Slow Sewing
The process of making your own clothing takes time, patience, and care. And while it might seem overwhelming, it’s not as inaccessible as you might think! “The more people know what goes into a piece of clothing, the more people will stop undervaluing the cloth they put on their back.” So forget about fast fashion! How about slow sewing?
In this episode, “Slow Sewing,” Isabelle Levine (designer and owner of the DIY fashion brand, Forest and Thread) tells a story about the garment-making process, the fashion industry, and the environmental impacts of clothing production and consumption.
All proceeds from this episode will be donated to FABSCRAP, a textile reuse and recycle non-profit run out of Brooklyn.
Further Resources
The Environmental Cost of Fashion
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[The voices of all the storytellers from Season One of The Sonocene begin to overlap and blend together in a single, collective gesture.]
Listen.
Listen to my voice.
To spoken words and ambient sounds.
[A sewing machine “whirs” to life. Paper pages flip between fingers. A pencil glides along a metal ruler with a swift “ring.” An iron expels steam. Scissors cut fabric. All the sounds blend together as a single soundscape. These are sounds of clothing, sewing, and fashion creation.]
Together they tell the story about people and place; about plants and animals; about the ecological relationships within New York City during a time of rapid change. And the way they all resonate as an interwoven network of vibrations.
[Voices and sounds crescendo, and then hard cut to silence. All the storytellers from Season One exclaim in unison:]
Welcome to The Sonocene—
[The voice of “Slow Sewing” episode storyteller, Isabelle Levine, replies.]
ecological stories told through sound.
[A sewer adjusts a piece of fabric beneath the presser foot of a sewing machine. The needle mechanism swiftly moves up and down. Mechanical “grunts” and “clicks” integrate thread and fabric. A piece of clothing comes together.]
[00:46] Fashion production makes up 10% of humanity's carbon emissions. I want to offer people insight into the garment making process. It is slow. It is methodical. The more people know what goes into a piece of clothing, the more people will stop undervaluing the cloth they put on their back.
[1:08] Today's storyteller is...
Hi. My name is Isabelle Levine. I'm a designer and the owner behind the sustainable DIY fashion brand, Forest and Thread.
[The sounds of the sewing machine continue in your background.]
[1:28] I've been making my own clothes since I was nine years old. So for me, there is no such thing as not making my own clothes. I love the process. For me, the process is everything. I like to think about it from the very beginning.
[The sound of the sounding machine crescendos with a strong, “whir,” and then hard cuts to the sounds of fingers flipping pages of paper—as if someone is reading a book or magazine.]
[1:55] So if you're starting to make a garment, the first thing you have to think about is the concept for the garment. And that can be super conceptual or that can be a little bit more straightforward, like, “what function is it serving?”
[The sound of page-flipping continues in your background.]
[2:11] I'll reach for a book in my kind of inspiration phase. It can be gathering beautiful images, it can be gathering colors, it can be capturing a feeling that you want to try and achieve through the garment. And so you gather all of these inspiration images and you'll probably put them into some sort of mood board.
[The sound of page flipping slowly cross fades to the sound of a “clicking” of a computer keyboard and mouse. Someone peruses websites and organizes their ideas using a digital app.]
Or maybe you fill your sketchbook with a bunch of printouts, or maybe it's just, you know, even a Pinterest board or some sort of online system where you're just collecting your images and keeping them all together.
[The sound of page-flipping returns and blends with the noise of computer clicking and typing.]
[2:51] Such a big part of my garment making process is really thinking about the concept, thinking about the function, making sure that every single garment that you're making really serves a purpose. It's not going to be thrown away in two weeks because you no longer need it. You need to make garments that are meant to last. You need to make garments that are going to be worn many, many times and that you love so much that you want to repair them and mend them and wear them forever and ever and ever. That's the goal. That's the ultimate goal.
[The sounds of page-flipping and computer “clacking” slowly crossfade to sketching noises. A pencil grinds against paper—the friction-like sound of ideas given form. Sometimes, an eraser “rubs” against the paper.]
[3:29] Once you've nailed that idea down, you can start doing a bunch of sketches. Some people are maybe not that sketch oriented, so maybe they choose to just drape a bunch of ideas. Maybe you're like, I like this portion of the sketch, but I want to try a different color on the shirt. And so you'll sketch again and you'll switch out the color and choose a different color. Or, you know, you're sketching your jacket and you want to try out different pocket placement, so you start sketching all the different pocket placement options. So you can do however many sketches you need until you're like, okay, that's the one. So you have your front, your back, your side, you have the overall silhouette in place. You really know what you're going for at this point.
[The sketching noises slowly crossfade to a metal ruler “thudding” against a table. A pencil occasionally glides along the ruler with a high-pitched “ring.” Paper subtly “crinkles” under the weight of the ruler and glide of the pencil.]
[4:29] Once you've nailed down your design, then you can start your pattern making phase. And so pattern making can be done either by flat patterning or by draping. So if you're doing flat patterning, then you're going to be using measurements. You're going to be using systems that people have been using for centuries. Truthfully, not that much has changed. These methods for coming up with that shape have been in place for a really long time. So these are things that if you are trying to achieve a garment that exists in the world already, like a pant or a jacket or a button down shirt. These are things that you can you can research how to draft that, that's something that exists in the world. You take your own measurements and you create the shape on flat paper.
[The sound of the ruler, pencil, and paper suddenly cut to the sound of scissors cutting paper. The paper “crunches” with each opening and closing of the scissor blades. The paper begins to slice smoothly, as the sewer pushes the scissors forward along their cutting lines.]
[5:33] Once your flat pattern is ready, you cut it all out and you place that on top of your fabric. Typically, you're going to make a toile, or some people call it a muslin, which is basically a really inexpensive cotton fabric that many designers use as their first test for a pattern. And that is basically a prototype.
[The paper cutting ends and is replaced by the “rip-rip” of tape. The sewer begins to tape pieces of cut paper together, which provide a guide for their toile. Scissors, paper crinkling, and taping blend together.]
[6:07] Most times your first pattern, your first draft of a garment is not going to be right. Most times you're going to want to edit it a little bit. And so from there you go back to your pattern making phase and you edit your paper pattern. Then you can probably cut straight into your real fabric.
[There is a slow crossfade to small “popping” or “clicking” sounds. Small metal pins rest safely in a tiny container. They “click” as the sewer retrieves one, which then “pops” as it punctures a piece of fabric. Fabric, paper, pins, and tape jumble together as a mixture of haptic noise.]
[6:35] So your real fabric is the fabric that you would envision the final garment being in. And so then you'll lay your real fabric down on your table, and then you'll put your paper pattern on top of that. You can either pin the paper pattern to the fabric, or you can put weights down and use a rotary cutter and cut around your your shapes and cut out the fabric.
[Scissors slowly cut through fabric. The pitch is much deeper, and the timbre more “choppier,” than the previous sound of scissors cutting paper.]
[7:03] I love the sound of cutting fabric.
[Scissors continue to cut fabric with slow precision.]
[7:23] You know, you use your fabric scissors for cutting fabric. You do not use them for anything else. It will dull the blade. And so a fabric scissor, it has like a very specific weight to it. And it just makes such a nice sound when you cut all the way through the fabric.
[The scissors finally finish their job with a swift and satisfying “chop!” And immediately the “whir” of a sewing machine enters your foreground.]
[7:47] Once you cut your real fabric, then the sewing process starts. Sewing is methodical. There's a system in which you put a garment together. I am obsessed with French Seams. It's a type of seam finish. It encloses all of the raw edges of your fabric so that they're perfectly hidden. And it's a very strong seam. So it has two stitch lines. And basically when you're selling a French Seam,
[The sounds of a sewing machine, scissors cutting fabric, and an iron steaming and heating a piece of cloth resonate in unison with the storyteller’s description: “you sew two layers of fabric together. You trim the seam allowance down. You go to the iron.” This cycle of sounds continues in a repetitive, almost meditative-like sequence.]
you sew two layers of fabric together. You trim the seam allowance down. You go to the iron. You iron the seam allowance in one direction. You flip your fabric so that the seam is now on the edge. And then you go sew another seam. And then you go back to the ironing board and you press the seam in one direction. And it's kind of this nice rhythm: sew, cut, press, sew, cut press, sew, cut, press. And it's just this repetition. It's very meditative.
[Finally, the sequence of noises ends as an iron glides upon cloth. It moves across your field of listening, from left to right, “sighing” puffs of steam into a wrinkled garment.]
[9:21] So once you finish sewing your garment, you're going to give it a nice press all over.
[The iron continues in your foreground. After a moment, you can hear a zipper slowly glide up and down a garment.]
[9:31] And then you're going to wear it and love it. Then you're going to wash it and wear it again. And once there's a hole in it, you're going to mend it and wear it again. So, yeah, it goes on forever after that.
[The zipper sounds out a swift “zip,” followed by a hard cut to silence. Soon the acoustics of a small room enter your foreground. You hear the flapping of loose fabric and then the “clicks,” “pops,” and “beeps” of a washing machine. Someone places a garment in the machine to wash.]
[9:43] Fashion production makes up 10% of humanity's carbon emissions. The way we currently consume fashion results in huge amounts of textile waste, which is either incinerated or ends up in landfills or even is exported to developing countries. Many of the manmade fibers have terrible environmental impact. Polyester is a plastic made from fossil fuels and is used for about 65% of all clothing. Every time we wash our clothes, microplastics shed into our wastewater system and work their way through the wastewater treatment plants. Microplastics end up in our natural waterways and in the atmosphere. We know they're harmful to marine life and birds, but we still don't even know the human health risks of this yet.
[Detergent is placed in the machine. The detergent door closes with a swift, “thud.” The washing machine door locks with a “ping!” And the low-rumble of the machine begins to incorporate water and cloth.]
[10:39] It feels like every time someone comes up with a fabric that is "sustainable," there's more research that comes out saying it is actually not that great. For instance, rayon and viscose were going to be these great alternatives for polyester because they are made from wood pulp, which means they are biodegradable. But then, in actuality, because they are made of wood pulp, this means that it contributes to deforestation. So it's like you get one thing, but you sacrifice another thing. Right now whether people intended this to happen or not, fashion trends and the desire to consume more and more clothing is causing huge amounts of damage to the earth we live on and not to mention the people who inhabit it.
[The washing machine momentarily pauses its rumble to empty a dose of water and pressurized air. Then continues to macerate clothes, water, and suds with renewed vigor.]
[11:36] While I think part of the reason may be the pursuit of beauty in the sense that people strive to look a certain way and clothing can help achieve that look. I think most of the time what these situations come down to is corporate greed. Companies have the greatest responsibility to change their actions. If fast fashion companies weren't generating this constant desire to consume by producing new clothes and marketing them every day, then the consumer would have nothing to buy. The balance needs to be fixed between our desires for money or consumer goods and our desire for a healthy planet. We have to keep searching for ways to connect people directly to the environmental impact their consumption habits generate. And in addition to just connect consumers to these environmental issues, we desperately need to hold corporate companies responsible. Unfortunately, there is not one solution. There's not even just one problem. Many people from many areas of the industry and general public need to demand changes and act on them.
[A sewing machine “whirs” to life as the rumble of the washing machine fades to silence. Scissors begin to cut fabric. A pencil slides across paper. Another one glides along a metal ruler. Pins “pop,” and paper “crinkles.” An iron releases a puff of steam. All the sounds from throughout the episode begin to blend together.]
[13:15] I make my own clothes because it makes me happy and it gives me purpose. Clothing is an indispensable part of daily ritual, culture, and self-expression. Fashion is not going anywhere, but we can play our part in trying to leave the world better than how we found it, simply by being mindful of how we produce and consume clothing. People relate to things that are familiar. People care about things that are personal to them. I want to offer people insight into the garment making process. It is slow. It is methodical. The more people know what goes into a piece of clothing, the more people will stop undervaluing the cloth they put on their back.
[The sounds cut to silence with one final “puff” of steam from the iron.]
[A simple electronic melody, alongside a resonant percussive groove elicits a feeling of earnest contemplation. This is the outro music, composed by UCC Harlo.]
[14:14] Our mission is to bring new garments into the world in the most environmentally friendly, humanely, and sustainably minded way, as possible. If you're interested in learning more about Forest and Thread or you want to dive a little bit deeper into the garment making process, you can check out our website at forestandthread.com or you can head to my Instagram page at forest.and.thread.
[14:41] The Sonocene is supported by Humanities New York, the NYU Center for the Humanities, and the NYU Graduate School of Arts and Science Music Department. Our production team is a collective of environmental humanities scholars and artists, including Elizabeth Fickey, Bailey Hilgren, Konstantine Vlasis. Original Music by Annie Garlid, a.k.a. UCC Harlo. Sound Design and Mixing by Yi-Wen Lai-Tremewan. And voiceover by me, Elizabeth Geist. All proceeds from today's episode will be donated to FabScrap. If you'd like to support this podcast, have an ecological story you'd like to share, or would like to learn more about the topics of today's episode, please visit our website at www.thesonoscene.com or check out our social media pages @thesonocene. Thanks for listening.
