Zero and Zen: Sashiko and zero waste jacket

I’m excited to share a new collaboration coming : Zero and Zen!

^{Modular Jacket design by Liz Haywood}

As you may know, I'm passionate about recycling and mending so I was thrilled when Liz Haywood said she would like to collaborate on a project that includes zero waste sewing and sashiko mending. Liz is an author and zero waste pattern maker who has written a few books on zero waste sewing, and she will be teaching us how to make our very own jackets from scratch! She cautiously says that this pattern is zero waste, depending on the width of material used, and so she likes to call it a Modular pattern instead.

What I love about the modular pattern is that you can adapt it to fit your body size, and the jacket can also be determined by the fabrics you have in your stash.  All you need to do is take your body measurements, and draw a few rectangle shapes on your fabric - and with a bit of Liz’s genius it turns into a jacket!

Because I dont like to start from a blank piece of fabric, I found it was easier to start with a pair of jeans I found in the second hand store. They were already frayed, with mended patches behind the worn areas - the perfect starting place for some sashiko mending.

I ended up needing two pairs of jeans to make the pattern, but you can see that I used the legs for sleeves (keeping the hem the same at the wrist) I even used the waist band for the collar! Pockets were carefully unstitched and I even saved the gold thread from the jeans to use as top stitching on the jacket.

The front panels were then mending using a whip stitch, and then reinforced with a couple of different sashiko stitches: shippo tsunagi (linked seven treasures), ganzegashi (sea urchin stitch), and their variations.

One fun thing about this project is that I crowd sourced peoples opinions because I had trouble deciding what colour thread to use, and whether I should do neat, or frayed sashiko.

Making your own clothing really is so rewarding, especially when it’s both eco-friendly and beautiful! I hope you’ll join us for this one and I can’t wait to see all the creations from our talented Zen Stitching community.

About Zero and Zen

You'll get life time access to pre-recorded videos that take you step by step through the process of:
💙 sewing your jacket,
💙 mending (if you're working with up-cycled garments like me);
💙 adding four different sashiko stitches and their variations (shippo tsunagi, ganzegashi, asanoha, kiku asanoha)

We also understand the benefit of working in a small community to keep you focused and on track. You can join in on three Zoom meetings:
💙 A jacket focused meeting where you can ask Liz questions about creating your jacket
💙 A sashiko focused meeting where you can ask me questions about adding sashiko to your jacket
💙 A show and tell session where you can show off your fresh new garment!

The course will be released on September 19 (which is this coming Monday!!), for more information click here!