sewing patterns
-The social and political dimensions of sewing
-Craft as activism
Find out more...
checkyourthread.com
New Zealand