this post was submitted on 16 Jan 2025
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I guess the main benefit is clothes will potentially fit better, but isn’t the fabric still gonna be likely sourced from a sweatshop country? And isn’t it going to result in a lot of waste fabric as I cut out a template?
Unlike sewing, fabric manufacturing is mostly automated
Fast fashion still uses fabric rolles as raw materials.
The fabrics used in fast fashion are chosen for cost and workability, not durability and environmental impact.
premade fashion does produce fabric waste, it's unavoidable. However, the waste is lower than self made clothes due to the differences is production volume and optimization.
If you make your own clothes, you get to choose better materials, remove at least one step from the chain of exploitation, and learn how to repair your own clothes along the way.
There are quality fabrics still manufactured but they are not often used in mass production of garments.
Any garment production requires scrap fabric. However a crafts person can repurpose and use those scraps where as a factory will just discard them. Also a huge amount of the waste in fast fashion in over production of products that don't even sell and never get used before going to a landfill.
That's the phrasing of someone who loves their shoppies. The main benefit is using, honing and promoting a skill to make quality clothes for yourself and your loved ones that will be significantly removed from the chain of dumb but vicious exploitation.
Yeah, it may not be completely exploitation free, but it’s a step in the right direction for the people with time and skills.
That’s a very narrow segment of people though, and even for those people I would argue it’s a better use of time to just…buy fewer clothes in the first place. This sounds like a bourgeois solution for people with a sewing machine and several hours free to make clothes for themselves.
Just like learning how to cook for yourself is a poor solution for people who live in a food desert or don't have access to a kitchen, sure.
You can also learn to repair your clothes, which can be done well before they need it, extending the time for which they look great.
@Comment105 @errer
The most solarpunk thing would be having robots do all this work in an environmentally sustainable way. And lots of leisure time for every human around.