English
UPSOT - "Over, under and bringing it home".
In a Sydney-based studio, friends Su Pittams and Anneli Strutt, are teaching a class of students how to weave.
UPSOT - "Put this down straight away so it's closest to you."
They're using an ancient tool called a floor loom, specifically a Nordic floor loom.
It's a device that transformed the world's textile industry and more recently, changed Anneli's life, too.
"The first time I sat down at a loom and picked up a shuttle and threw it. I was like this is it. I just loved it straight away."
Anneli was born in Finland and admits her childhood played a major role in developing her love for handicrafts.
"You're taught to knit your own woolly socks, your mittens and these kinds of things out of necessity. So I think the appreciation for making things was always there."
After moving abroad, she returned in 2016 to be with her sick mother and stumbled across weaving at a craft expo.
"When my mum did die a year later, I was actually able to cut up a lot of her old clothes and textiles and things and put them into rugs. So it was a really nice way to keep her with me."
Anneli left Finland with that sentimental memento, but also with an idea for a project that is now helping Australians address a growing textile waste problem.
"Su and I went back to Finland in 20-19 and bought eight looms secondhand from various people, disassembled them all, labelled the parts, over 100 pieces, shipped them over here and just we just took a punt."
In Sydney, they set up a studio where they're now teaching people how to weave in the hope that they'll repurpose their old clothing.
Australia is the second largest consumer of textiles per person in the world.
On average, a person will purchase around 15 kilograms of new clothing each year.
They'll also discard around 10 kilograms into landfill, contributing to more than 200 000 tonnes of textiles thrown away each year.
It's a growing problem that Dean and Professor of RMIT's School of Fashion and Textiles, Alice Payne, is working to address.
"Whenever we dispose of our clothing, we're disposing of incredible resources that, you know, that can be used for other things and were disposing of the labour and the materials that went into that. So keeping materials in use for as long as possible, will overall reduce the environmental impact that the industry causes."
Professor Payne says even small projects will make a difference.
"In terms of the creative approach of reusing textiles, I find that although it might be niche and small scale, what it does is it can have a big impact in encouraging people and inspiring people to think differently about the materials in their lives."
Su and Anneli mainly use t-shirt yarn from factory remnants to teach their classes, but Su says they're also sourcing local unwanted textiles that can come in a range of forms.
"Tablecloths, curtains, sheets are great."
And for Anneli, sustainable weaving is just the beginning of what she hopes will be a complete change of attitudes.
"I feel like sustainability is a process. It's kind of funny that it's a noun, which makes it sound static, but I think it's a way of doing things and just the necessity now in all parts of our life, not just with, you know, recycling your clothes, but we just have to be more conscious of, of the resources and try and make the best of what already exists."
Italian
UPSOT - "Over, under and bringing it home".
In uno studio di Sydney, le amiche Su Pittams e Anneli Strutt insegnano a tessere a una classe di studenti.
UPSOT - "Put this down straight away so it's closest to you."
Stanno usando un antico strumento chiamato telaio da pavimento, precisamente un telaio da pavimento nordico.
È un dispositivo che ha trasformato l'industria tessile mondiale e, più recentemente, ha cambiato anche la vita di Anneli.
"The first time I sat down at a loom and picked up a shuttle and threw it. I was like, 'This is it'. I just loved it straight away."
Anneli è nata in Finlandia e ammette che la sua infanzia ha giocato un ruolo fondamentale nello sviluppo del suo amore per l'artigianato.
"You're taught to knit your own woolly socks, your mittens and these kinds of things out of necessity. So I think the appreciation for making things was always there."
Dopo essersi trasferita all'estero, è tornata nel 2016 per stare accanto alla madre malata e si è imbattuta nella tessitura ad una fiera dell'artigianato.
"When my mum did die a year later, I was actually able to cut up a lot of her old clothes and textiles and things and put them into rugs. So it was a really nice way to keep her with me."
Anneli ha lasciato la Finlandia con questo ricordo, ma anche con un'idea per un progetto che ora sta aiutando gli australiani ad affrontare il crescente problema dei rifiuti tessili.
"Su and I went back to Finland in 20-19 and bought eight looms secondhand from various people, disassembled them all, labelled the parts, over 100 pieces, shipped them over here and just we just took a punt."
A Sydney hanno aperto uno studio in cui insegnano alle persone a tessere, nella speranza che riutilizzino i loro vecchi abiti.
L'Australia è seconda nel mondo per consumo di tessuti pro capite.
In media, ogni anno una persona acquista circa 15 chilogrammi di vestiti nuovi.
Ne getta anche circa 10 chili nell’immondizia, contribuendo così a buttare più di 200.000 tonnellate di prodotti tessili all'anno.
Questo è un problema in crescita, che Alice Payne, preside e professoressa della RMIT School of Fashion and Textiles, sta cercando di risolvere.
"Whenever we dispose of our clothing, we're disposing of incredible resources that, you know, that can be used for other things and were disposing of the labour and the materials that went into that. So keeping materials in use for as long as possible, will overall reduce the environmental impact that the industry causes."
Secondo la professoressa Payne, anche progetti piccoli potranno fare la differenza.
"In terms of the creative approach of reusing textiles, I find that although it might be niche and small scale, what it does is it can have a big impact in encouraging people and inspiring people to think differently about the materials in their lives."
Per i loro corsi, Su e Anneli utilizzano principalmente filati di magliette provenienti da scarti di fabbrica, ma Su dice che si stanno anche procurando tessuti locali non utilizzati, che possono essere di varie origini.
"Tablecloths, curtains, sheets are great."
Per Anneli, la tessitura sostenibile è solo l'inizio di quello che spera sia un completo cambiamento di atteggiamento.
"I feel like sustainability is a process. It's kind of funny that it's a noun, which makes it sound static, but I think it's a way of doing things and just the necessity now in all parts of our life, not just with, you know, recycling your clothes, but we just have to be more conscious of, of the resources and try and make the best of what already exists."
Report by SBS News
