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Abigail Wastie

@threadoflife

4.9K

followers

2012

following

✂️ Textile Activist
🍃 Material transparency
🧶 Sustainable education
Founder of Thread of Life and Ethical Atelier

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

Wreath workshops are live!
Saturday 5th Dec 1pm and 4pm in Allestree Derby.
All made with locally grown foliage.
Fancy festive treats 🍷 🥧 £50pp
Or if you fancy for version I offer a wreath box kit for £25.
I love making wreaths with you all, been such a pleasure over the years. Please do share with friends and family if you would enjoy doing this together x by @threadoflife

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a month ago

Derby’s Ethical Christmas Market applications are now open 🎉 emails have been sent.
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On Saturday 28th of Nov 10am-5pm.
🍃
If you would like an application email and havent recieved one please DM @threadoflife with your email address.
🍃
Please note we are a virgin plastic free event and are specifically looking for stall holders/makers/charities/CICs that in their own way are pushing the boundaries of ethical and sustainable manufacturing and service providers. 🙏 by @threadoflife

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3 months ago

Delighted to announce the next Ethical Atelier will be at Electric Daisy 🌼 🎉 shopping sustainable in the urban jungle 🍃 with beautiful craftspeople, local makers and vintage sellers.
Tickets are £5 which includes entry to including panel discussions- pre book essential and booking link in stories. ♥️
Please share and help us spread the word and make ethical shopping more accessible together 🙏 taken in Electric Daisy Derby by @threadoflife

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8 months ago

Making magic with sticks 🍁
Inspired by @michelegledhill
#slowhome #slowliving_ #autumnwreath #autumnalflowers by @threadoflife

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3 days ago

The ARTIST SHOWCASE is returning to the Women Who Make Festival at Masson Mills this Saturday. Discover handmade work, meet women artists and makers, hear the stories behind the pieces, and experience creativity in action.

📅 Saturday 10 October | 10am–5pm
📍 Masson Mills, Matlock Bath
✨ Free Festival | Everyone Welcome

Check out the artists in attendance this year & start making your shopping list:
@aandabarwick
@julie_leggettart
@kaleido_marbling_art
@jennymckenzieartist
@jbarneschilds
@instaabc23
@joturnerstainedglass
@samlaurensmithart
@candle_annie
@lynhodnett
@rebeccaelizabethdraws
@trishscullin_artist
@fancy.planks
@ivyrosediana
@bethsharlissjewellery_design
@annealldread
@yaahkalikelda
@no31embroidery
@artbyaliartist
@urbangarlands

Together with the Ethical Atelier, this year's markets can be explored within the Home By Milestone part of the historic textile mills- open to explore for the first time since 2020.

Women Who Make is organised in partnership with @weare.local @by_milestone @threadoflife @derbyshiremakes by @threadoflife

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9 days ago

📚 What’s on your reading list?

As we’ve been curating Women Who Make Festival at Masson Mills, we’ve been exploring all sorts of ideas around circularity, making, materials, nature and the things we choose to value.

And, perhaps unsurprisingly, quite a few books have found their way into those conversations!

At the top of our Women Who Make bookshelf is The Nature of Fashion by @carrysomers

We’re very excited that Carry will be joining us at Masson Mills. Her work connects so closely with the ideas we’ve been exploring, looking at the hidden stories of the fibres and dyes we wear and what nature can teach us about a more circular future for fashion.

✨ And we’ve just heard that The Nature of Fashion has been shortlisted for the World of Books Sustainable Story Award!

If you fancy meeting Carry and hearing more, she’ll be giving a talk and sharing readings from the book at the festival. If you haven’t read it yet, you’ll also be able to pick up a copy on the day. 📖

We’ve been asking some of the other women shaping the festival with us what’s on their bookshelves:

📖 To Die For: Is Fashion Wearing Out the World? | Lucy Siegle @theseagull
✨ Chosen by Abi Wastie @threadoflife | The Ethical Atelier Curator

📖 Resilient Stitch: Wellbeing and Connection in Textile Art | @cwellesleysmith
✨ Chosen by @claire_tymon_local | Women Who Make Creative Director

📖 Fletcher’s Almanac: Nature Encounters & Fashion Systems Through the Year, Volumes 1 & 2 | Kate Fletcher
✨ Chosen by @carrysomers | Author & Festival Speaker

📖 The Artist’s Way | @juliacameronlive
✨ Chosen by @netty.lou | Installation & Workshop Host

We’d love to know what’s on your bookshelf too. 📚

We’re always happy to discover something new.

#WomenWhoMake #DerbyshireMakes #WWMBookClub #WorldCircularTextilesDay @worldcirculartextilesday #TheNatureOfFashion #CircularTextiles #SustainableFashion by @threadoflife

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10 days ago

Getting ready for Saturday Ethical Atelier by making ridiculous bows and hanging them on my ugly washing line…hopefully it will look much prettier at @massonmills1783 😜 check out all the textile legends joining us on Saturday! You can book your free spot using my stories link x by @threadoflife

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11 days ago

Does sexism exist in UK fashion manufacturing? Does UK fashion manufacturing have a future?
•
What do you think 👀 👀 we love to know in comments here but also in discussions with Fashion industry experts @fazanefox Harriet Haiynes Young and Robyn Poundall. Who between them have worked for Tesco and Topshop to heritage brands Sunspel and John Smedley.
👖
Come to talk to us in person about it this Saturday afternoon @massonmills1783 as part of the Ethical Atelier and wider @derbyshiremakes Women Who Make festival book for free via stories link. taken in Masson Mills by @threadoflife

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12 days ago

🌍 What if textiles never became waste?

That’s the ambition behind World Circular Textiles Day – and the inspiration for this year’s Women Who Make Festival at Masson Mills.

The vision is bold: 100% circular textiles by 2050 – a future where textile products and raw materials stay in continual circulation, and dignity, equity and equality are part of the system.

It asks us to think bigger than recycling.

How do we make things? What do we value? What can we repair, reuse and reimagine? And what needs to change?

On Saturday 10 October, we’ll explore some of those questions through making, conversations, fashion, materials, heritage, nature and more.

🧵 Women Who Make Festival
📅 Saturday 10 October | 10am–5pm
📍 Masson Mills, Matlock Bath
✨ Free | Everyone Welcome

Come curious. Make, question, discover and join the conversation about what comes next.

Want to explore more? We’ve added a new blog to the Derbyshire Makes website, looking at the ideas behind this year’s festival and what you can discover on the day.

🔗 Read more via the link in our bio.

@weare.local @massonmills1783 @by_milestone @threadoflife #WomenWhoMake #DerbyshireMakes #WorldCircularTextilesDay #wctd2026 #CircularTextiles #CircularEconomy #UKManufacturing #Textiles #MassonMills by @threadoflife

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19 days ago

If an 11 year old gets a Trent Barton bus to school and doesn’t have a smart phone they could be charged and additional £585 per year compared to a child with a smart phone payment app.
📱
Derbyshire @smartphonefreechildhood and Derby school head teachers and dozens of Derby mums like me have spent months trying to negotiate with Trent Barton to ask them for fair pricing and they are refusing.
📞
Please help us spread the word about how unfair this is- like/share/repost/comment 🙏
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Smartphones are now classed as a prohibitive item in ALL UK schools, if parents are wishing not to give their child a phone Trent Barton is making it financially impossible.
☎️
Why do i care? My kids don’t even get the bus? Firstly because i think it’s so unfair on families. Secondly because I want my children’s community and schools to be able to be SP free but Trent Barton is hindering this.
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Why do i want smart phone free communities for our kids? ❌ 40% of children admitted to being distracted crossing the road to school because of their SF
❌ 64% of children said having a smartphone distracted them from spending time with their friends during school day
❌ 31% of students thought they would have got better GCSE results if there SF had not been allowed in schools
❌ 73% of children exposed to explicit and upsetting content say it happened on school grounds before they enter the school building by @threadoflife

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a month ago

Some random sewing projects this 🌞 summer old and new:
1- #springshorts by @peppermintmagazine in @guthrieghani denim and co-ord shirt which I hand embroidered scissors
2- made prim a #selfdrafted summer dress the night before hols with fabric from @destash4palestine (I love speedy spontaneous projects like this)
3-cutting a dark pair of #springshorts which I have worn on repeat again fabric is @destash4palestine
4- wearing above shorts with self drafted ruffle tee using #organiccotton Terry - this fabric I actually sell!! But I am rubbish at selling it 😂
5- repaired an old handy-me-down dress of mine from the 70s. Repairing it was a great way of learning seer sucker embroidery methods 🪡
6- Jelli prints to keep kiddos occupied for 2 mins 🎨
7- summer plum crop abundance 🍏
8- late night quilt sewing 🕊️ making a massive 🕊️ for my son. by @threadoflife

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2 months ago

Delighted to announce The Ethical Atelier is coming to #womenwhomake festival with @derbyshiremakes at the World Heritage site @massonmills1783 in Matlock- on Saturday the 10th of October.
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The Ethical Atelier is celebrating women who manufacture in the UK, from single craftswomen makers to field to factory manufacturers.
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A perfect place to shop, learn how to dress sustainably and ethically in 17century cotton mill.
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It’s free but ticketed event, booking link on our bio. There will also be demos, talks, workshops, tours and female makers markets.
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If you are a fashion or accessories maker and interested in applying for a spot please comment here and DM me your email address. Deadline for applications for Ethical Atelier is 7th august.
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The Ethical Atleier event will be hosted within @by_milestone beautifully refurbished ground floor of Masson Mill (where EWM shop use to be) where Milestone operate an eco home building show rooms 🔨🧱 taken in Masson Mills by @threadoflife

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3 months ago