Zero Waste Resources
Welcome! This page lists resources for zero waste patternmaking (mainly my own but some others too) and every zero waste pattern I’ve published.
Blog Posts
The post that started it all: Considering Zero Waste Fashion
Zero waste and fabric economy (do zero waste patterns really use more fabric?) Here’s another comparison.
7 Challenges of Zero Waste Patterns
6 Things I didn’t predict with zero waste patterncutting
My zero waste adventure (a guest blog for the Sewcialists)
How I came to write the Zero Waste Sewing book
Changing a silhouette with unexpected armholes
Tips for writing sewing patterns
Tutorial: zero waste inseam pockets
Interview about zero waste in Thread & Needles blog/forum (in French), with accompanying review of zw culottes pattern (also in French).
Attempting a zero waste cap here and here. A sunhat here. A beanie here. A video On Designing a Zero Waste Hat (13:11min).
Cutting zero waste sleeves from triangles here and here.
How to adjust a zero waste sewing pattern
“Making” posts (where I make someone else’s zw pattern):
Making Wendy Ward’s zero waste trousers
Making Holly McQuillan’s spiral trousers
Making the zero waste Jones trousers by Goldfinch Textile Studio
Making low waste mittens by Process of Sewing
Making Danielle Elsner’s zw scrub top
Wearing a Square jacket from Pattern Magic 2
Underpants by Zero Waste Wardrobe
Birgitta Helmersson’s vintage shirt and slip dress both from the Zero Waste Patterns book.
Leggings from Stefanie Kroth’s book Zero Waste Nähen.
Making Holly McQuillan’s Arc T-shirt from the Zero Waste Fashion Design book here and here.
Making the zw Eccles Cardigan by Emily Handler of Empty Hanger patterns.
The elastic waist trousers from Couture Zéro Chutes by Charline Durpoix and Mylène L’Orguilloux, and 9 ways to style them.
Books and Zines
There have been six books published on zero waste patterns.
L-R: Zero Waste Fashion Design (2016 – second edition 2023) by Holly McQuillan and Timo Rissanen; Zero Waste Sewing (2020) by me; Zero Waste Nähen (2022) by Stefanie Kroth, in German; Zero Waste Patterns (2023) by Birgitta Helmersson; A Year of Zero Waste Sewing (2024) by me; Couture Zéro Chute (2024) by Charline Durpoix and Mylène L’Orguilloux, in French.
Zero Waste Sewing has its own separate page with a gallery of every pattern.
A Year of Zero Waste Sewing also has its own separate page.
Courses
Zero Waste Legacy Sewing hosted by Twins N Needles. An on-demand class where I look at 3 historic zw patterns and show how they can be used today.
A lecture on zero waste, hosted by Create and Sustain.
Making the Grade, a course on grading strategies for zero waste patterns, hosted by Zero Waste Design Collective.
Emma La Rocca of Emroce swimwear in New Zealand runs online and in-person ZW Masterclasses and consulting.
Zero Waste Pattern Directories
Zero Waste Design Collective has a library of zero waste patterns, updated by pattern designers.
Zero Waste Pattern Database is a collection of zero and low waste patterns. A spreadsheet can be found here.
PDF Patterns
A set of blog posts on the making of this pattern: week 1 an idea in a sketch book; week 2 prototype and fabrics; week 3 sample sewing; week 4 illustrating the instructions; week 5 photography week; week 6 knit fabric experiment.
Here’s about the original one from the book.
Here are 5 ways to wear culottes.
Magazine and Zine Patterns
Free Patterns
This is a mixture of single-sized, experimental, drafted-from-measurements and multi-sized patterns.
As a sundress here
