A red coat

I once served a young woman at a market, who wore the most beautiful coat i have ever seen. The
coat just fitted this lady perfectly, it’s style suited her and was elegant and the quality just
‘stood out a mile’. I complimented the wearer of the coat, and fully expected to hear it was an
exclusive designer made garment that had cost a small fortune: it was actually something she
had made herself many years ago. I will never forget that brief meeting and conversation, it was
a revelation. I have always believed in the superiority of many hand-made things, like clothes
and furniture, but it was that coat that made me realize my own opinion, in the main, was a fact.
Furniture, made by a craftsperson, who takes care selecting the right materials and works in sympathy
with the grain can produce a piece of enduring beauty, something that will last for generations, doing
the job it was built for and being an object of pride to those who own it. What a contrast to
the same item mass produced in a factory from cheap materials like chipboard, that might look fine
for a few years, but very soon wear away, cannot easily be repaired or recycled and is destined for
landfill. ‘Fast-fashion’ follows the same pattern, where what most of us buy in the shops, is a pale
imitation of what clothes can be when made by a diligent hand. But most of us are quite prepared to
put up with the cheap mass produced offerings of even the well known brand labels, in part because the
art of clothes-making has vanished. Who makes their own clothes? Well thankfully still a few people,
but it is not a skill that many people know- when once it was essential for most of us in daily life.

The forgotten fabric of our lives

In a world where people do not make or even mend clothes, it is not surprising so many of us
are disconnected from the realities of our clothes and fabric, just as we are about food and the
land. You could say nowadays we are disconnected from the ‘thread’ of life. From a simple thread we
make cloth, which we use to make clothes, bedding, furnishings and upholstery, and materials for
every line of industry. Clothing is our second skin that we can change at any time, enabling us
to survive in all weathers. The thought of no food for one day is not a nice one- but although we
would be hungry we should be fine. How does the thought of going one day without cloth or clothing
compare? For something so important for human life, many of us have no idea where the clothes we wear
come from, how they were made and by who. Whether the thread is a natural plant fibre or a wool- which
mankind has been making clothes from for thousands of years, or any of the new ‘synthetic’ materials
available, it is an object of mystery for most, something for large high-tech machines or factories full
of machinists, yet it is an art still unsurpassed by the craft of hand. The natural fibres especially,
wool and flax for linen, which (since pre-history) were the two traditional cloth fibres in our
country, until very recently, are amongst the strongest most durable fibres known to man, used in
‘high end’ fashion as luxury fabrics- and where quality, durability and comfort matter- and especially
flax, can still be grown in our own gardens, aswell as spun, woven, cut and sown into clothes in our
own homes.

When you learn to make clothes at home, it means you can make an item of far superior quality
than that made with a machine, especially if you spin your own thread, and weave your own cloth.
In fact you cannot buy the same quality of cloth a good spinner and weaver can produce: only from
a good spinner or weaver. To sew your own garments together, means you can better the quality of
garments mass produced, by low paid machinists. Some people own garments that were woven or knitted
over a hundred years ago, which are family heirlooms, and can be still be worn with pride today.

Modern synthetic textiles have a firm place in modern life. Shirts and fleeces that are warm, light,
breathable, and dry quickly, along with hard wearing, breathable outer layers in jackets and footwear
that keep us dry in all weathers. Yet still, the properties of natural fibres stand out, wool is
still warm, still breathable with quick drying varieties available. Linen is tough, quick drying, and
even with the miracle of goretex outer shells, some outdoor workers prefer traditional waxed jackets
(flax-linen coated with linseed (flaxseed) oil and beeswax) as a tougher (will not rip or tear easily)
waterproof option. Wool socks and tweeds, are also still highly practical outdoors. In the summer, linen
comes into it’s own; breathable, water absorbing and wicking and one of the best of all fibres for
sensitive skin. The more linen is used and washed, the softer it gets, while gaining strength after each
wash. Both wool and linen are true luxury fabrics, naturally beautiful in look and feel, and eminently
practical for modern lifestyles, and with hand-made quality is still a good investment in our modern
world today.

“The most comfortable clothes i have ever worn”

I had a friend many years ago, who belonged to a historical re-enactment society, which focused
on the Anglo Saxon period in this country. The group were scholars of all aspects of the daily
life of the times; including the clothes people wore. My friend used make their own clothes using
historically accurate designs, and was telling me once how comfortable the shoes she had just made,
from a single piece of leather, were. I asked about the other types of clothing she had made, and
she said: “They are some of the most comfortable clothes i have ever worn”. I then asked if she
wore them outside of her re-enactment group, to which she replied, something to the effect: “I would
look a bit odd wearing my Anglo Saxon robes down the village pub, wouldn’t i?”. I can see her point,
but all the same i feel it sad that we are so much the slaves of fashion, that we squeeze ourselves
into ill-fitting denim jeans and uncomfortable high heeled shoes, rather than choosing comfort,
and classic style for each season’s needs.

In our country we regularly see traditional clothing from many different cultures around the world. I
grew up in one of the largest Sikh communities in this country, Gravesend in Kent, and it is very
common seeing men wearing traditional head coverings such as the ‘turban’ aswell as women wearing
traditional long flowing dresses made from colourful and rich Indian fabrics. Nowadays i have noticed
many men wearing loose flowing robes made from sturdy cloth, in many shades of brown particularly,
in the city, and on hot summer days similar robes made of thinner fabric, in lighter shades, both
of which are common wear in the Middle East, Africa, India and central Asia. Throughout all these
regions it is also common for both men and women to wear one of several types of loose baggy,
trouser-like bottom-wear under traditional top-wear robes. In the West in modern times various
types of street-wear are based on these designs, as are ‘pyjamas’ used as night-wear and as casual
clothes to relax in round the house on weekends or after work, comfort is the aim of this type of
Asian inspired garment (the word pyjama is an Indian/Persian word for traditional every-day leg-wear).

Fashions come and go, and are not always the most comfortable clothes we could wear, or the best suited
for the seasons’ weather, but i see no reason why we should not look to our past traditional clothing
styles, and even materials, and those of other cultures, if we want to dress ourselves comfortably.

Fast fashion and some sustainable alternatives

‘Fast-fashion’ accounts for pollution and waste on an enormous scale, and the exploitation of workers
in many countries, yet we in the wealthy industrialized world mostly turn a blind eye. When we hit
the High Street shops, looking for a bargain amid the cheap throw-away fashions of the season- we
are paying cheap prices, for cheap quality that condemns many people to cheap wages we would never
dream of working for ourselves. What is the answer though? How can we help to create a better system
of making, and buying clothes? The first thing we can do, is re-evaluate our relationship with the
clothes we need and wear. Do we actually own the clothes we need for the extremes of climate where
we live? Are our clothes of good enough quality to last many seasons wear? Do we mend or throw away
our clothes? Do we ever alter or make our own clothes? Do we know if the people who made our clothes
were paid a fair wage- and worked under fair conditions? Do we buy everything brand-new?

For many of us, making our own clothes is not something we feel confident enough to attempt;
even if we agree it would be a good idea for clothes-making to one day be common knowledge in our
communities again. We can though still support the revival of a locally made clothes industry, by
seeking out such people in our communities who do still, grow, spin, weave, dye, design, cut and
sew quality clothes. There has been a growing awareness of a need for such a sustainable, locally
based textile industry in the Western world- one that uses locally grown natural fibres and plant
dyes, aswell as the best of modern methods and materials. For many people organic certified food is
something worth seeking out, so organic certified clothing and textiles are well worth looking into,
bearing in mind- unlike the laws that protect organic food, any textiles can be labelled organic. To
be sure- choose only that which is ‘certified’ organic. Cotton is the most popular material used in
the clothing industry, and so organic certified cotton products are worth sourcing. Cotton however,
is not grown in this country, and as i am an advocate for local industry, i will concentrate on the
two main textiles traditionally grown and made into clothing in this country: flax-linen and wool,
both cultivated and used since the most ancient of times.

Wool is still commercially produced, and made into clothing aswell as many other useful things in this
country. In fact British wool-cloth and wool-products are famous around the world, for their quality
and classic designs, and unlike comparable quality from the world of ‘High-end’ fashion will not
break the bank. If you want to support British sheep farmers, and those companies who use British
wool to make clothing, and the many other products wool is good for, then it would be a good idea
to seek out the items that carry the ‘Shepherd’s Crook’ trade mark used by ‘British Wool’ formerly
the ‘Wool Marketing Board’. This guarantees the product is in fact made from British wool, and so
supports British sheep farmers and the British wool industry. Wearing wool instead of synthetic
fibres, is one very good way to support a sustainable earth friendly textile industry.

Flax-linen has been grown and worn in the British Isles for thousands of years. Before we wore cotton
from India, and the Americas, the flax plant was grown in every corner of the British Isles and Europe.
It was the most popular textile, along with hemp, and was used for clothing, bedding, sailcloth,
and rope. Flax-linen, along with hemp, is still one of the strongest, and most durable fibres known
to man. Flax is still commercially grown for linseed products, but flax is not grown or processed on
a commercial scale in this country any longer, the nearest large scale producers are in Belgium and
Holland. There are however, farmers who champion fibre-flax in this country, and people grow flax
for spinning on a small scale, all spun by hand (as it was when a ‘cottage industry’, along with weaving)
to be made into linen cloth and then clothes. One farm in Stroud, ‘Flaxland’, has been a major force
in the revival of commercial scale fibre-flax industry in this country, and many people share their
vision. There are no better people to talk with, if you would like to get involved in flax yourself,
either as a grower, a spinner or weaver, or to learn more about the myriad ways you can use flax.

To prove that, one person can make a difference in this world, i will next tell the story of ‘Fibershed’.
In 2010 in Northern California, a weaver and natural dyer, named Rebecca Burgess started
a project to see if she could make clothing from natural fibres grown only in her local region: she
could, and she hasn’t stopped there. Since then, the project she set up, known as Fibershed, has been
connecting farmers, with spinners and weavers, and natural dyers and designers, to create sustainable
regional textile systems, to build healthy communities and a healthier living world. (The ‘community
farmers’ market’ model that I have been advocating here, is also another way of creating and nurturing
such a local sustainable textile industry and culture, aiming to connect growers, spinners, weavers and
natural dyers and garment makers with a local and regional market for their work, and just like fibreshed
connect such artisan professionals with each other.) Fibershed is a non-profit organization, that has
spawned many independent regional fibreshed projects, that share the same aims all over the world.
There are at least three regional fibersheds in the UK now, and are especially worth getting involved
with if you are a natural dye or fibre grower, or would like to get involved in such a sustainable textile
system. (See also the South West England Fibershed for Flaxland farm, aswell as firstly looking at their
own website).

A marketplace for locally produced organic food, is also a logical marketplace for locally produced
natural textiles. Aswell as wool, which is still commercially produced for industry and by small-scale
artisan farmers producing very high quality wool, and championing rare breed sheep, that they can sell
direct to the public at market, a growing number of small farmers in Britain and Ireland are starting to
grow flax for fibre again. Add to this mix the artisan spinners, weavers, dyers, and those that design
and make clothes (and that sell upcycled quality clothing) and you have the fundamental ingredients
(along with customers) needed for an alternative, sustainable, local and regional textile industry. Why not
get involved, and come along to a market to learn more, maybe attend a workshop run by a farmer, or
craftsperson, or look up your nearest fibreshed, or makerspace to see if people there, spin, weave, dye,
make or mend their own clothes, or if you can share your knowledge if you do?

A marketplace run by a community is one logical centre for information and help, aswell as direct
learning and experience, and direct contact for community members and artisans alike: and somewhere
to buy the products of a sustainable textile industry.

https://www.soilassociation.org/take-action/organic-living/fashion-textiles/
https://www.britishwool.org.uk/about
https://www.campaignforwool.org/
https://www.flaxland.co.uk/
https://fibershed.org/
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/libraries-and-makerspaces/libraries-and-makerspaces