#31: Exploring Zero Waste Design with Liz Haywood

For this episode, #31, I got to speak to Liz Haywood, a very talented designer who creates zero waste sewing patterns. After a 20 year career in clothing production, and writing and self-publishing a book called The Dressmaker’s Companion, Liz discovered ZW design and started making her own patterns using this approach. Two years ago, she committed to only producing patterns that are zero waste, and has been exploring and pushing the genre forwards ever since with her book Zero Waste Sewing and a range of standalone patterns. Excitingly, Liz has tackled the issue of grading and developed methods for producing an impressive range of sizes, and is now turning her attention to adding elements to help with fitting, two areas in which zero waste patterns have previously received criticism. We discuss all this and more, including her incredibly low levels of scrap generation and the only item Liz cannot foresee herself making a ZW pattern for. 

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If zero waste design and patterns are new to you, you may like to listen to Episode 17: What are Zero Waste Sewing Patterns? HERE before this one. 

Please listen to Liz talking in detail about her fascinating career in the Sew Organised Style podcast in 2021 HERE. 

Liz’s self-published sewing book, The Dressmaker’s Companion, can be found HERE. 

Find the previously mentioned and very excellent The Zero Waste Fashion Design book by Holly McQuillan and Timo Rissanen via Bookshop.org HERE.

Liz’s blog, The Craft of Clothes, which she updates weekly is HERE. 

Zero Waste Sewing, Liz’s book featuring lots of ZW patterns to try is HERE. 

For Liz’s standalone patterns and books, check out her Etsy shop TheCraftofClothes HERE. 

Her first standalone pattern is the Tie Front Top HERE. See the top below)

The fascinating layout for the top is pictured below:

Her ZW doll pattern is HERE.

The childre’s ZW Cap Sleeve Tee pattern by Thread Faction I recently made is HERE.  

Swimwear brand, Emroce, uses recycled nylon fabric and ZW cutting techniques is HERE. 

Decode, a ZW clothing brand and design system, including manufacturing, based in Brooklyn, NY founded by Danielle Elsener is HERE. 

Find the Zero Waste Design Online collective HERE.