When Michelle Larsen started her fashion brand, she planned on making each item herself, with an eye to transparency, sustainability and fair labour practices.

She held fast to those principles as her brand evolved over the years, but she recently flipped her original vision on its head: many people are now making one of her designs.

Larsen91裸聊视频檚 line, Fortiv, is one of a handful of small fashion brands that have started selling PDF sewing patterns 91裸聊视频� blueprints for cutting and marking fabric, and instructions on how to sew those pieces into a garment 91裸聊视频� in addition to, or instead of, ready-to-wear clothes.

91裸聊视频淚 had this connection a couple of years ago that it really aligned with my values to make sewing patterns, because it was giving other people the possibility to make things,91裸聊视频� she said from Vancouver. 91裸聊视频淭here91裸聊视频檚 a layer of accessibility there that I really value.91裸聊视频�

Larsen and her peers see the sewing pattern model as a continuation of their 91裸聊视频渟low fashion91裸聊视频� mission 91裸聊视频� in contrast to fast fashion companies such as Zara and Shein 91裸聊视频� to reduce their industry91裸聊视频檚 negative impact on people and the planet.

But slow fashion is often pricey, because in addition to reducing the number of designs released per season and garments made per design, a pillar of the model is paying a fair wage to everyone involved in the process.

91裸聊视频淭here are many people, including myself, honestly, that can91裸聊视频檛 afford higher priced items,91裸聊视频� Larsen said. 91裸聊视频淚t feels really nice to be able to say to someone, 91裸聊视频楬ey, if you can91裸聊视频檛 afford this $240 tulip top that I make, you can sew it.91裸聊视频�91裸聊视频�

Larsen has so far released only that pattern: a corset-style sleeveless shirt with lace-up sides and wide scallops at the hem.

A second pattern, an elastic-waist skirt with gathered side panels, is entering testing and should be available to customers soon.

The tulip top PDF will cost you $22 before tax, and it requires only a metre or so of fabric, which Larsen noted is easy to find at a thrift store for just a few dollars.

The pattern pieces are narrow, so they fit easily into offcuts for those who already sew. That91裸聊视频檚 part of why she designed the shirt that way.

91裸聊视频淚91裸聊视频檓 constantly aware of my own usage of resources as I go about my business,91裸聊视频� she said.

But beyond reducing waste, the move also makes good business sense.

Though the number of people who know how to sew is lower than the number who need to wear clothes (a designation that encompasses nearly everybody), Larsen doesn91裸聊视频檛 see the move as shrinking her customer base, since she will continue to sell made-to-order pieces.

91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 coming full circle in a way,91裸聊视频� said Leah Barrett, a fashion professor at Toronto91裸聊视频檚 George Brown College. 91裸聊视频淚 am old enough to remember a time when clothing was made at home.91裸聊视频�

Much of the fashion industry91裸聊视频檚 environmental impact comes from overproduction, said Barrett, who specializes in sustainability in apparel manufacturing.

It91裸聊视频檚 possible home sewists 91裸聊视频� a preferred term for many, given sewer91裸聊视频檚 unfortunate homonym 91裸聊视频� may make mistakes that lead to inadvertent waste, or make more garments than they need. But the scale of that waste would pale in comparison to that of fast fashion brands, which have to guess how much to produce to satisfy customers.

91裸聊视频淭here91裸聊视频檚 a lot of that prediction of demand that goes wrong and leaves designers with serious inventory issues,91裸聊视频� Barrett said. 91裸聊视频淭here91裸聊视频檚 no way around it.91裸聊视频�

Except, perhaps, selling patterns.

Though there91裸聊视频檚 still prediction involved 91裸聊视频� will customers like a garment enough to buy the pattern and take the time to sew it? 91裸聊视频� there isn91裸聊视频檛 much waste if designers guess wrong.

Barrett pointed to another Canadian clothing company that91裸聊视频檚 expanded into the sewing market, Weyburn, Sask.-based Cedar & Vine, which is selling 100 per cent linen fabric that sewists can use to make the patterns it recently released.

91裸聊视频淎 style can fail if it91裸聊视频檚 not in the right fabric,91裸聊视频� she said, so offering fabric 91裸聊视频� or at the very least fabric suggestions 91裸聊视频� will 91裸聊视频渕inimize failure,91裸聊视频� and therefore waste.

Pivoting to patternmaking seemed like a good solution to designer Brooke Cannon, who has long felt torn. She wants to create, but the world is already overflowing with stuff.

91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 like a negotiation with myself,91裸聊视频� she said. 91裸聊视频淚 would tell myself, 91裸聊视频榠t91裸聊视频檚 just a small amount and I would rather people invest in my brand and my artwork rather than a fast fashion brand.91裸聊视频� But at the end of the day, it91裸聊视频檚 still participating in it.91裸聊视频�

She and business partner Katie Beaton decided to shutter their respective online shops 91裸聊视频� accessories line Never Ending Weekend for Cannon and cult favourite slow-fashion line Beaton Linen in Beaton91裸聊视频檚 case 91裸聊视频� and start something new together.

The result is the B.C.-based Beaton Weekend, which will soon release patterns of some of Beaton91裸聊视频檚 best-loved designs.

Cannon has spent the last several months sketching the designs and writing and illustrating the sewing instructions.

91裸聊视频淚91裸聊视频檓 basically spending all my time doing very nerdy and not very dopamine-driven work,91裸聊视频� she said.

Ultimately, she hopes it will be worth it.

91裸聊视频淭he thing about creating patterns is that once they91裸聊视频檙e made and they91裸聊视频檙e out in the world, it91裸聊视频檚 passive income. It91裸聊视频檚 done. You91裸聊视频檝e created something, and it91裸聊视频檚 digital,91裸聊视频� she said. 91裸聊视频淚t just kind of takes care of itself.91裸聊视频�

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Nicole Thompson, The Canadian Press