Textile Activism with Abigail Wastie from Thread of Life

In this episode of the Sewing Social Podcast, Abigail Wastie (Thread of Life) shares her journey from a textile artist to a textile activist and educator. 

She discusses her passion for sustainable fashion, the importance of asking questions about textile production, and her experiences teaching vulnerable youth about sustainable practices. 

Abigail also highlights her projects, including a sustainable school uniform initiative and community events focused on ethical fashion. Throughout the conversation, she emphasises the need for a shift in mindset towards sustainability in both personal and community practices.

Key Takeaways:

• Abigail has always been passionate about activism and sustainability.
• Textile activism involves engaging others in discussions about fabric and production.
• She learned to sew out of necessity and through many mistakes.
• Abigail primarily makes her own clothes and focuses on natural fibres.
• She works with vulnerable youth to provide alternative education in textiles.
• The sustainable school uniform project aims to create plastic-free options for children.
• Abigail practices sustainability in her home, including keeping chickens and using local milk.
• She believes in the importance of community engagement and education.
• Abigail runs events to connect people with ethical fashion makers and discussions.
• Sustainability requires a shift in mindset and behaviour. 

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@thesewingsocialpod

@thedalythread

Guest details: 

@threadoflife 

www.threadoflife.org.uk

www.abigailwastie.co.uk

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Abigail Wastie and Her Journey

03:00 The Concept of Textile Activism

05:58 Learning to Sew and Overcoming Challenges

09:00 Sustainable Fashion Choices and Practices

12:13 Alternative Education and Working with Vulnerable Youth

15:13 Sustainable School Uniform Project

17:48 Personal Sustainable Practices and Lifestyle Choices

20:00 Reflections on Success and Future Goals

22:52 Upcoming Events and Community Engagement

26:03 Promoting Sustainability in the Sewing Community

29:04 Quickfire This or That Game

Transcript

Speaker 2 (00:10.338)
Abigail, thank you so much for joining me today and welcome to the Sewing Social Podcast.

Thank you for having me Gemma, it's a delight to be here.

thank you. I was wondering if you could introduce yourself to the listeners.

Yeah, of course. So my name is Abigail Wastie. I run a business called Thread of Life, which is an educational program business. And before that I have been a tech cell artist for the last five years. And before that had a background in product development in luxury British brands and ethical brands. So that's a bit about me and my background.

Fantastic. Did you always want to go into this sort of area of work or have there been a few sort of pivotal points in your life or your career that have led you to this?

Speaker 1 (01:02.602)
I have actually always wanted to go into this area. I didn't mention the word activism in my description and that probably is probably the best way in one word summarising what I'm trying to do. and I have always been like that. So when I was 14, I got my geography class to all write to Tony Blair in pre-written cards about trade laws. And I was really intrigued and absolutely loved like shopping in little fair trade stores and the

concept of fair trade is something that's always been prevalent in my childhood. And then as an adult, it affected my shopping habits. So I didn't want to shop on the high street. And then that led to me needing to learn to make clothes because I couldn't buy what I wanted. Couldn't get a skinny jeans from the charity shop back in like the noughties. So yes, it has always been there and I hope it always will be.

That's really amazing because obviously as kids, a lot of people follow trends and things like that. And that sounds like it was quite a break from the norm. Do you know what sort of led you in that direction?

exactly what led me bizarrely. was my mom had this magazine from this Christian business called Tradecraft and she used to buy Christmas presents from it and it sold like wooden candlestick holders or worry dolls or grape Fair trade chocolate. that is where it all came from. So they had a little magazine that I used to read as a child and they used to talk about trade laws and human rights and manufacturing.

So I was completely influenced by them. I used to read it while I ate my breakfast. And as a child that's just, what is, is dyslexic and dyslexic, learning languages and other aspects of school were really challenging, but this just felt like this, ethical intelligence just felt really intuitive and something that I was fully involved with.

Speaker 2 (02:53.87)
That's amazing. So what sort of training did you then go on to do from school? What was your path?

It's a bit of a funny one because I remember leaving school being like, all right, what am going to do? So I loved drawing. I did a degree in fine art, but when I started at my degree, I went to the School of Art. I had seen the textile art degree show and just thought it was mesmerising in a way that I didn't find the fine art show mesmerising. So very quickly transitioned and applied to being a textile art group. Fortunately, got a place.

was one of the last graduates of the textile art degree course in the UK. They don't offer the course anymore. And it was a really unique course because you're creating fine art, work for exhibitions and galleries from a conceptual point of view, but with textile media references. And so that started me off. But then obviously I was in university. You don't really learn about the technical side of it from that sort of course.

which I was keen to do and I had very limited budgets. I was just working, not earning very much money, but wanting to dress ethically. So the combination of the two resulted in me learning to make clothes. Then I, with that skill, was fortunate to start working at People tree and then from there I relocated to the East Midlands and worked for Paul Smith. And eventually got a role, I worked in the fabric team and moved around and ended up working for our development.

Amazing. You mentioned about your textile activism. I'm fascinated by this sort term and what it means. Can you explain it to the listeners?

Speaker 1 (04:38.924)
Yeah, sure. In a way, it feels like a little bit of a new thing. So it's hard sometimes to articulate, but I would say as a textile activist, am hoping, striving, trying to engage participants to think about things in a textile world that they might not have considered. So for example, in sort of events I've run or projects I've worked on, I might encourage participants to think about the question.

Like is a fabric made from recycled plastics environmentally friendly? Is it what we are being presented with by the retail marketer? Or why is British wool no longer holding the value that it did 50 years ago? Or why don't we wear British wool? Or do we know we're not wearing British wool? Like, so it's like probing and trying to get some meeting with farmers and hearing their voice.

meeting with designers and hearing their voice and bringing those people into the room and delving into those topics about textiles and about what we wear and how we clog our homes.

So it sounds like a lot of it is asking more questions.

Definitely. Absolutely. Yeah, we should probably why it's hard to articulate

Speaker 2 (05:55.662)
Maybe it's ever evolving.

Yeah, and if you're a really linear thinker, it's quite hard to get your head around. So like my parents probably really don't know what I do. But some people get it straight away and other people are just like...

can understand that. How did you learn to sew your own clothes then? you find a certain... Oh.

I'm so bad I've made so many terrible clothes

Hasn't everybody?

Speaker 1 (06:24.27)
There's so many bad clothes. Okay, yeah, I learned really badly. was like, my mother-in-law took me to the local shop and we brought a vape pattern and I bought some fabric and I made things. So I did make like, worked for really briefly with a Saburo sister company shirt makers. So I made a lot of shirts to start with and did like, made the collar just completely out of pearls and things like that. It was just so impractical.

I didn't know what I was doing. I was just having fun and all that origami cloth colour, origami dress. Yeah, so I learned really badly. And then through many, many mistakes, April appeared about 10 years, I used Instagram and like journaled my makes and grew a following through there. And then during lockdown, it then led to me to teaching the people that were asking me questions and then...

Over five years, spoke to a textile teacher, part of my business is textile teaching. What really taught me, because I'm self-taught, was obviously I worked in product development, but it's different because you're working with factories. But as a self-taught, the best thing that helped me was finding a decent pattern maker. Named patterns really influenced my learning. Having really hearty, detailed, clear to understand instructions made a big difference to my learning.

Whereas like the Vogue and Butterwick patterns I really struggle with, I've never made a good pattern from them. But someone like Named or Trend Patterns, they really stabilise my learning to clothes I could wear.

It's about sometimes finding that right company for you, it? Like style-wise and like you say, the instructions, because I find the same thing with the big four or five that they don't really explain anything.

Speaker 1 (08:15.8)
So they're not correct. They've not been thoroughly checked. So having worked in development and with pattern rooms, I'm disappointed if a pattern isn't correct because it's such a costly experience to go through. You might spend 70 pounds on your fabric. That might be a one make for the next three months. You might spend eight hours of your child free time making it and it doesn't fit. I remember making some dungarees where the waistband was incorrect and there was nothing I could do to fix it. I was like, yeah, so it's, so I'm really

picky now about who I invest my time with. Absolutely. my students, it's quite good. I think it does make a good teacher because I've made so many mistakes. I've seen a fair few mistakes, so it helps with teaching.

Definitely. We all learn by mistakes at the end of the day. So do you buy clothes secondhand or do you make most of your clothes? What's the situation?

I make most of my clothes. I do buy something secondhand, but less and less because the secondhand market is becoming more populated with fast fashion and I don't want to wear fast fashion. I only want to wear natural animal fibres. I don't enjoy the experience wearing synthetic fibre, apart from leggings and underwear where I've not found an alternative. I do make most of my own clothes, yeah.

So when you're choosing fabric then, is it natural fibres?

Speaker 1 (09:42.734)
Yes, definitely. So I focus on organic cotton, always certified, and I focus on British wool, which is expensive, so I don't make that much. I definitely slow down when making. I focus on, although I do have things like this actually. So this is a vintage jacket that I brought from a company that came to one of my events. I changed the buttons, so I couldn't create this, I don't think, myself.

So I've changed the buttons to it. They were massive before, to a much more subtle button. And then the sleeves are too big for me. So I'm going to take those up just above the embroidery. And then I'm taking out the shoulder pads that were gigantic. See that? That's a good inch and a half recording. And I'm back at three. I took out, you know, occasionally I have, but that would probably take me about a year to get around to finally finishing it, but I've already lost me.

my word, yeah.

Speaker 1 (10:37.484)
But yeah, so I do buy secondhand and do a lot of alteration. Amazing. Very few additions. So this year I've purchased two things from you. A nudie pair of jeans and a sample sports legging from a friend. Cause I struggled to make leggings with enough stretch that they were. That's quite typical of a yearly purchase in terms of new garments. So I'd aim to like do two or less.

Yeah, fair enough.

Speaker 2 (11:02.722)
Yeah, amazing, amazing. I saw on your website that you class yourself as an alternative education provider. you tell us a little bit more about that and what it entails?

Yeah, absolutely. So I often don't talk publicly about this because the main group of children I work with are really, really vulnerable. But I've been working with care experienced children for three years, delivering sustainable education programs to them. And it's been really rewarding from all aspects. So I was asked to become a registered provider, which I am doing so. So that is called an authentic provision provider. So if you have a child that is unable to attend mainstream school for whatever reason.

They are able to go to an alternative provision provider. And mine is niche in the respect that we only do sustainable textile product like construction and design. There's no maths and English here, although we all know if you do sewing that there's loads of maths involved, loads of English involved. But yeah, and we try and gain the students that are involved arts awards and other forms of accreditation that often.

really challenging to a child that isn't able to engage in mainstream school. So yeah, that's a part of my business that I thoroughly enjoy.

Amazing. And what sort of projects will they learn when they come to you?

Speaker 1 (12:27.022)
All sorts of things. We did new ones every term and students sometimes work just individually. The group projects, we do things like come and make an organic cotton track suit where we work with a supplier that we know the name of the farmer who's growing the cotton. They use elastic in their cuffs and waistband that is made from tree sap and organic cotton. use...

wood based threads so they end up with an entirely compostable garment and then they print the jumper at the end with an amazing print designer. So that's an example.

That sounds incredible and how exciting for the kids as well. Amazing.

They might not find it exciting when I'm nagging

Isn't that just part of being a teacher? Another thing that I sort of saw on your website when I was researching is that you mention about a sustainable school uniform project. obviously it's something I've thought about before in the fact that when I'm dressing my child, most of it is made of polyester or it's basically plastic, isn't it?

Speaker 2 (13:46.218)
Is that what spurred you on to sort of design something?

Yeah. It's some, I don't enjoy it when you can't control a life that you're part of your life you're not comfortable with. I am not comfortable dressing my children in plastic and I'm being told I have to. So it makes me feel uncomfortable. So I'm trying to do something about it, but it's very slowly happening. But we do have an exciting project with Derby Museums and John Smedley, a luxury British, where brand is one of the oldest in globally. And we are going to produce a British wall.

jumper with secondary school children in Derby this year, which will be really exciting. And then I also have another project that's very slow, but producing patterns that I would for uniform, which I would love to be able to distribute to children and families where they can create their own synthetic free uniform. But that's a burner. These projects are slow. They take time.

totally worth it as well.

I did, I had some great research at the start of the project where just sent a Google form out and within a day, a hundred parents have responded about their uniform and 96 % wanted to know more about it and would be interested in a plastic free version. And so many didn't know what was in their children's uniform. And it's difficult because we've become so accustomed and ingrained

Speaker 1 (15:13.75)
into the price of a low price uniform. So as soon as it comes about money, there's like a no compete, it's impossible. So it's figuring out how to navigate that.

think there's probably a lot of things to consider when it comes to school uniform, isn't there? Because kids grow out of things so quickly that it's probably where the low price point comes into play. But also you've got a range of families in a school and a range of budgets. And I'm sure there is quite a lot to navigate in a project like that.

Yes, complex from a financial perspective. It's also, as I we've become accustomed to a price point as a shopper. We're accustomed to trousers being six pounds each. But the retailers sell them at a loss. So they openly say, I sell it at a loss because I want the mum in the store. So you can pay against something that's not on solid business margin. And then it is complicated.

which is why it probably needs like a real shift and it's not just about manufacturing an alternative project, but creating an alternative thought process or an alternative structure.

Yeah, absolutely. that's the thing with sustainability as a whole, isn't it? A lot of it's about mindset and changing your behaviour. What are your main reasons, do you think, for obviously not wanting your children to wear those off-the-shelf uniforms?

Speaker 1 (16:40.236)
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (16:50.466)
Because I care about my kids, but I also care about children that aren't mine. So I would be uncomfortable with my child wearing something that's had a negative impact on another child, which inevitably fast fashion does. Whether it's the growing of the fibre, whether it's in the processing of the fibre, whether it's in the construction of the garment or the distribution or the marketing, there's so many areas that are not transparent.

and right to exploitation. And there's so much evidence that shows the exploitation that's involved in that production. So as a mum, I'm not comfortable with that. Yeah, sorry. I shouldn't just make it just by being a mum, but in terms of the uniform.

Yeah, definitely. Do you have any other sustainable practices in your life, sort of away from business that you do?

Uh, we had, we keep chickens for 14 years. So we try really hard to find tiny ways, affordable ways of having food that is not from a main supermarket. We have local milk delivered. On my blog, there's lots of tips of how you can like affordable ways, because we just earn average salaries. Um, make your own deodorants. My kids never, you have shampoo in their hair. We grow lots of fruit.

All our furniture secondhand. We try and we renovate our homes, so try and like, you know, close our home in the same way that we do our bodies. So wall carpet, toxin, plastic free paint. Yeah, so small things, but.

Speaker 2 (18:35.224)
That's loads though, that's really...

That's very small. Banking, that's something that we've had a go with like, now bank with Monzo. Yeah, but it's an everyday thing, isn't it? And it comes slowly. So just like one change. I remember a friend once saying, she started with a bathroom. She said, make my bathroom like a chemical plastic free space and then hope to grow it to another room. I thought that was a really beautiful way of doing it.

But it is challenging. It's really, really hard and it's ebbs and flows. Like I feel like eight years ago, I was so much better at minimising the plastic that was coming into our home. You know, we barely put anything in our black bin and now I feel like that's not the case. It's, we've got a dog, their food always comes in plastic. As children grow up, they have much stronger opinions about what they consume and that often comes in plastic. So it's a challenge.

It is, but it sounds like you've made loads of good changes within your household, which is very inspiring.

They're tiny, they're tiny changes. It's like just the milk. you know, that's a really good simple change to make. We have a local milkman, River Ford or awesome. If anyone's ever like wanting to do something on a budget, they're really good. But I'd like to do bigger things. I'd like to build a studio without, in the garden without any concrete. I'd like to enable people to make their own school uniforms. But we'll see what happens.

Speaker 2 (19:59.726)
Going back to your activism, what do you think is maybe your biggest success you've had so far or do you think it is still a work in progress?

Let me just say it's a work in progress. like, I don't often look back and think about the success. Sometimes there's moments which feel really rich. I run events called the Ethical Atelier and that's when anyone from the general public can come and hear and meet different makers and people in the industry, whether it's farmers or designers. And we host discussions. And I always think that.

At the end and start of one of those, feels like a rich atmosphere where people are really learning and yearning and together, all of us, and trying to recapture a knowledge that is lost in our generation about textiles and learn and respect for it. So moments like that feels like rich. wouldn't attribute the word success. And also I feel like with a with three young kids, my career is really bumpy and slow and...

Not very established. So maybe ask me like 10, 20 years time. If you're working full time somewhere, do you think you're really dull or I could still be doing this? don't know.

How often do you run those ethical atelier events?

Speaker 1 (21:20.174)
I try and them twice a year. So my next one's in Nottingham on May the 11th and it's all focused on denim. So I've got a beautiful denim activist called Kerry Gibson is going to be there. She's made something great, you know her work.

Is she the lady with the huge pair of jeans?

Yeah, that's her. Yeah. So she's going to be there running an all day drop in denim paper patch workshop. There'll also be other amazing makers like Sian who will be running a print of stain. So can bring your jeans and print. Like she's got amazing designs. can print them on there really fun and lively and youthful. And then another Sakshiko denim repair workshop and a denim swap with the big clothes swap. And then we'll have panels and discussions about how denim manufacture.

what environmental impact denim manufacture can have and how to best shop secondhand pre-loved denim with some charity shop workers and stylists and then a few makers as well. They're selling beautiful things. So that's on the 11th of May and I try and them twice a year. Because I kept getting customers like students being like, where can I shop? Who can I trust? I was like, ideally I wanted to get some of the brands that I really, really trusted like community clothing, but they're very hard to...

get in reach with. I'm too small for them, but it's a really nice community to learn together and make together.

Speaker 2 (22:42.99)
Sounds lovely. Do they normally have a theme? Like you say, this one's the denim one. Will the next one have a theme as well?

become a bit of a new thing. This one's denim, which is really nice. I'm really enjoying having a theme. It's quite helpful as someone that's planning an event, I find to have a theme because it restrains my ideas, gives me some limits. Yes, I would love to do, I have some other themes up my sleeve. They often depend on who's willing to be involved in my small budget, but yeah, it's good to have a theme. Last time we focused on British world and it was amazing. We had these sheep hides on the stage that stank.

And then behind them was the farmer and he was like, so I get 14 P for that hide. And then the designer who had this gorgeous jumper from a British brand and she's like, and this retails at 420 pounds. And then we had a product developer and I was like, asking him like trying to delve into why is this high 14 P in that jumper 400 pounds and trying to get to the bottom of it. And it was really insightful to hear their perspectives.

Yeah, definitely. On the subject of British wool then, and I don't wear a lot of wool myself, and I think there can be a bit of an idea about it being itchy or too warm. What are your thoughts about it?

yeah. So I'm wearing a secondhand cashmere jumper right now. It's got so many repairs on it. Can you see this heart? Yeah. Yarned heart on the elbow. that I done that with a, this is actually done with a Leicestershire Sheep's wool that I dyed with indigo flowers. I think the wool is an amazing fibre that's completely underrepresented and underused. this is not scratchy at any sort, right up my neck.

Speaker 1 (24:36.158)
It's a tail neck, it's high, it doesn't scratch me at all. If it did scratch me, I'd consider wearing something underneath it, but I'm not. I think it's about the right fibre for the right user. So it could be that you need a fibre that's really light like a cashmere, or it could be that you need a chunky fibre with loads of structure, or that you just need a gilet so it's not all over you.

or woollen trousers because the drape is amazing and you'll feel like something you've never felt before if you've lived in skinny tight clothes. It's completely inexperienced, but it's good to experiment. It's great from a performance perspective. So wool is obviously very hard wearing, thermo-regulating, antibacterial, breathable. It's got so many attributes going for it that just don't get experienced by the user.

Yeah, that's really interesting. Because like I say, I've got preconceptions about it and I obviously just haven't found the right thing for me.

So that's really good. love a wool gilet. I've got a beautiful, I've made this gilet with the Merchant and Milks Sherpa fabric. So it's a knitted British wool. So it's not shearling. I've been trying to keep all animal skins out of my wardrobe for a long time, but it creates that look of shearling, which I love, but I'd rather not have the animal hide. And it's just British, sorry, knitted British wool.

And it looks so cozy and snuggly and it's a little blazer, it's not too cumbersome. Or a blazer, like a wool twill blazer. can, partly that jacket I showed you earlier, that vintage one, I'm hoping it will transform my wardrobe, which is every sewage dream, right? On every project. I won't be a new person when this project has come

Speaker 2 (26:19.914)
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (26:25.28)
Incredible. Have you got any tips and tricks sort of as a person that sews themselves about how we can promote sustainability practices in the sewing community and beyond really?

Yeah. My first one would be do your research. So before you make any claim, just double check it. So if someone says to you, this is dead stock and there's five rolls of it and you saw it last year and it might not be dead stock. Or if they say to you, this is sustainable fabric and you look at the composition and it's like four different fibres in there and a lot of them are synthetic, then that's probably not sustainable.

Um, so the first one would be research. The second would be a little bit of planning. So I remember back in the day, a few years ago with Instagram, feeling like almost like I needed to keep up with all the sewers, doing the latest patterns, getting the hashtag out there, which, I mean, I was the rubber shirt, so it didn't really affect me loads, but I was conscious of that. And now I don't feel like that at all. I'll just make something when I feel like I've really got a gap in my functioning wardrobe.

or for pleasure, which is a really valid reason to make. And then, that was planning, research, probably just resourcing. So if you do make something, have a go at seeing if you can make it so the whole thing is completely home-compatible. You know, the buttons, you know, do you need a zip? Could you do a button instead or?

Yeah. Amazing tips. Thank you. And obviously we've mentioned about the ethical Atelier events you've got coming up. Have you got any other exciting projects or plans in the works?

Speaker 1 (28:16.398)
A few of them, I'm part of Derbyshire Mates, which is a really exciting, big participation project around Derbyshire, if anyone lives nearby. A lot of that is free to attend weekend workshops for families, individuals. I'm running one in tapestry weaving. The yarn's behind me, use leftover wool at the end of the rug season. I'm doing tapestry weavings. I've also got

ongoing workshops, like beginner sewing to help people that are keen to learn to sew some of the basics in terms of sewing constructions and terminology and machine, like figuring out machines. And then the uniform project and things like that. That's like most of it.

That's a lot to be going on with. Just to finish up, I like to do a quick game of this or that, if that's okay with you. Yeah, just a little quick fire game. So the first one is Organised Stash or Creative Chaos.

bit of both I could show you. Organised stuff over there can you see on the screen? I organised that stuff by fabric, category and colour and then chaos would be over there but you can see my box. There's like the vintage jacket, the broken, broken blind.

Yes, please.

Speaker 2 (29:27.894)
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (29:43.618)
a bit of both. That's a good balance. Going out or staying in?

What a rubbish podcast. I love to be at home and be with Admiral's garden family.

Yeah, that's fair enough. Prints or solids?

I never wear a print ever. Unless, unless it's like, well no, I never wear a print. In my head I think I'd wear like a fifties print maybe. I have some fifties prints in the house, but.

scissors or rotary cutter.

Speaker 1 (30:24.398)
Gosh, I mean if you look outside my house I've got a six foot pair of wooden scissors as my sign. I'm definitely a scissors person.

Amazing. Sewing for yourself or others.

myself many years of being caught in the trap of, you fix this? Could you do that? And as someone that has very little free time, it's forced me to learn to say no and yeah, just be like, but I can recommend a really good scene stress. That's my, I've taken me a long time to learn that phrase. Obviously with work, I do very little sewing for myself, but when I can, it should be for me.

to your coffee.

Okay, okay, please.

Speaker 2 (31:06.318)
One project on the go or multiple.

So if one gets hard, you've got another one to turn to.

Exactly. Wovens or knits.

That's a question. In my career, I've done both.

Speaker 1 (31:25.23)
It's such a big question.

We need comments from mates, we even know where to begin on that one.

YouTube or podcasts and repair or refashion.

Repair because I think if you own something already, ideally you want it to work for you. If you're refashioning it, it's high risk you might end up buying something, cutting it up and not wearing it.

Exactly, good point. Where can everybody find you Abigail?

Speaker 1 (31:59.054)
So on my Instagram thread of life or on my website thread of life or I've also got my personal website abigailweistie.co.uk so all the events are on there. Always happy to chat. Feel free to message me.

Thank you so much for joining me on the Sewing Social podcast today. It's been such an interesting chat.

Thank you for having me.

Thanks again, you take care.