My low and no waste principles

At Ro & Be one of my missions is to design products without lots of unused textiles left over. This comes not just because it is important not to fill up landfill but also because financially it makes sense and space wise it makes sense (I have zero space to store a load of waste!).

Our beautiful fabrics don’t belong in the bin either. How sad that would be.

How do I achieve this?

At the start

Zero or low waste starts at the ideas point, before I even draw up a pattern I’m thinking about the best way to construct the piece without making lots of fabric un-useable leftovers.

During pattern making I consider how I can reduce curves and create straighter lines so pieces can get closer together and not leave awkward shapes left over. For the little ones some of the skirts are simple rectangles turned into skirts rather than cut on the a-line. This is still comfy for them but leaves no waste at the end of the creation.

If I can’t prevent waste in the design

From adult skirts I reuse the left over bits for hair ribbons and ties. If I can’t prevent odd shapes being left over I don’t bin those bit but create smaller accessories with them or patchwork squares for other projects.

When I create a full twirly circle skirt the left over pieces become bows and scrunchies. There is no waste.

Adult tops often need darts and shaping around the bust so there is fabric left over that become cute accessories that I create following orders created. If your chosen design creates waste you can chose to add the accessory from it to the basket and I’ll create them at the same time.