The other day I read an article in the New York Times entitled "Fashion Tries on Zero Waste Design," about several clothing designers who are experimenting with different ways of eliminating the scraps of fabric left over after the pieces of a garment are cut.
"Zero-waste design strives to create clothing patterns that leave not so much as a scrap of fabric on the cutting room floor. This is not some wacky avant-garde exercise; it’s a way to eliminate millions of tons of garbage a year. Apparel industry professionals say that about 15 to 20 percent of the fabric used to produce clothing winds up in the nation’s landfills because it’s cheaper to dump the scraps than to recycle them."
How do they try to accomplish this?
"One way to eliminate waste is to create a garment pattern — with gussets, pockets, collars and trims — that fits together like a puzzle. Another method is to simply not cut the fabric at all, but drape it directly onto a mannequin, then tuck, layer and sew."
Hey, I have an idea: how about KNITTED GARMENTS? NO COMPLICATED CUTTING OR DRAPING, NO WASTED FABRIC.* What a concept!! (Okay, so knitted jeans probably wouldn't work....)
*You could even recycle the yarn used in swatches.
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