Transforming Woven Design Samples into Clothing-Accessories-Home Textile Products within the Scope of Sustainability

Abstract

Weaving, one of the subfields of fashion, is a fabric production method that involves interlacing warp and weft yarns at right angles according to a predetermined pattern or motif. Many different weaving designs for the intended use can be made by using different derivatives and components of basic weaves (plain, twill, satin) or by developing original weave types.

In this study, weaving design samples created as course outcomes by students in the Weaving Design classes at the Department of Textile and Fashion Design, Faculty of Fine Arts, Çukurova University, have been transformed into clothing and home textile designs using upcycling and mending approaches. For this purpose, weaving design samples that were not taken back by students and had surpassed their archival period, along with waste primary and auxiliary materials donated by textile companies, were used to design blouses, sweaters, crop tops, corsets, sashes, tote bags, jabots, necklaces, pillows, placemats, and runners. In today’s world, where sustainability has become increasingly important, the idea of repurposing even the smallest pieces through recycling, upcycling, mending, and reuse techniques constitutes the first step in spreading such practices from the individual to the universal.

As a result of the study, suggestions were made to ensure that textile design samples and unused materials taken from textile firms are recycled instead of leaving them as waste in nature, to draw attention to sustainability and green economy, which are among the important issues of our day, and to contribute to the “zero waste” principle that should be adopted by society. Keywords: Weaving, clothing, sustainability, design, textile.