Eco-stitchers: Sustainable Textile Art on Climate Change

Everything to know about Fabric and Textiles

Eco-stitchers: Sustainable Textile Art on Climate Change

There is currently a super exhibition at Sheffield Central Library of the work of Eco-stitchers, a Sheffield group of textile artists who work in an environmentally conscious and sustainable way.

My favourite piece was a textile version of the Climate Stripes, which shows how the planet is heating over time. This week, during the heatwave, the constant noise from climate deniers saying that it was just as bad in 1976 has really annoyed me! Such people need to look at the science, which doesnt just show that the Earth is heating up, but it also shows that the rate at which it is heating is increasing.

We can see this clearly in the way records have been broken this week, not by a small amount, but in massive jumps. Records were broken 3 days in a row. The previous hottest day in June was 35.6C, which was reached on 28 June 1976. This has now been smashed by 1.7C. 1976 shows as a red stripe, but you can see those temperatures have now become normal.

26th June 2026 was the 6th hottest day ever recorded in the UK (37.3C), and all the hotter ones have been since 2003, with the hottest 19th July 2022 (40.3C) and the second hottest 25th July 2019. The June record was broken 3 times last week, and we had 3 days in a row of temperatures above 35C including 2 red extreme heat warnings.

The climate stripes image was created by Professor Ed Hawkins at the University of Reading in 2018. It shows how the worlds average temperatures have risen over nearly two centuries.

Ecostitchers sewed the climate stripes

How does the image work

The image shows world temperatures from 1850 to 2018. Each stripe represents the average temperature for a single year, relative to the average temperature over the period as a whole.

The blue colours indicate cooler-than-average years, while red shows years that were hotter than average. The red stripes on the right side of the image show the rapid heating of our planet in recent years.

You can see temperature changes for more than 200 countries, states and cities (available to download for free) from thewebsite. People in every country can see how their local climate is heating. You can share the image and help start conversations about climate change.

The Ecostitchers made a version in thread, inviting people to take part and fill one or more stripes, or part of a stripe, with thread using any type of stitch they chose, and this was the result.

Ecostitchers

Ecostitchers are made up of Allison James, Maria Newman, Jan Novitzky, Jude Shore and Liza Smeeton.

Their work to date has focused on themes such as climate change in marine environments, trees, no rain no flowers, and changing landscapes.

Hills and Rivers is a joint work by the 5 members of the Ecostitchers textile art group.
This piece takes its inspiration from the landscape of our city. Each panel is designed separately by one of the members, drawing on their particular skills and their feelings about the landscape.

Ecostitchers adopt the principles outlined by the movement for action against climate change. In their work:

Where possible, they resist buying new fabrics to work with.
They repurpose, reuse and recycle materials old clothes, old bed linens, old curtains, fabric off-cuts, fabric scraps, paper, card, etc.
They rehome materials and fabrics unwanted by other people.

This exhibition includes a selection of pieces across the different themes, made using techniques and materials such as handmade art felt, applique, silk paper making, hand and machine embroidery, and quilting.

If you want to find out more about them, or about a specific piece of work on display, you can contact them via: allisonjamestextilesgmail.

Do pop in to Central Library to see this when you are in town.

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I've been buying bamboo clothing lately because I really like the feel of it and it's the first fabric in a while that I find consistently pairs well with my sensory issues.

As a bonus, the bits that I could find seemed to indicate that it was pretty sustainable but I know that a lot of the market copy for products can be pretty prone to green-washing and I honestly can't seem to get a reliable answer on the matter.

My gut says that it's likely to be somewhat sustainable because of how quickly bamboo grows and replenishes but for all I know the chemicals necessary to turn it into a fabric are so toxic that it outweighs any potential positive impact it might have.

Anyway, putting that out there, curious if there are folks here who actually know about how its made. My search engine works just fine so I'm hoping to hear from folks who know about it and aren't in the same boat as me, reading random articles we find on the internet.

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