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.

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

鈥淚 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,鈥� she said from Vancouver. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a layer of accessibility there that I really value.鈥�

Larsen and her peers see the sewing pattern model as a continuation of their 鈥渟low fashion鈥� mission 鈥� in contrast to fast fashion companies such as Zara and Shein 鈥� to reduce their industry鈥檚 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.

鈥淭here are many people, including myself, honestly, that can鈥檛 afford higher priced items,鈥� Larsen said. 鈥淚t feels really nice to be able to say to someone, 鈥楬ey, if you can鈥檛 afford this $240 tulip top that I make, you can sew it.鈥欌��

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. That鈥檚 part of why she designed the shirt that way.

鈥淚鈥檓 constantly aware of my own usage of resources as I go about my business,鈥� 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 doesn鈥檛 see the move as shrinking her customer base, since she will continue to sell made-to-order pieces.

鈥淚t鈥檚 coming full circle in a way,鈥� said Leah Barrett, a fashion professor at Toronto鈥檚 George Brown College. 鈥淚 am old enough to remember a time when clothing was made at home.鈥�

Much of the fashion industry鈥檚 environmental impact comes from overproduction, said Barrett, who specializes in sustainability in apparel manufacturing.

It鈥檚 possible home sewists 鈥� a preferred term for many, given sewer鈥檚 unfortunate homonym 鈥� 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.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of that prediction of demand that goes wrong and leaves designers with serious inventory issues,鈥� Barrett said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 no way around it.鈥�

Except, perhaps, selling patterns.

Though there鈥檚 still prediction involved 鈥� will customers like a garment enough to buy the pattern and take the time to sew it? 鈥� there isn鈥檛 much waste if designers guess wrong.

Barrett pointed to another Canadian clothing company that鈥檚 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.

鈥淎 style can fail if it鈥檚 not in the right fabric,鈥� she said, so offering fabric 鈥� or at the very least fabric suggestions 鈥� will 鈥渕inimize failure,鈥� 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.

鈥淚t鈥檚 like a negotiation with myself,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 would tell myself, 鈥榠t鈥檚 just a small amount and I would rather people invest in my brand and my artwork rather than a fast fashion brand.鈥� But at the end of the day, it鈥檚 still participating in it.鈥�

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

The result is the B.C.-based Beaton Weekend, which will soon release patterns of some of Beaton鈥檚 best-loved designs.

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

鈥淚鈥檓 basically spending all my time doing very nerdy and not very dopamine-driven work,鈥� she said.

Ultimately, she hopes it will be worth it.

鈥淭he thing about creating patterns is that once they鈥檙e made and they鈥檙e out in the world, it鈥檚 passive income. It鈥檚 done. You鈥檝e created something, and it鈥檚 digital,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t just kind of takes care of itself.鈥�

READ ALSO:

Nicole Thompson, The Canadian Press