Fashioning a helping hand
North Yorkshire farming daughter and graduate fashion designer Sarah Thompson should be forging ahead with her promising career as a fashion designer but for now she’s stepping up to help the NHS by making washbags that nurses can use for the safe laundering at home of their uniforms.
Sarah said: “I made a few masks for friends and family using leftover fabrics from previous projects, which got me thinking how else could I help. I got in touch with some local nurses to see if there was anything they needed. Drawstring bags were a common response, as many have been using pillow cases to transport their work uniforms home to put straight into the wash.”
Using leftover fabrics and old curtains, Sarah came up with a simple design. “As a sustainable designer, I strongly believe in reusing/upcycling and I could not be happier to see my deadstock fabric be used for such a great purpose,” she says. Her drawstring bags have been distributed at Whitby Hospital and the James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough.
Sarah, 23, grew up at Dimmingdale, her parents’ farm 12 miles from Sandsend in the North York Moors National Park. She graduated from Sheffield Hallam University last November with a BA Hons in Fashion Design and was chosen to showcase her collection – made from repurposed farming garments – for Graduate Fashion Week Presents at London Fashion Week 2020 in February.
Sarah said: “I’m so happy to be able to help support our workers in the NHS. I’m hoping this can help keep families of our NHS workers safer too, and I just want to thank them all for what they’re doing.”
Materials needed
Fabric – main piece 20cm x 35cm and two side panels 15cm x 14cm.
Use different colours or prints to add interest, if you like.
Elastic – 15cm x 1cm (cut from a wider width if you don’t have the exact size)
Scissors; ruler or tape measure; pencil; pins; iron
1: 4:
5:
2: