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Summer sewing project

anathehopeful

Updated: Oct 30, 2023

Hopeful Ana started of as an instagram page I used more than my private one, especially during Covid when ironically I was mostly stuck inside and had no other choice but to find things that made me happy and excited within the four walls. I still enjoy posting pictures and videos and such but lately I had been playing around with the idea of expanding beyond Instagram and my silly little pictures as there is so much more that I enjoy and would like to share!


I've been sewing for quite a few years now, I am mainly self taught apart from a couple of mandatory lessons in secondary school where I learned how to knit and how to sew a button to a shirt as well as mend clothing and I did also make a mouse shaped pin cushion, that I actually still have and use. In the last year however I have been more interested in sewing and have spent a lot of time learning about pattern making and sewing techniques that through trial and error I now feel are strong enough for me to be able to share some of my creations with friends and family.


I did start my bachelors with Sustainable Fashion Management which pushed me even further to ever even consider of doing something like this let alone being public about it (Hopeful Ana the instagram page was private and only for my eyes for a whole year before I mustered out the courage to make it public). I'm very much aware of the thousands of meanings for sustainability and sustainable fashion especially, but as a recent sustainability student I have been lucky enough to gather many insights regarding sustainability and fashion, but I by no means claim to be an expert. Sustainability is something that I have grown up with and later on explored further through studying, and as learning is a lifelong process, I too am making mistakes and getting better. Sustainability is a very tricky and diverse concept that many especially nowadays tend to define differently. I will try to illustrate my approach to it through Hopeful Ana.


That being said, I have been doing a lot of research and roaming through flea markets as well as vintage stores in search of what I feel comfortable calling sustainable materials. That means everything I use in my sewing is either from a second hand store,

a flea market or passed on to me by someone who no longer had use for that particular item. For example all of the buttons I have been using have been from my dear neighbor who used to be a seamstress but no longer had use for them. Others I have gathered from a vintage market that were actually made out of glass milk bottles and upcycled into buttons.


By using deadstock fabrics that I source from vintage/second hand stores or deadstock fabric stores here in Italy I do not create any new demand for fabrics. I use what I can find, what otherwise would be thrown to waste for numerous reasons such as the fabric didn’t sell or it is out of season etc. Despite being limited I try to use a zero-waste approach by using all the scraps leftover to make smaller items such as coasters, pouches or scrunchies that then are used by my neighbors and friends/family. The smallest scraps are used to make clothing tags for the pieces, this way I do not need to outsource another company to custom make me tags.


Please enjoy my little collection of videos and pictures I independently created to complete the project and feel free to check my instagram for more.









Obviously, the current plan is not fully sustainable and circular as I’d like it to be, but I truly believe that with more time and effort it can evolve to get better step by step and that is what I plan to do overtime. I want to be transparent with my process and improve to my best capabilities, so questions and suggestions are always welcome, even encouraged.


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