Folk fashion: amateur re-knitting as a strategy for sustainability

This research considers amateur fashion making – ʻfolk fashionʼ – as a strategy for sustainability. Homemade clothes are often seen as sustainable, in comparison with the environmental and social problems associated with mass-produced ʻfast fashionʼ. However, this view is partly based on a simplistic and romantic view of the homemade, which has received little critical examination. The study specifically investigates the reworking of existing garments through the use of knitbased skills, techniques and knowledge. This approach challenges the linear productionconsumption model of the mainstream fashion industry. Because re-knitting techniques must be adapted to suit the particularities of each individual garment, re-knitting provides an opportunity for amateur knitters to engage with creative design. The research employs a workshop methodology, which combines design research with creative methods. A group of seven female amateur knitters were interviewed individually before taking part in a series of workshop sessions. The project culminated in six of the participants re-knitting items from their own wardrobes. The detailed data gathered from this group is supported by comments from a wider community of knitters, primarily gathered via an informal participatory knitting activity. The research finds that re-knitting can be seen as an effective strategy for sustainability. It not only provides a means of extending product life, but more holistically offers an alternative means of participating in fashion, and a way of addressing the relationship between fashion and consumption. Beyond this central finding, four key insights emerge from the research. These are the metaphor of fashion as common land; the nuanced understanding of the experience of wearing homemade clothes in contemporary British culture; evidence of the ability of amateurs to design for themselves and ways in which this can be supported; and the understanding of the factors that should be considered when trying to develop a culture of reworking

Making Textiles Together

Making textiles with others is an exciting and unconventional way of doing research. It has developed from the discipline of textiles practice, but can be readily adapted within other disciplines, bringing arts-based research approaches into conversation with social science research. Textile-making activities can include knitting, sewing, crochet, weaving, dyeing, braiding and embroidery; we consider ‘making’ to also include related activities such as handling textiles or playing with clothes. There are many ways of Making Textiles Together: it should be thought of as an approach rather than a single method. Making together is the key element of this approach. Activities can be highly diverse in terms of context, format and intention, from drop-in workshops to open-ended creative projects that might extend for months, or even years. They might be synchronous or asynchronous and might take place in person or online. Participants might contribute to one shared piece of work or work on individual textile pieces side by side. These activities can be used to generate rich data of multiple types. Data might take form in the creative work itself or data might be generated alongside the things being made, for example in the form of audio recordings of discussions, observational notes, or video footage of gestures and interactions. Data can be generated by the researcher, by the participants, or both. Making Textiles Together offers flexibility in terms of research questions. The approach can be used to investigate something that is closely linked to the act of making, such as how people with different cultural backgrounds learn hand-crafting skills. Alternatively, it can be used to research a completely different topic. For instance, the research focus might be to explore people’s coping strategies when grieving and the researcher might choose a textile making activity to create the desired environment for sharing these personal and sensitive stories. A third possibility is an action research approach that uses making to address and solve problems or create items that can be used directly by the participant group, such as mending garments or creating objects to meet specific needs

Making with others: working with textile craft groups as a means of research

This paper discusses making with others as a means of researching the experience of making, with a particular focus on textiles. Group textile craft activities are widespread today; however, there are few documented examples of research by craft practitioners taking place in this context. The activities used by the authors, relating to stitching and knitting, demonstrate that ‘making with others’ is a highly versatile approach that can be adapted according to the variables presented by diverse research aims and questions. Shercliff ’s research is explored in detail as a case study, with three group making activities documented and evaluated. These examples are used to identify a number of attributes, which support the comparison and development of research-led participatory textile making activities. The strengths and challenges of these methods are discussed: a key strength is the gathering of rich data during creative activity, while a central challenge is the performance of multiple roles by the practitioner-researcher

Stitching Together: Participatory textile making as an emerging methodological approach to research

Arising from a recently formed research network, Stitching Together, this article introduces a collection of case studies that critically examine participatory textile making as an emerging methodological approach to research. The twenty-first century resurgence of interest in textile processes such as knitting, sewing and weaving, whether as individual practice or community- based initiative, builds on a long and culturally diverse history of collaborative textile-making activity. This resurgence, combined with the familiarity, accessibility and flexibility of textile practices, has influenced a recent growth in the use of such activities as a means of inquiry within diverse research contexts. The article considers the ways in which collective textile making projects privilege social encounter as a format for learning skills, creating friendships and consolidating shared interests. It goes on to discuss how researchers are drawing on these characteristics when devising new projects, highlighting the quality of experience afforded by textile making, the diverse forms of data generated and the variety of ways in which these participatory activities can be set up. Recognising that this research approach is far from straightforward, three key methodological themes are then considered: the multifaceted nature of the researcher’s role and the complexities of relationships with participants and other stakeholders; the difficulties that can arise when using such familiar textile processes; and the opportunities, and complexities, of co-producing knowledge with participants through collaborative textile activity

Long Views and Acts of Translation:Finding Usable Pasts for Sustainable Fashion

‘Long Views and Acts of Translation: Finding Usable Pasts for Sustainable Fashion’ is an in-conversation piece between fashion and textiles designer-maker Amy Twigger Holroyd and Annebella Pollen for a 2024 special issue of the journal Fashion Studies, on the theme of fashion and sustainability, edited by Alex Esculapio and Annebella Pollen

In Conversation with Stitching Together and Sophie Woodward; Material methods 2

This is the second episode of an NCRM “In Conversation” series that focuses upon the emerging field of material methods where Sophie Woodward talks to Amy Twigger Holroyd and Emma Shercliff about the Stitching Together network. Stitching Together is a network of academics and practitioners that develop and use a variety of participatory textile making methods to address wide ranging issues. Amy and Emma introduce some of these projects as well as outline the potentials for cross-disciplinary developments of these practice-based material methods

RTD2015 33 Re-knitting: exploring openness through design

<p>This paper profiles a doctoral research project that investigated the idea of openness within fashion in order to understand the relationships between amateur fashion making, well-being and sustainability. The research was conducted through my practice as a designer-maker of knitwear.</p> <p>The primary design activity involved the development of methods of ‘opening’ and re-knitting existing garments. This activity provided a practical platform through which I was able to explore openness at two, increasingly abstract, levels: first, opening my design practice to share design skills with amateur knitters; and second, opening fashion through amateur making. At the conference I will show a sample garment featuring five different re-knitting ‘treatments’, which I produced while working with the research participants.</p> <p>The research produced an extensive re-knitting resource, and a nuanced understanding of the lived experience of wearing homemade clothes in contemporary British culture. Furthermore, the study generated transferable knowledge relating to the reworking of existing items and ways in which this can be supported; the abilities of amateurs to design for themselves and the conditions which encourage this activity; and the changes in practice and identity which take place as we shift between the roles of designer-maker and meta-designer- maker.</p> <p> </p