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Check Your Thread: Sewing More Sustainably

Check Your Thread: Sewing More Sustainably

By: Zoe Edwards
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About this listen

 - 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© 2025 Check Your Thread
Episodes
  • #217: Mending for Mental Wellbeing with Rebecca from The Big Fandango

    #217: Mending for Mental Wellbeing with Rebecca from The Big Fandango
    Mar 2 2026
    All of us are aware of and enjoy many of the mental health benefits of crafting, making and mending. Rebecca Jackson understands this better than most, having experienced one of the worst things someone can go through. It led her to set up The Big Fandango five years ago in Bury, just outside Manchester in the UK. The Big Fandango is a social enterprise with workshop space that creates and nurtures community and positive mental health through learning sewing and textiles craft skills, whilst also delivering suicide prevention training to businesses and organisations. You will also hear from Jeanna Wigger and Mary Morton, authors of the awesome mending book, ‘Stitch It, Don’t Ditch It’, who were delivering a mending workshop as part of their North of England book tour a couple of weeks ago. Support the podcast over on Patreon! Rebecca Jackson founded The Big Fandango, a social enterprise based in Bury, Manchester, UK. Listen to my episode with Jeanna and Mary about their amazing book: Ep. #191: Stitch it, Don’t Ditch it with Mary Morton and Jeanna Wigger Jeanna Wigger can be found @thepeoplesmending on Instagram. Jeanna also has an excellent Substack. Mary Morton can be found @edinburghstreetstitchers and @mvm13 on Instagram Listen to my other previous conversations with Jeanna: Ep. #115: Winter of Care and Repair with Jeanna WiggerEp. #132: A Season of Mending with Jeanna WiggerEp. #135: How to Triage Your Mends with Jeanna WiggerEp. #163: How to Effect Change This Winter with Jeanna WiggerEp. #190: The Four Tendencies and Sewing with Jeanna, Kim & Lise Ep. #208: Challenging Consumption and Perfectionism with Jeanna Wigger Mary volunteers at the Shrub Coop, a ZW charity based in Edinburgh, Scotland (@shrubcoop on Instagram). Find their book, ‘Stitch it, Don't Ditch it’. Mary and Jeanna regularly recommend the ‘Repair What You Wear’ website to would-be menders. Also @RepairWhatYouWear on YouTube, and in this episode mentioned their videos on how to thread a needle easily for right handed people and for left handed people.
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  • #216 : Replay – No Small Business on a Dead Planet

    #216 : Replay – No Small Business on a Dead Planet
    Feb 16 2026

    It seems like every day, another small craft business announces that it’s closing down. In this solo episode I’m looking at the causes. What can we do to both support small businesses AND buy less new stuff for the sake of our planet?

    Support the podcast over on Patreon!

    Image source: Tim Mossholder via Unsplash

    Find out more about the Last Sewist Standing challenge:

    • Ep. #118: Last Sewist Standing with Lise Bauer

    This Forbes article, ‘The Benefits Of Shopping Small All Year Long’ by Jim Granat, was really interesting.

    The shoplocaluk.org website has some more useful information.

    I used the definition of the cost of living crisis from this fuelgenie.co.uk article.

    Enjoy Gina Ferrari’s Substack.

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  • #215: How to Dress Kids More Sustainably with Izzie from ApparelXchange

    #215: How to Dress Kids More Sustainably with Izzie from ApparelXchange
    Feb 9 2026

    You’ll have heard me say it a ton of times before: sewing clothes yourself isn’t necessarily the most sustainable way to clothe yourself or your family. But obviously, you’ll be prizing my sewing machine out of my cold, dead hands. However, with literal mountains of existing garments already in the world, there are plenty of other ways to source clothing with a reduced environmental and social impact. In this episode, I speak with Izzie Eriksen, founding director of a Glasgow-based social enterprise called ApparelXchange, about the various ways we can clothe our young people more sustainably. We also hear what ApparelXchange is doing to tackle child poverty AND nurture their local community.

    Support the podcast over on Patreon!

    Izzie Eriksen is the founding director of Glasgow-based social enterprise ApparelXchange. Follow them on Instagram @apparelxchange.

    This episode is the sister to:

    • Ep. #206: How to Sew More Sustainably for Kids

    Photos from the ApparelXchange shop and warehouse:
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