Hasta La Ideas

This Stitch Work project is by Alison Tooze, done while studying Product Design at Australia’s University of Technology, Sydney. It’s a series of templates that teaches you to sew by hand:

“Stitch Work is an interactive, educational, and practical activity kit that teaches different sewing techniques and patterns to build the skills and knowledge of society in repairing and redesigning garments. This is to inspire human ingenuity and to re-establish human–clothes relationships, as recent studies show society has found it more convenient to replace and dispose of unwanted clothes than to fix and repurpose them.”

“Stitch Work proposes a way to encourage people to learn basic stitching techniques to create unique designs with the clothes they already own. Becoming an active participant in the construction of one’s clothes can create an emotional connection and increase the durability of a garment, which minimises clothing waste and impulse buying. Stitch Work aims to build the user’s craft skills, ingenuity, and resourcefulness in an effort to replace consumption with creative action.”

“The fast fashion market is expected to grow at a rate of 18% between 2025 to 2030; following this trajectory will make the fashion industry accountable for a quarter of total climate change contribution by 2050. Therefore, change is necessary at the consumer level, which ultimately dictates the future of the fashion industry.”