Recycled Thread: Making a 100% Recycled Garment

Hello! It’s time for the next installment of my product review series called Tool Thursdays and this time I have my hands on a product I am really excited about! Thread giants Gutermann have been innovating and have come out with 100% recycled polyester thread made from recycled plastic bottles. Less energy is required to manufacture the raw material and the CO² emissions are significantly reduced – this conserves the environment and saves natural resources. Some of you might remember it got a super brief mention on the Sustainability episode of the Great British Sewing Bee but because of BBC advertising rules the manufacturer name didn’t get mentioned!

I already use polyester thread for all my sewing projects. I find cotton thread snaps too easily and I really want my garments to be well-made and last for a really long time. I already use Gutermann threads as they are some of the best on the market but they have totally blown me away with this recycled thread innovation! Around 1000m of recycled polyester thread can be made from just one PET bottle!

As someone who is concerned with the environmental impact of my hobby I am really excited to see big brands investing in making more sustainable products for us to buy. Especially thread, because I don’t think there is a more necessary product for us sewists is there?! I can buy secondhand textiles and upcycle existing garments but I am always going to need matching thread. Currently there are only 50 shades of the 100% recycled PET threads compared to the 400 shades of Gutermann’s regular sew all thread but I am hopeful that if more of us vote with our pennies by buying the recycled option, they might introduce more shades! I am certainly going to be buying the recycled version from now on!

I was really inspired by the recycled thread to see if I could make a completely recycled garment! I had to make a TATB Arielle skirt for the York Sewing Bee so that was the pattern decided, I now needed to source the materials. Like the Sustainability episode of the GBSB I started by having a rummage in the bin. The bin full of scraps that is! I found some decent chunks of navy corduroy leftover from another project, none of the pieces are big enough for the back piece of the skirt but I did find two pieces that I could piece together if I give the skirt a centre back seam.

I then found some long thin scraps of swans fabric leftover from the Wedge of Swans Kielo I made and they were perfect for the facings, as there was nowhere near enough corduroy for those as well. I have my navy blue recycled thread and so the last thing I needed was buttons. I try to never buy buttons new as I collect them whenever I see them in charity shops and I cut them off any old shirts that aren’t repairable. After a rummage in my button box, I actually had three sets of buttons bought from charity shops to choose from. I settled on these cute floral wooden ones that I think are a totally perfect finishing touch!

The only thing that I couldn’t source sustainably was the interfacing. I do actually have a packet of interfacing I bought secondhand from a charity shop but it is white and really stiff, perfect for collars and bags but not suited to this project. I also had every intention of using bias binding I had made myself out of some scrap fabric, but I realised right at the last minute that it wasn’t long enough! Much too late to make some more myself, I had to run for an emergency trip to Boyes in York to buy 2m cotton binding which is the only thing I am disappointed isn’t recycled.

I sewed up my skirt and honestly couldn’t tell the difference between the recycled thread Vs normal Gutermann. It behaved exactly the same. All in all I am absolutely thrilled with my skirt made from a load of old rubbish. Scraps out of the bin from other projects, thread made from old plastic bottles and buttons that someone didn’t want and gave to the charity shop. I think it is so cute and is going to get a lot of wear. So what do you think? Will you be trying out recycled thread??

For more information on Gutermann’s recycled thread, you can find out more from their website: https://consumer.guetermann.com/en/products/sewing-threads-accessories or you can email: gutermann@stockistenquiries.co.uk

Disclaimer: ⭐️Threads were provided free of charge in exchange for a review. All opinions are totally my own, and I wouldn’t recommend something I didn’t like!