March 10, 2025 • 41 mins
Where creativity meets sustainability! In this inspiring episode of Creative Living, host Jane Clauss sits down with Sarah Torres, the founder of SewbySew.com, to uncover the hidden world of deadstock fabric, the textile industry’s best-kept secret.
Sarah is on a mission to rescue high-quality surplus fabrics from fashion production and put them into the hands of makers, designers, and upcyclers instead of landfills. Through her innovative business, she’s turning textile waste into creative opportunity offering one-of-a-kind fabric finds and mystery bundles that spark imagination and promote sustainable sewing.
Ever wondered what happens to the fabric fashion houses don’t use? Sarah has the answer, and it’s more exciting than you think!
Tune in for an inspiring conversation about sustainable fashion, upcycling, and how small changes, like choosing deadstock fabric, can make a big impact. Whether you're a seasoned sewist or just fabric-curious, this episode will change the way you think about textiles forever!
Episode Log Notes – Fabric Rescue with Sarah Torres
[0:00:10 - 0:02:32] Upcycling, Fabric Waste & A Creative Solution
Jane kicks things off with a deep dive into textile waste and why deadstock fabric is the ultimate sustainable sewing hack! Meet Sarah Torres, the fabric rescuer behind @SewbySew.
[0:02:32 - 0:04:50] What Exactly is Deadstock Fabric?
Sarah breaks down the hidden world of deadstock; where it comes from, how overproduction, quality control issues, and end-of-season trends create it, and why it’s a goldmine for sustainable sewing, indie designers, and fabric lovers.
[0:04:50 - 0:07:41] A Love Story: Sarah’s Journey with Fabric
From childhood fabric shopping trips to uncovering treasure troves of forgotten textiles, Sarah shares how she went from thrifter to fabric-saving entrepreneur.
[0:07:41 - 0:10:30] The Mystery Bundle Magic
What’s inside a mystery fabric bundle? Sarah explains how she curates surprise collections by aesthetic and vibe (think cottagecore, grunge, retro, and more!).
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
VO (00:00):
It's time to tantalize your earbuds with creative makers and
(00:04):
shakers. It's creative living,the podcast with Jane Clauss,
Jane Clauss (00:10):
Welcome to Creative living, where we help you live
better creatively. I'm JaneClauss, and as always, I'm so
happy you are here today. Now,if you know me at all, you know
I've been up cycling sincebefore it was cool, since before
it was a thing. I love to takesomething old and make it new
(00:31):
again. It's like that, rip itapart and remake it. Mentality
that is my kind of creativity.And if you're into sewing or
thrifting, or you just love agood, sustainable fashion
moment, you are in the rightplace today, my friends. And
here's the thing, when you sew,you start to realize just how
(00:52):
much fabric is out there. Imean, if you sew, you know about
the growing fabric stash youhave, and if you sew, you'll
love a fabric store, but thinkabout those bins of remnants,
and think about the yards andyards of fabric left over from
fashion production. Have youever wondered what happens to it
(01:12):
all? Well, I have most of itdoesn't get used. In fact,
according to the pulse of thefashion industry report by the
global fashion agenda, yes, I amthrowing out some stats here.
The fashion industry generatesabout 92 million tons of textile
waste every year, and that isenough to fill one Garbage Truck
every second heading straight tothe landfills. But what if we
(01:37):
could stop some of that waste,stop it from hitting the
landfills, and that is wheredead stock fabric comes in.
Today, I am joined by someonewho has made it her mission to
rescue fabric from fashionscutting room floor and get it
into the hands of designers andsewists and upcycle enthusiasts,
just like us. Sarah Torres isthe founder of so by so.com and
(02:04):
she's not just selling fabric,she's saving it since 2021 she's
helped divert over 600 pounds oftextile waste from landfills,
connecting small businesses andhobby so is with unique and high
quality materials. I am one ofthem, and let me tell you, I was
so intrigued by her businessthat I had to order a few
(02:25):
mystery bundles for myself. Andlet's just say, I am a huge fan.
So please, welcome to the show.Sarah
Unknown (02:32):
Torres, Hi, Sarah. Hi, Hello, Sarah, you
Jane Clauss (02:37):
are so fabulous. I've been hounding you for
months to talk to you about yourbusiness, because I think it is
so cool what you are doing. Youare selling dead stock fabric.
So let's just start with thebasics for everybody. Tell us
what exactly dead stock fabricis and why it's important for
sustainability. Yeah,
Unknown (02:58):
so dead stock fabric, this is surplus fabric from the
fashion industry. So there'sthree main reasons why it can
exist over production, overordering. So let's say a brand
designer orders 1000 yards offabric, they only use 700 and
then they're sitting with 300yards. Another reason could be
(03:20):
through quality control, andthat is going to be like, maybe
the fabric the print didn't diethe way that they wanted it to.
Or the print could like, couldhave been like, different colors
that were in the inkjet at thetime didn't show up. Of course,
with fashion being so quick andfast, you have all these end of
(03:42):
season and trends that are justdone. So then once a brand's
finished, like, what are wegoing to do with this fabric? It
just sits it just sits there.Yeah,
Jane Clauss (03:52):
and you think about fast fashion, I talk a lot about
fast fashion versus slowfashion, and I try to get and
inform people about the slowfashion movement. So you are
actually using the fabric fromfashion and giving it to those
who are in that slow fashionmovement.
Unknown (04:08):
Mm, hmm, exactly, exactly, coming from being let's
say you're a budding designer,and you want to start a fact
your fashion line you going tothe mills, the minimums are so
large, like 1000 yards offabric, let's say just for one
garment. Yeah. Like, how are yougoing to do that? So dead stock
(04:29):
is a great opportunity forbudding designers and hobby
psoas and brands to utilizethese unwanted fabrics. So let's
talk about finding
Jane Clauss (04:40):
this dead stock fabric. How do you source it?
And then talk about the journeythe fabric makes from being
manufactured and then getting toyour store. Yeah.
Unknown (04:50):
So I source through suppliers that specialize in
dead stock. They are calledjobbers. This is the old
garmento term. Uh, so where, youknow, a brand would be finished
with their fabrics before goingto the trash. Or even some
brands incinerate these fabrics.Some want to make, you know,
(05:12):
their make some money back onit, and they will sell it,
almost in a way of, like, like,Storage Wars. So it's almost
Storage Wars. So where thesemanufacturers will open up their
warehouses and be like, this isall the fabric we don't want
anymore. People will come in andplace bids, and then they resell
(05:33):
it. So I source from them. Wow.
Jane Clauss (05:35):
So you are in California. Do you? Do you
solely stay there and that'swhere you're sourcing it, or is
it sort of all over, and youmake the trip and say, I'll take
what you have.
Unknown (05:45):
So I am based in Los Angeles. I have not made a trip
to anywhere else, but here, asfar as in terms of buying
fabric, but like you can finddead stock in Chicago,
especially in New York. Soplaces where there are dream
manufacturing. Los Angeles isdefinitely the hub, because we
are the apparel manufacturers,like the largest in the United
(06:08):
States. When did
Jane Clauss (06:09):
you get into dead stock fabric? Have you always
been into sustainability? Haveyou always been into fabric?
What was that? Aha moment.You're like, ah, dead stock
fabric. Yeah.
Unknown (06:19):
So I have always loved sewing, I would say, like,
probably my first introductionto dead stock was when I was a
little girl. This is in the 90s.I grew up in the Pacific
Northwest, and my mom loved tosew. I love digging through
fabrics in her sewing room, andshe always encouraged my
creativity, and would have me bea part of the design process of
(06:41):
whatever she was outfit she wasgoing to be making for me. So we
would go to this largewarehouse, and it was fabric by
the pound, and she wouldliterally throw me on top of a
pile of fabric and be like, gofind fabric for your outfit. You
know what we're going to bemaking. And I would say that was
probably like my very firstintroduction of dead stock, I've
(07:02):
always been like a Thrifter, DIYup cycler, like any any way that
I can make my clothes different.I was always for it. I was
always the little outsider inhigh school and making little t
shirt dresses and sewing patcheson but my full introduction to
dead stock was I had agirlfriend who worked at this
(07:23):
warehouse, and she was like,Hey, we're hiring. And as soon
as I, like, walked in the doorand it's floor to ceiling of
pallets of fabric rolls likeevery color texture you can
imagine. And I was like, Yeah, Ican work here.
Jane Clauss (07:41):
My dream. I just said this yesterday somebody. I
love walking into a fabricstore, and I love walking into a
fabric store where it's fabricby the pound, or there's bolts
and bolts of fabric, and you canjust walk around and touch it
and feel the texture and look atthe colors. I base my vacations
around going to discount fabricstores because I love them. Or
(08:04):
if I'm in another country, Ijust find any fabric store. It's
just something that I love. Sowhen I met you, well, I didn't
actually meet you. I met yourbusiness. So by so.com and I was
like, This is amazing, becauseyou are selling these fabrics
that were once loved, but nowthey can be loved again, because
they're not out of style.They're really flipping cool. So
(08:29):
when you get your fabrics, youhave to obviously organize them
or manage them, or inventorythem. I mean, when you get
fabric from all these places,are your eyeballs bulging out of
your head. Oh
Unknown (08:41):
my gosh. It is, like the most natural high. I
absolutely love that I get to goand dig through these dusty,
dirty warehouses, uh, lookingfor fabric and just anything. I
mean, sometimes I have to put atimer on because I'm like, This
is too much. I can see, like myentire day in this one store,
(09:03):
but yeah, definitely goingaround and it, it is visually
overwhelming, but with thatoverwhelm from seeing it, so I
started working in dead stockback in 2013 when I was
introduced to it. 2021 I startedso by so left my day job to
start this venture, and becauseI was just always amazed of how
(09:25):
much dead stock exists, and Iwould sell to small which I I
still do and support, and I lovesupporting small businesses, but
I started selling wholesale toindependent fabric stores and
small brands and manufacturers,but there are still some pieces
of swatches I was sending themwhere I was like, this fabric is
so cute, I don't know whythey're not choosing it like
(09:49):
this fabric still needs a homeif they're not going to get it,
who else is going to get it? Howcan I share that my love of
these prints and these stylesand textures with the mask. Is
like, how do I do that? So myfirst kind of introduction,
introducing so by so to thepublic, was through mystery
fabric bundles, which has been awhirlwind. It's they're so fun
(10:15):
also for me to put together,because these are organized.
It's seven different colors, sixdifferent style esthetics. So
you can do like a red retrobundle or purple cottage core,
green grunge. You go to thewebsite
Jane Clauss (10:31):
so by so.com and they're all of these
combinations that she offers youthere to pick the fabric, and
then Sarah will just send you abox of fabric, whether it's a
pound, three pounds, 10 pounds,and when it arrives at your
doorstep, it is like a littlegift from heaven. It is like
Christmas morning opening it upfor somebody who loves fabric,
(10:51):
just to wait to find out what'sin the mystery bundle is so
joyful. So I recommend thateverybody go to so by so.com get
a mystery bundle just for thethrill of it, because it's fun,
even if you're not going to makesomething out something out of
it, you're going to bring itdown to your friend who's a
seamstress, and let them makesomething out of it. This is
just a fun way to say fabric andalso create something. I was in
(11:11):
a fabric store in New York,Sarah with one of my best
friends, who is an accountant.She's got multiple degrees, and
she's the top of her game in theworld of finance. And here I am,
little miss creative. My mind islike, Willy Wonka factory,
always colors, always wanting tomake something. So we go into
this fabric store, and I waslike, wow, look at all these
(11:32):
opportunities to make something.And she said, I don't know what
you would do in here. There'snothing in here. I'm like, Are
you kidding me? You can makeanything, anything you can
imagine, with all the fabric inhere, whether it's clothes or
home decor or outside or inside,like anything you can think of,
you can make it from the fabricthat's in here. That is how I
(11:54):
feel when I get a mystery bundlefrom you. I can make anything I
want. And it's so much fun toreceive the bundle and then
decide what we want to make. Yousaid that your business exploded
when you started offeringmystery bundles. Talk about the
moment in 2023 you'd been doingit for a couple years, working
like specifically in theselittle niches of groups like
(12:18):
designers and small businesses,but talk about the moment that
everything changed on yoursocial media. Video,
Unknown (12:25):
yeah. So I was, I was posting on on Instagram, like,
Okay, this is what I'm doing,little behind the scenes. And I
was like, You know what? Ihaven't tried anything on Tiktok
yet. Like, what is this? What isthis Tiktok, and my very first
video, I for some reason, likethe sound is, like, not on it
(12:48):
anymore, but you could read thecaptions, and it's pretty much
just saying, like, Hey, myname's Sarah. I own so by so I
am on a mission to keep textilewaste out of the landfills.
Like, this is what I do as I'm,like, posing in this giant
warehouse just full of all ofthese fabric rolls. And it just
(13:10):
went off, like, I just postedit. Like, Oh, I did this thing,
yeah. And moments later, gettingnotifications of the views,
increasing comments, peopleasking, How do I order from you?
And I was like, by the pound,because I was the easiest thing,
because I was not like, Okay,I'm not going to do like, a
whole catalog of fabrics. Like,let's do it by the pound. I have
(13:32):
a background in being a visualmerchandiser, so for me, in my
mind, for this offer was okay,it has to be like different
categories, because when you'rea merchandiser, you have to
think of different charactersthat you're merchandising in the
store, like, Okay, this is ourresort. Our resort girl, like,
she's going to the beach, okay?She's going to Miami, okay, this
(13:53):
is our grunge moment. She lovesher plaid. She loves her
florals. So that's how Iorganize the bundles. So where
you can choose from differentstyle esthetics. And I wanted to
choose esthetics too that itmakes it fun for me to put them
together. Yeah, um, so it's notjust like, here's a red bundle,
or if you're just like, randommystery fabric, like it's it
(14:14):
makes it fun you get you havefun opening them and that
surprise, and I have fun puttingthat surprise together for you.
Jane Clauss (14:21):
You put all the mystery bundles together by
yourself. Currently,
Unknown (14:26):
yes, so right now, we are small operations. It's
myself and my husband, but weare looking into growing in the
future. Well,
Jane Clauss (14:35):
that's fine. You could grow, but we're all still
going to want Sarah to put themystery bundles together for us,
because now we know that it'sall you. It's coming from you. I
love him to give each category Apersonality. So when I was drawn
to you and what you're doing atso by so.com was grunge, was
(14:56):
floral, was plaids, like younamed all of these things. And
I'm like. I am that girl, or Ifeel like her today, or I love
this, like I'm a grunge girl.The 90s were my thing. I loved
it, like that was my place. Sogrunge for me, I'm like, Yeah,
I'm in or and I love florals nowin my older age. So when you
have a floral, when you have afloral category, I'm like, let's
(15:18):
I always look for the piece offabric with, like, the largest
flower I could ever imagine, andmultiple of them, I've not found
it yet. Okay, yeah, with a darkbackground, and I've not found
it yet. Yeah, the littlechallenge for you, if you find
it, but yeah, when she give it apersonality, I thought this was
great. And I also talked to alot of psoas, and I thought they
(15:40):
need to know you, and they needto know about deadstock fabric,
because it's so important tosustainability in the
environment. I get it. I uselots of thrift store clothing
and turn them into somethingelse. You are doing this with
fabric that's going to head tothe landfill. So let's talk
about the stats a little bit. Isaid in the opening that 92
(16:02):
million tons of textile wastehappens every year from fashion
houses. And now I'm not dissingfashion houses. They do what
they do. We can't change theworld, but we're just doing a
little bit, a little bit that wecan to to help. Right? Is that
kind of where it comes from,from you, the little bit that
you can do to help is whatyou're doing.
Unknown (16:22):
Oh, totally. I mean, for me again, you know, I
Thrifter, upcycle air, DIY, er,and it, I want to say it was
around 2013 2014 and I wasintroduced to the Fashion
Revolution, which is a nonprofitorganization that brings
education to the fashionindustry at large and through
(16:46):
just like reading more of thecontent that they put out, and
just educating myself that hasalways been so strong and so
close to me, where I'm like,Okay, well, how can I continue
to branch out this messageFashion Revolution has a really
great motto of asking brands formore transparency and asking who
(17:08):
made my clothes and bringingethical and sustainable fashion
to the forefront, because thefashion industry is in the top
three most polluting industriesin the world. So that's a big
problem any way that we canbring education to this is a
win, and no step is like, toosmall, like, I'm a huge believer
(17:30):
that baby steps still move usforward, and everyone can do
their part at their own level,whether it is just upcycling a t
shirt or something that theyhave in their own closet, or
maybe it's doing fabric orclothing swaps with friends you
know, for you to find your ownpersonal style in a sustainable
way, or to buying dead stockfabric for your next sewing
(17:54):
project and the bundles, is howI'm able to calculate how I keep
waste out of the landfill,because These are by the pound.
So last year, we did just under5000 pounds of textile waste.
And these, these bundles arefilled, so of course, with dead
stock fabric. But being here inLos Angeles and with all of the
(18:16):
manufacturing that happens,manufacturer will will cut uh,
an item, cut their product, andthen they're sitting with like
these small they consider themsmall scraps, but these can be
up to 820, yard pieces that werejust left off off of the cutting
table. So I love to go and youcan watch and see my videos, and
(18:38):
I'm just digging it throughthese massive mountains of
fabric, and most of them arethese off cuts, but they're
perfectly good fabric, andthey're so fun and stylish. So
Jane Clauss (18:49):
820 yard pieces are considered scraps. Yeah, yeah,
you should consider doing fieldtrips with you to these
warehouses to help get it wouldbe fun. I would sign up. I would
sign up in one second. I wouldfly to Los Angeles. I would get
in a car with you. We could renta bus, and I would go and I
(19:12):
would climb through themountains of fabric with you,
just because I think that's fun.Yeah, come on down. You can
probably charge people for that.I'm just thinking of another
like, revenue screen for you.But like, if you're obsessed
with fabric, like, this would besuper fun. If you're telling me
820 yard pieces is scraps, like,Oh yeah, I'm in Yeah,
Unknown (19:29):
and it's perfectly good. And it's like, what can
you do with an eight yard piece?Like, I mean, there's so much. I
started a fun thing I startedthis year, is called the bulk
and save collection. So it's aselection of fabrics where you
can order in five yardincrements and save up to 20%
off the original price. And thisis a great way, especially if
(19:51):
you want to share your fabricswith friends, like you're like,
you know what? Let's go in.Let's go in on this five yards.
Maybe it can be a fun sewingchallenge. But you guys all make
something different. You know,everyone gets a yard or
something. Everybody
Jane Clauss (20:05):
needs to know you and know what you're doing.
Because I don't care if you'renot a sewist, you're not a
designer, buy some fabric andhave someone else make it for
you, or staple it together, glueit together, figure out
something to do with it, becausewhat you're doing promotes
creativity, and it also, likeyou said, Baby Steps Make
(20:26):
everybody are still moveforward. So I think that is so
important. As a sewing nerd, asyou like to call us in your
newsletter. Yeah, have you evercome across some super rare or
super designer fabrics thatyou're like, Oh, I gotta keep
this one.
Unknown (20:45):
Ooh.
Jane Clauss (20:47):
Um,
Unknown (20:49):
you know, I have, I have, there is this really cute
silk, silk print, silks Since2020, have been so hard, have
been such a challenge to comeacross post pandemic, and where
it was just like, like, twotones of pink and two tones of
blue, little hearts. Oh, it wasso cute. And I bought the roll,
(21:15):
and I held on to it, and thenfinally, I was like, Okay, we're
going to list it online I got,and this is early, early on,
when I started listing fabricsdidn't get a lot of bites,
because I think more people, Imean, silk is more expensive
than a cotton or a rayon, yeah.So I was like, You know what?
Well, I'm just going to, we'rejust going to give it out into
(21:36):
the world, and we're going toput it in some natural mystery
bundles for the folks who wantto use natural fibers. I didn't
keep it for long. You wanted to,though. I mean, I wanted to.
There's so many cute prints.
Jane Clauss (21:48):
It's kind of like working, I would say, at a
retail store, you're like,that's cute, that's cute, and
then you spend your entirepaycheck on the clothes that are
in the store. Is what I did inhigh school. It's like, you have
all this fabric, you know, howmuch making can you do? So it's
good thing that you're gettingit out of your store and into
the hands of makers, and doingit step by step. And I think
it's fantastic. You are runninga small business. You are
(22:12):
running a big small business.What are some of the challenges
that you face running thisbusiness of the dead stock
fabric, ooh,
Unknown (22:21):
um, I would say challenges, definitely, these
rolls are heavy, so it's a lotof lifting. The bags that I I
purchased for my mysterybundles, these, like bulk bags
of fabric scraps weigh anywherefrom 65 to 100 pounds. Wow. And,
(22:43):
you know, I I'm like, 112pounds, and I have my little
cart and my husband with me, andwe'll pull these bundles up into
our workspace and then gothrough them so that that's a
challenge with the fabric,finding storage for them.
Jane Clauss (22:59):
Oh, yeah, if you're in LA, you can put it outside,
yeah. And actually, I workoutside
Unknown (23:04):
like that is currently where my work studios. We have a
huge tent and coverage. We keepthe fabrics inside until I'm
folding cutting and foldingoutside, and a long table that
will cut and fold. And we'lljust listen to some podcasts or
some music. You're
Jane Clauss (23:21):
going to listen to yourself on a podcast next.
There you go. Yeah, that's wild.So what I'm encouraged by
because I talk a lot aboutsustainable fashion and and that
is really why I wanted everyoneto meet you and hear what you're
doing and all the good thatyou're doing. But I've also been
recognizing companies that havea sustainable plan, or
(23:43):
sustainability plan, they aresaying, Okay, well, I know that
this, you know, these clothesaren't going to sell, but we're
going to put them here where youknow they have a plan. Have you
come across that outside of thedead stack fabric companies that
you work with? Have you seenother bigger manufacturers
making strides to help withwaste.
Unknown (24:05):
I have seen that through partnerships with
nonprofits of what to do withtheir leftover garment made
inventory. I would love to seemore transparency through that,
I feel like it's still a littlelike, we're doing this, but I
don't like, I want to see, Iwant to see you doing it, like,
(24:27):
give me a video,
Jane Clauss (24:30):
right? But are you doing that?
Unknown (24:32):
Yeah, but are you doing it? I think it's really
important for us to to questionthe brands that are making our
clothes. If you are, you know,if you don't know how to sew
yet, sewing, you can, anyone cando it, yeah, but it's so, it's
so important to ask these brandsthat are making such a harmful
(24:55):
and wasteful impact on our worldto be like, do better. You have
the money to do better. So doit. Yeah, and
Jane Clauss (25:03):
I agree with you, and it might just be an item on
a list for the meeting, but atleast they're thinking about it,
and if it gets transferred tothe next week, hopefully
sometime they will talk aboutit. But for the for the
meantime, you are doingsomething about it, and you are
really shining the spotlight ondead stock fabric. And I want,
(25:24):
there's so many people, Sarah,across the country that I know
that are upcycling and, youknow, doing sustainable fashion,
that I want them to know you.And so I think this is great. I
hope that we're going to help.How can small businesses and
hobbyists and psoas be moreintentional with their fabric
choices. So
Unknown (25:43):
there's a couple couple ways you can do that, of course,
like if you want to go the routeof consuming and using more
natural fibers. So that's goingto be our cotton, linen rayon,
considered semi synthetic justdue to the process, but it is
created by wood pulp. So comesfrom nature silk, that's a great
(26:06):
way that you can bringsustainability into your sewing
room through the garmentprocess. Also, I think there's
so many different opportunitiesto upcycle your scraps, like,
what are you going to because ifyou're sewing I, I mean, even
for me and my my sewing room,like, I save all of my cutting
scraps. And with my otherbusiness, my clothing brand
(26:30):
called Camus Lily co I'm workingon a zero waste model where it's
like, how do we upcycle all ofthese scraps so anything that's
large enough to like, okay, wecan do a scrunchie out of this,
or maybe, like a little neck tiesmaller scraps, shredding them
and using them as stuffing forpet pillows.
Jane Clauss (26:48):
I just redid all of my organization in my sewing
room, and I have been full offabric scraps, and they could be
really small little squares, orthey could be, you know, sort of
odd shaped pieces, but I don'tthrow them away, because when
I'm making something else, I'mlike, Well, I think I can use
this piece for that. And a lotof times you can make a crazy
(27:10):
quilt or a patchwork cover orsomething where you're using
these pieces together to createanything. But that is again,
where taking a moment of quietand letting the creativity come
to you on how you're going touse those fabric scraps. I
always say, save your scraps.
Unknown (27:27):
Totally
Jane Clauss (27:29):
natural fibers, super important, sometimes hard
to work with, but I agree withyou, that's a way to be
intentional on your your fabricshopping or your fabric
purchases, because we know thatpolyester takes a long time to
decompose if it's in a landfill.We know that more natural fibers
(27:50):
are going to decompose quickerif they end up in a landfill or
incinerator. You talked aboutyour own clothing line, which I
love, and your zero wasteinitiative. You're so busy with
this business. So by so.com Howare you finding time to sew?
Unknown (28:08):
So I have not sewed in a long time, in a minute, in a
minute. Um, now I have with myclothing brand. I started that
back in 2018 and I started thatout of my living room, dining
room, and just like cutting andsewing and starting my own
production till eventually, Iwas able to find a small batch
(28:29):
manufacturer here in LA where Ican do Limited Edition runs of
sustainable loungewear. Cool.Yeah. So now I no longer am
sewing. I go and I visit mymother daughter, duo Rosa and
Elizabeth, who sew, cut and seweverything for me, but I still,
but I get to still be aroundsewing machines. I
Jane Clauss (28:53):
understand, because if you have multiple things that
you want to sew and be puttogether, you need help. You
can't do it all yourself,because you know, it takes time,
but at the same time, you stillhave that urge to sit at the
sewing machine and bind the twopieces of fabric together,
because it just gives them a newlife, and it turns them into
something different. I askeverybody this because the show
(29:15):
is called Creative living. Whatdoes creativity mean to you?
Unknown (29:22):
Creativity? Means to me, a way of self expression,
and no idea that you have is adumb idea. Just do it. I think
being creative, it is an outletto support mental health. I know
that if I am in a funk and Ijust need to, like, I haven't
(29:43):
done anything with my hands, Ineed to go. And lately I've been
like, painting fabric. So I'mlike, I need to go and just get
that creative juice out.
Jane Clauss (29:54):
Yeah, get in flow. What would you say to somebody
to inspire them to start sewing?I always say. A couple of
straight stitches and a littlebit of math. Just give me an
hour, and I promise you willfeel better afterwards. What do
you say? So I'm going
Unknown (30:08):
to start, yeah, if you can sew a straight line, you can
do anything. Sewing is reallygreat to I mean, it definitely
teaches you patience with foryourself, and I think you can
extend that out into the worldas well, but it's a it's a
process. And give yourself thatgrace when you are trying
(30:29):
anything new. But with sewing,if you can sew a straight
stitch, you got this. You
Jane Clauss (30:34):
got this. I did this media tour and across the
country, and I was on morningshows across the country with
the sewing machine. And yes, Iwas inspiring people. Was either
back to school or it was homedecor or whatever the the topic
was that I would have a tablefull of things that that I
sewed, and I was in telling thehost what people should do for
this time of year, and I had asewing machine with me. My most
(30:58):
favorite part of that entiretour across the country was
making the host sew. A lot ofthem said, Oh, my grandma had
one, all right, my mom used tosew, or I used to do this in
high school. And they got onguys, girls, everybody, they got
on there. She know, I can't doit. Like, yeah, you can. And
they did it. They go, wow, thisis so fun. And the joy on their
face to just watch somebody whowas in their uncomfortable zone
(31:20):
become comfortable. Was such awin for me to do that. And so
again, when we go back to, whyshould you try? Why not? Yeah,
Unknown (31:29):
Oh, totally. I mean, I had your story reminds me back
when I was it's like my lateteens, and this is before, like
guys had skinny jeans, like guyshad to sew their own or, like,
have their own pants tailored tomake skinny jeans, or by women's
(31:51):
jeans. But I had too many guyfriends asked me to alter their
jeans, and at the time, I hadtwo sewing machines because I
had mine, and then an extra onethat my mom gave me, right?
Like, okay, well, listen, youwant your pants sewn? I'm going
to teach you how to sew. And Iwould do like, little lessons
(32:11):
with these, like, tough punkguys, like, when they did it,
they did it. So if these guyscan do it, anyone can do it.
Listen,
Jane Clauss (32:19):
I taught my radio partner how to take in his
shirts. He's like, I'm gettingcharged $10 to take in the sides
of my shirt. I go, Well, here'ssome sewing machine. Let me show
you how to do it. And now it'sbeen years. So he does his pants
and shirts. And I don't think hetells anybody he does it,
because he's like, embarrassed,but he does it and he loves it
because he'll call me on theside, yeah, by the way. He says,
(32:40):
are you at a fabric store? Hecalls me, and then he says,
Okay, wait, I'm. I'm Wait, I'mdoing this again. I forgot how
to thread the needle. But oncehe gets that, yeah, once he gets
that, he's good to go. So let meask you this. I'm so excited for
you. I'm so excited for thegrowth of this company and this
movement towards sustainablefashion and what you're doing
with dead stock fabric. I wantedeverybody to make sure we knew
(33:00):
exactly what it was. What isnext for so, by So, what is on
the horizon? Any projects,expansions? What are you doing?
Unknown (33:07):
Oh, so lately, especially with the big closure
of Joanne's, Mm, hmm, alright.Are
Jane Clauss (33:15):
you going to get all their fabric? Um, no,
Unknown (33:19):
I'll, leave. I'll leave that for everyone who's going to
miss them so much within therural communities who needs
Joanne's so sad to see thisgiant go on so many levels. I am
just like feeling for theirworkforce, but with the news of
them, you know, closing down allof their stores across the
(33:42):
nation. I've just been thinkinglike, Okay, well, what can the
future of fabric shopping looklike? What do like? What do we
need? You know, I did a postsharing small fabric stores from
across the country where I wasable to get a growing list,
which I have linked in my bio,because it was like when the
(34:04):
news dropped that the first 500store, the first 500 I could
just feel like, okay, everyone'sgoing to be in panic mode. How
can I create a resource to showpeople like, no, there are still
fabric stores, and you need toshop from them, and you can find
them here. So with that, I'mjust, what can the future of
fabric shopping look like? A lotof people commenting, oh, well,
(34:26):
I won't be able to feel thefabric. Walking into a fabric
store, as you know, and sharedis such a special experience.
And even if you were just goingin for some thread, you're still
going to touch the fabric, andyou're all going to miss that.
But some ways that I see fabricshopping changing for the future
(34:46):
is what if it can bringcommunity together within the
mains of like a swatch party. Somaybe it's a friend orders a 20
pound bundle of mystery fabric,or you guys. In on stuff. And
what if there are like, swatchesavailable that you can feel of
fabrics that are listed online?What if you did a pop up fabric
(35:09):
store like, what if you couldbuy fabric like you buy apples
and oranges at the farmersmarket? You know, you have a
little pop up there, and thatway it makes it more special and
also more sustainable. You know,these fabrics are coming from
dead stock, whereas not beingmass produced with is what
Joanne's was doing, having Millsmake 1000s of yards of fabric to
(35:33):
fill all of their stores. Andnow they're, you know, we're
sitting on, we're going to besitting on like their dead stock
to up cycle. But how can we usewhat's already available and
help reduce waste and bringcommunity together? So I'm so
I'm so excited to see what isnext for average shopping. I
Jane Clauss (35:53):
think that's great. You could have it at the Summer
farmers market. You could justbuy the big, huge mystery bundle
and cut it into sizes, or justhave the large sizes and then
cut it right there, and thenyou're selling these fabrics.
You can make that into your ownbusiness. I think that's really,
yeah, and it's a great idea.It'd
Unknown (36:13):
be a great opportunity, even too for, like, if it was,
like, a stay at home parent, youknow, of like, okay, well, I'm
just selling this, yeah, just mypop ups every Saturday. Yeah,
get out in the world, in thecommunity, sure. And
Jane Clauss (36:25):
you'll, you'll meet, you know, it's, it's
funny, the sewists come out ofthe woodwork. When, when fabrics
out, even if you're not sewing,because people might use it for
something else. I think that'sgreat. I'm still not totally
over the fact that Joanne isclosing. I'm not. I'm sort of in
denial. Still like, what thisclosing I go there. This is
where I go. Sarah, people wantto learn more. They want to get
(36:49):
to you. They want to buy somefabric. What do they do? Give us
some socials. Give us a website,yeah,
Unknown (36:55):
so you can visit and shop@www.so by sew.com, S, E, W,
b, y, s, e, w, and you can findme on tick tock and Instagram at
sew, by sew. Just come visit me.Show me what you're making. Like
I want to see what you'recreating, whether it's with my
(37:15):
fabric, just what is on yoursewing table.
Jane Clauss (37:18):
I like it now. I'm saving this because we talked
about mystery bundles. I ordereda mystery bundle. Now people
cannot see this. They're onlylistening, but I have a mystery
bundle in my hand. It is aMickey and Minnie box that I
wondered if you recycled oreverything comes in a Mickey and
Minnie box from
Unknown (37:36):
Disney. No, so that box came here in Pasadena, we have
creative reuse center, whichhighly recommend for anyone to
visit. So these are primarilylike, like, thrift stores for
craft and art supplies. So I wasat my I was at my local
remainders, and they had a stackof these. Like, Mickey and
(37:59):
Goofy. Is it goofy or what's hisdog's name? But yeah, so Mickey
and Friends boxes. And I waslike, these are fun. These are
perfect. It's saving me moneybecause I don't have to buy new
boxes. Yeah, able to recyclewith all of my packaging. That
has been another challengingthing with business is trying to
(38:20):
package things using nopeplastic or minimal plastic, so
it's using gum, tip tape, or thetape that you see there, like
that Brown, natural, oh, yeah,or natural adhesive.
Jane Clauss (38:32):
I got this mystery bundle from you, like months
ago. I haven't opened it becauseI've been waiting to talk to
you, to open it with you sopeople cannot see. I don't know
what I received yet. I'm gonnapull out the fabric. I'm
probably, I probably went togrunge, and I probably, oh,
(38:53):
let's see together. A note herefrom Sarah says, Thanks, Jane,
for your patience and support.And I have a fabric here is a
mouth that say, er, yes, it'sjust big squirts of teeth and
mouth. So I love this. Thank youfor picking this. For me. I have
piece of leopard here that'skind of orangey leopard, yeah,
(39:14):
by the way, leopard. So in now,in this year 2025, leopard has
made a comeback, althougheverything is still leopard. I
have patchwork florals.
Unknown (39:23):
Yes, that's what that is. One of my favorite prints.
And it's called grandma's Favebecause it's so retro and ditsy,
and it's just so happy. It's sohappy,
Jane Clauss (39:35):
which is so me. I love it. It's just, it looks
like it's just strips ofdifferent types of floral
fabrics, sewn together, yeah,printed on, printed on, printed
on, yes. And then finally, italmost looks like a tablecloth.
It's checkered red with someblue flowers on it. Yeah, so
cute. Yeah. So thank you for mymystery bundle. I bought this
(39:56):
like I bought this months ago.Yeah? It is exactly what I
expected. I probably chosebright colors. Give me some
retro I want grandma. And Ididn't open it on purpose
because I wanted to open it withyou so you could see the joy in
my face when I got my mysterybundle. And I think you picked
the best ones for me. So thankyou so much, Sarah, thank
Unknown (40:18):
you. I can't wait to see what you create for
Jane Clauss (40:22):
anyone who wants to get their hands on some one of a
kind, dead stock fabric. Youheard it here first go to sew by
so.com and fuel your creativitywhile keeping all of these
textiles out of land fills.Sarah, I love what you're doing
there. I love this businessmodel, and I love it not only as
(40:43):
a fabric lover, but as somebodywho truly believes in
sustainable fashion and keepingcreativity alive. Happy Sewing
to everybody. Happy upcycling.Happy sew by sew.com. Let's keep
making fashion more sustainable,one stitch at a time. Sarah
(41:03):
Torres, thank you so much forjoining us on creative living.
Unknown (41:07):
Thank you so much for having me live
VO (41:10):
better creatively for more inspiration. Visit. Jane
clauss.com, thank you forlistening. You
It's time to tantalize your earbuds with creative makers and
(00:04):
shakers. It's creative living,the podcast with Jane Clauss,
Jane Clauss (00:10):
Welcome to Creative living, where we help you live
better creatively. I'm JaneClauss, and as always, I'm so
happy you are here today. Now,if you know me at all, you know
I've been up cycling sincebefore it was cool, since before
it was a thing. I love to takesomething old and make it new
(00:31):
again. It's like that, rip itapart and remake it. Mentality
that is my kind of creativity.And if you're into sewing or
thrifting, or you just love agood, sustainable fashion
moment, you are in the rightplace today, my friends. And
here's the thing, when you sew,you start to realize just how
(00:52):
much fabric is out there. Imean, if you sew, you know about
the growing fabric stash youhave, and if you sew, you'll
love a fabric store, but thinkabout those bins of remnants,
and think about the yards andyards of fabric left over from
fashion production. Have youever wondered what happens to it
(01:12):
all? Well, I have most of itdoesn't get used. In fact,
according to the pulse of thefashion industry report by the
global fashion agenda, yes, I amthrowing out some stats here.
The fashion industry generatesabout 92 million tons of textile
waste every year, and that isenough to fill one Garbage Truck
every second heading straight tothe landfills. But what if we
(01:37):
could stop some of that waste,stop it from hitting the
landfills, and that is wheredead stock fabric comes in.
Today, I am joined by someonewho has made it her mission to
rescue fabric from fashionscutting room floor and get it
into the hands of designers andsewists and upcycle enthusiasts,
just like us. Sarah Torres isthe founder of so by so.com and
(02:04):
she's not just selling fabric,she's saving it since 2021 she's
helped divert over 600 pounds oftextile waste from landfills,
connecting small businesses andhobby so is with unique and high
quality materials. I am one ofthem, and let me tell you, I was
so intrigued by her businessthat I had to order a few
(02:25):
mystery bundles for myself. Andlet's just say, I am a huge fan.
So please, welcome to the show.Sarah
Unknown (02:32):
Torres, Hi, Sarah. Hi, Hello, Sarah, you
Jane Clauss (02:37):
are so fabulous. I've been hounding you for
months to talk to you about yourbusiness, because I think it is
so cool what you are doing. Youare selling dead stock fabric.
So let's just start with thebasics for everybody. Tell us
what exactly dead stock fabricis and why it's important for
sustainability. Yeah,
Unknown (02:58):
so dead stock fabric, this is surplus fabric from the
fashion industry. So there'sthree main reasons why it can
exist over production, overordering. So let's say a brand
designer orders 1000 yards offabric, they only use 700 and
then they're sitting with 300yards. Another reason could be
(03:20):
through quality control, andthat is going to be like, maybe
the fabric the print didn't diethe way that they wanted it to.
Or the print could like, couldhave been like, different colors
that were in the inkjet at thetime didn't show up. Of course,
with fashion being so quick andfast, you have all these end of
(03:42):
season and trends that are justdone. So then once a brand's
finished, like, what are wegoing to do with this fabric? It
just sits it just sits there.Yeah,
Jane Clauss (03:52):
and you think about fast fashion, I talk a lot about
fast fashion versus slowfashion, and I try to get and
inform people about the slowfashion movement. So you are
actually using the fabric fromfashion and giving it to those
who are in that slow fashionmovement.
Unknown (04:08):
Mm, hmm, exactly, exactly, coming from being let's
say you're a budding designer,and you want to start a fact
your fashion line you going tothe mills, the minimums are so
large, like 1000 yards offabric, let's say just for one
garment. Yeah. Like, how are yougoing to do that? So dead stock
(04:29):
is a great opportunity forbudding designers and hobby
psoas and brands to utilizethese unwanted fabrics. So let's
talk about finding
Jane Clauss (04:40):
this dead stock fabric. How do you source it?
And then talk about the journeythe fabric makes from being
manufactured and then getting toyour store. Yeah.
Unknown (04:50):
So I source through suppliers that specialize in
dead stock. They are calledjobbers. This is the old
garmento term. Uh, so where, youknow, a brand would be finished
with their fabrics before goingto the trash. Or even some
brands incinerate these fabrics.Some want to make, you know,
(05:12):
their make some money back onit, and they will sell it,
almost in a way of, like, like,Storage Wars. So it's almost
Storage Wars. So where thesemanufacturers will open up their
warehouses and be like, this isall the fabric we don't want
anymore. People will come in andplace bids, and then they resell
(05:33):
it. So I source from them. Wow.
Jane Clauss (05:35):
So you are in California. Do you? Do you
solely stay there and that'swhere you're sourcing it, or is
it sort of all over, and youmake the trip and say, I'll take
what you have.
Unknown (05:45):
So I am based in Los Angeles. I have not made a trip
to anywhere else, but here, asfar as in terms of buying
fabric, but like you can finddead stock in Chicago,
especially in New York. Soplaces where there are dream
manufacturing. Los Angeles isdefinitely the hub, because we
are the apparel manufacturers,like the largest in the United
(06:08):
States. When did
Jane Clauss (06:09):
you get into dead stock fabric? Have you always
been into sustainability? Haveyou always been into fabric?
What was that? Aha moment.You're like, ah, dead stock
fabric. Yeah.
Unknown (06:19):
So I have always loved sewing, I would say, like,
probably my first introductionto dead stock was when I was a
little girl. This is in the 90s.I grew up in the Pacific
Northwest, and my mom loved tosew. I love digging through
fabrics in her sewing room, andshe always encouraged my
creativity, and would have me bea part of the design process of
(06:41):
whatever she was outfit she wasgoing to be making for me. So we
would go to this largewarehouse, and it was fabric by
the pound, and she wouldliterally throw me on top of a
pile of fabric and be like, gofind fabric for your outfit. You
know what we're going to bemaking. And I would say that was
probably like my very firstintroduction of dead stock, I've
(07:02):
always been like a Thrifter, DIYup cycler, like any any way that
I can make my clothes different.I was always for it. I was
always the little outsider inhigh school and making little t
shirt dresses and sewing patcheson but my full introduction to
dead stock was I had agirlfriend who worked at this
(07:23):
warehouse, and she was like,Hey, we're hiring. And as soon
as I, like, walked in the doorand it's floor to ceiling of
pallets of fabric rolls likeevery color texture you can
imagine. And I was like, Yeah, Ican work here.
Jane Clauss (07:41):
My dream. I just said this yesterday somebody. I
love walking into a fabricstore, and I love walking into a
fabric store where it's fabricby the pound, or there's bolts
and bolts of fabric, and you canjust walk around and touch it
and feel the texture and look atthe colors. I base my vacations
around going to discount fabricstores because I love them. Or
(08:04):
if I'm in another country, Ijust find any fabric store. It's
just something that I love. Sowhen I met you, well, I didn't
actually meet you. I met yourbusiness. So by so.com and I was
like, This is amazing, becauseyou are selling these fabrics
that were once loved, but nowthey can be loved again, because
they're not out of style.They're really flipping cool. So
(08:29):
when you get your fabrics, youhave to obviously organize them
or manage them, or inventorythem. I mean, when you get
fabric from all these places,are your eyeballs bulging out of
your head. Oh
Unknown (08:41):
my gosh. It is, like the most natural high. I
absolutely love that I get to goand dig through these dusty,
dirty warehouses, uh, lookingfor fabric and just anything. I
mean, sometimes I have to put atimer on because I'm like, This
is too much. I can see, like myentire day in this one store,
(09:03):
but yeah, definitely goingaround and it, it is visually
overwhelming, but with thatoverwhelm from seeing it, so I
started working in dead stockback in 2013 when I was
introduced to it. 2021 I startedso by so left my day job to
start this venture, and becauseI was just always amazed of how
(09:25):
much dead stock exists, and Iwould sell to small which I I
still do and support, and I lovesupporting small businesses, but
I started selling wholesale toindependent fabric stores and
small brands and manufacturers,but there are still some pieces
of swatches I was sending themwhere I was like, this fabric is
so cute, I don't know whythey're not choosing it like
(09:49):
this fabric still needs a homeif they're not going to get it,
who else is going to get it? Howcan I share that my love of
these prints and these stylesand textures with the mask. Is
like, how do I do that? So myfirst kind of introduction,
introducing so by so to thepublic, was through mystery
fabric bundles, which has been awhirlwind. It's they're so fun
(10:15):
also for me to put together,because these are organized.
It's seven different colors, sixdifferent style esthetics. So
you can do like a red retrobundle or purple cottage core,
green grunge. You go to thewebsite
Jane Clauss (10:31):
so by so.com and they're all of these
combinations that she offers youthere to pick the fabric, and
then Sarah will just send you abox of fabric, whether it's a
pound, three pounds, 10 pounds,and when it arrives at your
doorstep, it is like a littlegift from heaven. It is like
Christmas morning opening it upfor somebody who loves fabric,
(10:51):
just to wait to find out what'sin the mystery bundle is so
joyful. So I recommend thateverybody go to so by so.com get
a mystery bundle just for thethrill of it, because it's fun,
even if you're not going to makesomething out something out of
it, you're going to bring itdown to your friend who's a
seamstress, and let them makesomething out of it. This is
just a fun way to say fabric andalso create something. I was in
(11:11):
a fabric store in New York,Sarah with one of my best
friends, who is an accountant.She's got multiple degrees, and
she's the top of her game in theworld of finance. And here I am,
little miss creative. My mind islike, Willy Wonka factory,
always colors, always wanting tomake something. So we go into
this fabric store, and I waslike, wow, look at all these
(11:32):
opportunities to make something.And she said, I don't know what
you would do in here. There'snothing in here. I'm like, Are
you kidding me? You can makeanything, anything you can
imagine, with all the fabric inhere, whether it's clothes or
home decor or outside or inside,like anything you can think of,
you can make it from the fabricthat's in here. That is how I
(11:54):
feel when I get a mystery bundlefrom you. I can make anything I
want. And it's so much fun toreceive the bundle and then
decide what we want to make. Yousaid that your business exploded
when you started offeringmystery bundles. Talk about the
moment in 2023 you'd been doingit for a couple years, working
like specifically in theselittle niches of groups like
(12:18):
designers and small businesses,but talk about the moment that
everything changed on yoursocial media. Video,
Unknown (12:25):
yeah. So I was, I was posting on on Instagram, like,
Okay, this is what I'm doing,little behind the scenes. And I
was like, You know what? Ihaven't tried anything on Tiktok
yet. Like, what is this? What isthis Tiktok, and my very first
video, I for some reason, likethe sound is, like, not on it
(12:48):
anymore, but you could read thecaptions, and it's pretty much
just saying, like, Hey, myname's Sarah. I own so by so I
am on a mission to keep textilewaste out of the landfills.
Like, this is what I do as I'm,like, posing in this giant
warehouse just full of all ofthese fabric rolls. And it just
(13:10):
went off, like, I just postedit. Like, Oh, I did this thing,
yeah. And moments later, gettingnotifications of the views,
increasing comments, peopleasking, How do I order from you?
And I was like, by the pound,because I was the easiest thing,
because I was not like, Okay,I'm not going to do like, a
whole catalog of fabrics. Like,let's do it by the pound. I have
(13:32):
a background in being a visualmerchandiser, so for me, in my
mind, for this offer was okay,it has to be like different
categories, because when you'rea merchandiser, you have to
think of different charactersthat you're merchandising in the
store, like, Okay, this is ourresort. Our resort girl, like,
she's going to the beach, okay?She's going to Miami, okay, this
(13:53):
is our grunge moment. She lovesher plaid. She loves her
florals. So that's how Iorganize the bundles. So where
you can choose from differentstyle esthetics. And I wanted to
choose esthetics too that itmakes it fun for me to put them
together. Yeah, um, so it's notjust like, here's a red bundle,
or if you're just like, randommystery fabric, like it's it
(14:14):
makes it fun you get you havefun opening them and that
surprise, and I have fun puttingthat surprise together for you.
Jane Clauss (14:21):
You put all the mystery bundles together by
yourself. Currently,
Unknown (14:26):
yes, so right now, we are small operations. It's
myself and my husband, but weare looking into growing in the
future. Well,
Jane Clauss (14:35):
that's fine. You could grow, but we're all still
going to want Sarah to put themystery bundles together for us,
because now we know that it'sall you. It's coming from you. I
love him to give each category Apersonality. So when I was drawn
to you and what you're doing atso by so.com was grunge, was
(14:56):
floral, was plaids, like younamed all of these things. And
I'm like. I am that girl, or Ifeel like her today, or I love
this, like I'm a grunge girl.The 90s were my thing. I loved
it, like that was my place. Sogrunge for me, I'm like, Yeah,
I'm in or and I love florals nowin my older age. So when you
have a floral, when you have afloral category, I'm like, let's
(15:18):
I always look for the piece offabric with, like, the largest
flower I could ever imagine, andmultiple of them, I've not found
it yet. Okay, yeah, with a darkbackground, and I've not found
it yet. Yeah, the littlechallenge for you, if you find
it, but yeah, when she give it apersonality, I thought this was
great. And I also talked to alot of psoas, and I thought they
(15:40):
need to know you, and they needto know about deadstock fabric,
because it's so important tosustainability in the
environment. I get it. I uselots of thrift store clothing
and turn them into somethingelse. You are doing this with
fabric that's going to head tothe landfill. So let's talk
about the stats a little bit. Isaid in the opening that 92
(16:02):
million tons of textile wastehappens every year from fashion
houses. And now I'm not dissingfashion houses. They do what
they do. We can't change theworld, but we're just doing a
little bit, a little bit that wecan to to help. Right? Is that
kind of where it comes from,from you, the little bit that
you can do to help is whatyou're doing.
Unknown (16:22):
Oh, totally. I mean, for me again, you know, I
Thrifter, upcycle air, DIY, er,and it, I want to say it was
around 2013 2014 and I wasintroduced to the Fashion
Revolution, which is a nonprofitorganization that brings
education to the fashionindustry at large and through
(16:46):
just like reading more of thecontent that they put out, and
just educating myself that hasalways been so strong and so
close to me, where I'm like,Okay, well, how can I continue
to branch out this messageFashion Revolution has a really
great motto of asking brands formore transparency and asking who
(17:08):
made my clothes and bringingethical and sustainable fashion
to the forefront, because thefashion industry is in the top
three most polluting industriesin the world. So that's a big
problem any way that we canbring education to this is a
win, and no step is like, toosmall, like, I'm a huge believer
(17:30):
that baby steps still move usforward, and everyone can do
their part at their own level,whether it is just upcycling a t
shirt or something that theyhave in their own closet, or
maybe it's doing fabric orclothing swaps with friends you
know, for you to find your ownpersonal style in a sustainable
way, or to buying dead stockfabric for your next sewing
(17:54):
project and the bundles, is howI'm able to calculate how I keep
waste out of the landfill,because These are by the pound.
So last year, we did just under5000 pounds of textile waste.
And these, these bundles arefilled, so of course, with dead
stock fabric. But being here inLos Angeles and with all of the
(18:16):
manufacturing that happens,manufacturer will will cut uh,
an item, cut their product, andthen they're sitting with like
these small they consider themsmall scraps, but these can be
up to 820, yard pieces that werejust left off off of the cutting
table. So I love to go and youcan watch and see my videos, and
(18:38):
I'm just digging it throughthese massive mountains of
fabric, and most of them arethese off cuts, but they're
perfectly good fabric, andthey're so fun and stylish. So
Jane Clauss (18:49):
820 yard pieces are considered scraps. Yeah, yeah,
you should consider doing fieldtrips with you to these
warehouses to help get it wouldbe fun. I would sign up. I would
sign up in one second. I wouldfly to Los Angeles. I would get
in a car with you. We could renta bus, and I would go and I
(19:12):
would climb through themountains of fabric with you,
just because I think that's fun.Yeah, come on down. You can
probably charge people for that.I'm just thinking of another
like, revenue screen for you.But like, if you're obsessed
with fabric, like, this would besuper fun. If you're telling me
820 yard pieces is scraps, like,Oh yeah, I'm in Yeah,
Unknown (19:29):
and it's perfectly good. And it's like, what can
you do with an eight yard piece?Like, I mean, there's so much. I
started a fun thing I startedthis year, is called the bulk
and save collection. So it's aselection of fabrics where you
can order in five yardincrements and save up to 20%
off the original price. And thisis a great way, especially if
(19:51):
you want to share your fabricswith friends, like you're like,
you know what? Let's go in.Let's go in on this five yards.
Maybe it can be a fun sewingchallenge. But you guys all make
something different. You know,everyone gets a yard or
something. Everybody
Jane Clauss (20:05):
needs to know you and know what you're doing.
Because I don't care if you'renot a sewist, you're not a
designer, buy some fabric andhave someone else make it for
you, or staple it together, glueit together, figure out
something to do with it, becausewhat you're doing promotes
creativity, and it also, likeyou said, Baby Steps Make
(20:26):
everybody are still moveforward. So I think that is so
important. As a sewing nerd, asyou like to call us in your
newsletter. Yeah, have you evercome across some super rare or
super designer fabrics thatyou're like, Oh, I gotta keep
this one.
Unknown (20:45):
Ooh.
Jane Clauss (20:47):
Um,
Unknown (20:49):
you know, I have, I have, there is this really cute
silk, silk print, silks Since2020, have been so hard, have
been such a challenge to comeacross post pandemic, and where
it was just like, like, twotones of pink and two tones of
blue, little hearts. Oh, it wasso cute. And I bought the roll,
(21:15):
and I held on to it, and thenfinally, I was like, Okay, we're
going to list it online I got,and this is early, early on,
when I started listing fabricsdidn't get a lot of bites,
because I think more people, Imean, silk is more expensive
than a cotton or a rayon, yeah.So I was like, You know what?
Well, I'm just going to, we'rejust going to give it out into
(21:36):
the world, and we're going toput it in some natural mystery
bundles for the folks who wantto use natural fibers. I didn't
keep it for long. You wanted to,though. I mean, I wanted to.
There's so many cute prints.
Jane Clauss (21:48):
It's kind of like working, I would say, at a
retail store, you're like,that's cute, that's cute, and
then you spend your entirepaycheck on the clothes that are
in the store. Is what I did inhigh school. It's like, you have
all this fabric, you know, howmuch making can you do? So it's
good thing that you're gettingit out of your store and into
the hands of makers, and doingit step by step. And I think
it's fantastic. You are runninga small business. You are
(22:12):
running a big small business.What are some of the challenges
that you face running thisbusiness of the dead stock
fabric, ooh,
Unknown (22:21):
um, I would say challenges, definitely, these
rolls are heavy, so it's a lotof lifting. The bags that I I
purchased for my mysterybundles, these, like bulk bags
of fabric scraps weigh anywherefrom 65 to 100 pounds. Wow. And,
(22:43):
you know, I I'm like, 112pounds, and I have my little
cart and my husband with me, andwe'll pull these bundles up into
our workspace and then gothrough them so that that's a
challenge with the fabric,finding storage for them.
Jane Clauss (22:59):
Oh, yeah, if you're in LA, you can put it outside,
yeah. And actually, I workoutside
Unknown (23:04):
like that is currently where my work studios. We have a
huge tent and coverage. We keepthe fabrics inside until I'm
folding cutting and foldingoutside, and a long table that
will cut and fold. And we'lljust listen to some podcasts or
some music. You're
Jane Clauss (23:21):
going to listen to yourself on a podcast next.
There you go. Yeah, that's wild.So what I'm encouraged by
because I talk a lot aboutsustainable fashion and and that
is really why I wanted everyoneto meet you and hear what you're
doing and all the good thatyou're doing. But I've also been
recognizing companies that havea sustainable plan, or
(23:43):
sustainability plan, they aresaying, Okay, well, I know that
this, you know, these clothesaren't going to sell, but we're
going to put them here where youknow they have a plan. Have you
come across that outside of thedead stack fabric companies that
you work with? Have you seenother bigger manufacturers
making strides to help withwaste.
Unknown (24:05):
I have seen that through partnerships with
nonprofits of what to do withtheir leftover garment made
inventory. I would love to seemore transparency through that,
I feel like it's still a littlelike, we're doing this, but I
don't like, I want to see, Iwant to see you doing it, like,
(24:27):
give me a video,
Jane Clauss (24:30):
right? But are you doing that?
Unknown (24:32):
Yeah, but are you doing it? I think it's really
important for us to to questionthe brands that are making our
clothes. If you are, you know,if you don't know how to sew
yet, sewing, you can, anyone cando it, yeah, but it's so, it's
so important to ask these brandsthat are making such a harmful
(24:55):
and wasteful impact on our worldto be like, do better. You have
the money to do better. So doit. Yeah, and
Jane Clauss (25:03):
I agree with you, and it might just be an item on
a list for the meeting, but atleast they're thinking about it,
and if it gets transferred tothe next week, hopefully
sometime they will talk aboutit. But for the for the
meantime, you are doingsomething about it, and you are
really shining the spotlight ondead stock fabric. And I want,
(25:24):
there's so many people, Sarah,across the country that I know
that are upcycling and, youknow, doing sustainable fashion,
that I want them to know you.And so I think this is great. I
hope that we're going to help.How can small businesses and
hobbyists and psoas be moreintentional with their fabric
choices. So
Unknown (25:43):
there's a couple couple ways you can do that, of course,
like if you want to go the routeof consuming and using more
natural fibers. So that's goingto be our cotton, linen rayon,
considered semi synthetic justdue to the process, but it is
created by wood pulp. So comesfrom nature silk, that's a great
(26:06):
way that you can bringsustainability into your sewing
room through the garmentprocess. Also, I think there's
so many different opportunitiesto upcycle your scraps, like,
what are you going to because ifyou're sewing I, I mean, even
for me and my my sewing room,like, I save all of my cutting
scraps. And with my otherbusiness, my clothing brand
(26:30):
called Camus Lily co I'm workingon a zero waste model where it's
like, how do we upcycle all ofthese scraps so anything that's
large enough to like, okay, wecan do a scrunchie out of this,
or maybe, like a little neck tiesmaller scraps, shredding them
and using them as stuffing forpet pillows.
Jane Clauss (26:48):
I just redid all of my organization in my sewing
room, and I have been full offabric scraps, and they could be
really small little squares, orthey could be, you know, sort of
odd shaped pieces, but I don'tthrow them away, because when
I'm making something else, I'mlike, Well, I think I can use
this piece for that. And a lotof times you can make a crazy
(27:10):
quilt or a patchwork cover orsomething where you're using
these pieces together to createanything. But that is again,
where taking a moment of quietand letting the creativity come
to you on how you're going touse those fabric scraps. I
always say, save your scraps.
Unknown (27:27):
Totally
Jane Clauss (27:29):
natural fibers, super important, sometimes hard
to work with, but I agree withyou, that's a way to be
intentional on your your fabricshopping or your fabric
purchases, because we know thatpolyester takes a long time to
decompose if it's in a landfill.We know that more natural fibers
(27:50):
are going to decompose quickerif they end up in a landfill or
incinerator. You talked aboutyour own clothing line, which I
love, and your zero wasteinitiative. You're so busy with
this business. So by so.com Howare you finding time to sew?
Unknown (28:08):
So I have not sewed in a long time, in a minute, in a
minute. Um, now I have with myclothing brand. I started that
back in 2018 and I started thatout of my living room, dining
room, and just like cutting andsewing and starting my own
production till eventually, Iwas able to find a small batch
(28:29):
manufacturer here in LA where Ican do Limited Edition runs of
sustainable loungewear. Cool.Yeah. So now I no longer am
sewing. I go and I visit mymother daughter, duo Rosa and
Elizabeth, who sew, cut and seweverything for me, but I still,
but I get to still be aroundsewing machines. I
Jane Clauss (28:53):
understand, because if you have multiple things that
you want to sew and be puttogether, you need help. You
can't do it all yourself,because you know, it takes time,
but at the same time, you stillhave that urge to sit at the
sewing machine and bind the twopieces of fabric together,
because it just gives them a newlife, and it turns them into
something different. I askeverybody this because the show
(29:15):
is called Creative living. Whatdoes creativity mean to you?
Unknown (29:22):
Creativity? Means to me, a way of self expression,
and no idea that you have is adumb idea. Just do it. I think
being creative, it is an outletto support mental health. I know
that if I am in a funk and Ijust need to, like, I haven't
(29:43):
done anything with my hands, Ineed to go. And lately I've been
like, painting fabric. So I'mlike, I need to go and just get
that creative juice out.
Jane Clauss (29:54):
Yeah, get in flow. What would you say to somebody
to inspire them to start sewing?I always say. A couple of
straight stitches and a littlebit of math. Just give me an
hour, and I promise you willfeel better afterwards. What do
you say? So I'm going
Unknown (30:08):
to start, yeah, if you can sew a straight line, you can
do anything. Sewing is reallygreat to I mean, it definitely
teaches you patience with foryourself, and I think you can
extend that out into the worldas well, but it's a it's a
process. And give yourself thatgrace when you are trying
(30:29):
anything new. But with sewing,if you can sew a straight
stitch, you got this. You
Jane Clauss (30:34):
got this. I did this media tour and across the
country, and I was on morningshows across the country with
the sewing machine. And yes, Iwas inspiring people. Was either
back to school or it was homedecor or whatever the the topic
was that I would have a tablefull of things that that I
sewed, and I was in telling thehost what people should do for
this time of year, and I had asewing machine with me. My most
(30:58):
favorite part of that entiretour across the country was
making the host sew. A lot ofthem said, Oh, my grandma had
one, all right, my mom used tosew, or I used to do this in
high school. And they got onguys, girls, everybody, they got
on there. She know, I can't doit. Like, yeah, you can. And
they did it. They go, wow, thisis so fun. And the joy on their
face to just watch somebody whowas in their uncomfortable zone
(31:20):
become comfortable. Was such awin for me to do that. And so
again, when we go back to, whyshould you try? Why not? Yeah,
Unknown (31:29):
Oh, totally. I mean, I had your story reminds me back
when I was it's like my lateteens, and this is before, like
guys had skinny jeans, like guyshad to sew their own or, like,
have their own pants tailored tomake skinny jeans, or by women's
(31:51):
jeans. But I had too many guyfriends asked me to alter their
jeans, and at the time, I hadtwo sewing machines because I
had mine, and then an extra onethat my mom gave me, right?
Like, okay, well, listen, youwant your pants sewn? I'm going
to teach you how to sew. And Iwould do like, little lessons
(32:11):
with these, like, tough punkguys, like, when they did it,
they did it. So if these guyscan do it, anyone can do it.
Listen,
Jane Clauss (32:19):
I taught my radio partner how to take in his
shirts. He's like, I'm gettingcharged $10 to take in the sides
of my shirt. I go, Well, here'ssome sewing machine. Let me show
you how to do it. And now it'sbeen years. So he does his pants
and shirts. And I don't think hetells anybody he does it,
because he's like, embarrassed,but he does it and he loves it
because he'll call me on theside, yeah, by the way. He says,
(32:40):
are you at a fabric store? Hecalls me, and then he says,
Okay, wait, I'm. I'm Wait, I'mdoing this again. I forgot how
to thread the needle. But oncehe gets that, yeah, once he gets
that, he's good to go. So let meask you this. I'm so excited for
you. I'm so excited for thegrowth of this company and this
movement towards sustainablefashion and what you're doing
with dead stock fabric. I wantedeverybody to make sure we knew
(33:00):
exactly what it was. What isnext for so, by So, what is on
the horizon? Any projects,expansions? What are you doing?
Unknown (33:07):
Oh, so lately, especially with the big closure
of Joanne's, Mm, hmm, alright.Are
Jane Clauss (33:15):
you going to get all their fabric? Um, no,
Unknown (33:19):
I'll, leave. I'll leave that for everyone who's going to
miss them so much within therural communities who needs
Joanne's so sad to see thisgiant go on so many levels. I am
just like feeling for theirworkforce, but with the news of
them, you know, closing down allof their stores across the
(33:42):
nation. I've just been thinkinglike, Okay, well, what can the
future of fabric shopping looklike? What do like? What do we
need? You know, I did a postsharing small fabric stores from
across the country where I wasable to get a growing list,
which I have linked in my bio,because it was like when the
(34:04):
news dropped that the first 500store, the first 500 I could
just feel like, okay, everyone'sgoing to be in panic mode. How
can I create a resource to showpeople like, no, there are still
fabric stores, and you need toshop from them, and you can find
them here. So with that, I'mjust, what can the future of
fabric shopping look like? A lotof people commenting, oh, well,
(34:26):
I won't be able to feel thefabric. Walking into a fabric
store, as you know, and sharedis such a special experience.
And even if you were just goingin for some thread, you're still
going to touch the fabric, andyou're all going to miss that.
But some ways that I see fabricshopping changing for the future
(34:46):
is what if it can bringcommunity together within the
mains of like a swatch party. Somaybe it's a friend orders a 20
pound bundle of mystery fabric,or you guys. In on stuff. And
what if there are like, swatchesavailable that you can feel of
fabrics that are listed online?What if you did a pop up fabric
(35:09):
store like, what if you couldbuy fabric like you buy apples
and oranges at the farmersmarket? You know, you have a
little pop up there, and thatway it makes it more special and
also more sustainable. You know,these fabrics are coming from
dead stock, whereas not beingmass produced with is what
Joanne's was doing, having Millsmake 1000s of yards of fabric to
(35:33):
fill all of their stores. Andnow they're, you know, we're
sitting on, we're going to besitting on like their dead stock
to up cycle. But how can we usewhat's already available and
help reduce waste and bringcommunity together? So I'm so
I'm so excited to see what isnext for average shopping. I
Jane Clauss (35:53):
think that's great. You could have it at the Summer
farmers market. You could justbuy the big, huge mystery bundle
and cut it into sizes, or justhave the large sizes and then
cut it right there, and thenyou're selling these fabrics.
You can make that into your ownbusiness. I think that's really,
yeah, and it's a great idea.It'd
Unknown (36:13):
be a great opportunity, even too for, like, if it was,
like, a stay at home parent, youknow, of like, okay, well, I'm
just selling this, yeah, just mypop ups every Saturday. Yeah,
get out in the world, in thecommunity, sure. And
Jane Clauss (36:25):
you'll, you'll meet, you know, it's, it's
funny, the sewists come out ofthe woodwork. When, when fabrics
out, even if you're not sewing,because people might use it for
something else. I think that'sgreat. I'm still not totally
over the fact that Joanne isclosing. I'm not. I'm sort of in
denial. Still like, what thisclosing I go there. This is
where I go. Sarah, people wantto learn more. They want to get
(36:49):
to you. They want to buy somefabric. What do they do? Give us
some socials. Give us a website,yeah,
Unknown (36:55):
so you can visit and shop@www.so by sew.com, S, E, W,
b, y, s, e, w, and you can findme on tick tock and Instagram at
sew, by sew. Just come visit me.Show me what you're making. Like
I want to see what you'recreating, whether it's with my
(37:15):
fabric, just what is on yoursewing table.
Jane Clauss (37:18):
I like it now. I'm saving this because we talked
about mystery bundles. I ordereda mystery bundle. Now people
cannot see this. They're onlylistening, but I have a mystery
bundle in my hand. It is aMickey and Minnie box that I
wondered if you recycled oreverything comes in a Mickey and
Minnie box from
Unknown (37:36):
Disney. No, so that box came here in Pasadena, we have
creative reuse center, whichhighly recommend for anyone to
visit. So these are primarilylike, like, thrift stores for
craft and art supplies. So I wasat my I was at my local
remainders, and they had a stackof these. Like, Mickey and
(37:59):
Goofy. Is it goofy or what's hisdog's name? But yeah, so Mickey
and Friends boxes. And I waslike, these are fun. These are
perfect. It's saving me moneybecause I don't have to buy new
boxes. Yeah, able to recyclewith all of my packaging. That
has been another challengingthing with business is trying to
(38:20):
package things using nopeplastic or minimal plastic, so
it's using gum, tip tape, or thetape that you see there, like
that Brown, natural, oh, yeah,or natural adhesive.
Jane Clauss (38:32):
I got this mystery bundle from you, like months
ago. I haven't opened it becauseI've been waiting to talk to
you, to open it with you sopeople cannot see. I don't know
what I received yet. I'm gonnapull out the fabric. I'm
probably, I probably went togrunge, and I probably, oh,
(38:53):
let's see together. A note herefrom Sarah says, Thanks, Jane,
for your patience and support.And I have a fabric here is a
mouth that say, er, yes, it'sjust big squirts of teeth and
mouth. So I love this. Thank youfor picking this. For me. I have
piece of leopard here that'skind of orangey leopard, yeah,
(39:14):
by the way, leopard. So in now,in this year 2025, leopard has
made a comeback, althougheverything is still leopard. I
have patchwork florals.
Unknown (39:23):
Yes, that's what that is. One of my favorite prints.
And it's called grandma's Favebecause it's so retro and ditsy,
and it's just so happy. It's sohappy,
Jane Clauss (39:35):
which is so me. I love it. It's just, it looks
like it's just strips ofdifferent types of floral
fabrics, sewn together, yeah,printed on, printed on, printed
on, yes. And then finally, italmost looks like a tablecloth.
It's checkered red with someblue flowers on it. Yeah, so
cute. Yeah. So thank you for mymystery bundle. I bought this
(39:56):
like I bought this months ago.Yeah? It is exactly what I
expected. I probably chosebright colors. Give me some
retro I want grandma. And Ididn't open it on purpose
because I wanted to open it withyou so you could see the joy in
my face when I got my mysterybundle. And I think you picked
the best ones for me. So thankyou so much, Sarah, thank
Unknown (40:18):
you. I can't wait to see what you create for
Jane Clauss (40:22):
anyone who wants to get their hands on some one of a
kind, dead stock fabric. Youheard it here first go to sew by
so.com and fuel your creativitywhile keeping all of these
textiles out of land fills.Sarah, I love what you're doing
there. I love this businessmodel, and I love it not only as
(40:43):
a fabric lover, but as somebodywho truly believes in
sustainable fashion and keepingcreativity alive. Happy Sewing
to everybody. Happy upcycling.Happy sew by sew.com. Let's keep
making fashion more sustainable,one stitch at a time. Sarah
(41:03):
Torres, thank you so much forjoining us on creative living.
Unknown (41:07):
Thank you so much for having me live
VO (41:10):
better creatively for more inspiration. Visit. Jane
clauss.com, thank you forlistening. You
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