We have been sew excited about this month’s extra special Small Business Shout Out. We spoke to Sew Wasted business owner, Elysha Edwards to discover more about how her creative shenanigans turned into an overnight slow fashion brand success and find out all the details about our latest collaboration.

Like many, Elysha was furloughed during lockdown in 2020 and whilst rediscovering herself, began exploring her creative freedom and Sew Wasted began to take shape.

“I felt safe stuck inside these four walls without any judgement from the outside world, it gave me the freedom to just be me and I began to feel like my old self again which was an indescribable feeling of pure relief and happiness! One day during my creative lockdown shenanigans, I made myself a tartan midi dress. I posted a picture on Instagram and received quite a few comments [and] messages asking if I was going to start selling them. I didn’t think much of it at first, but decided to make a dedicated Instagram page and website anyway as I had nothing to lose and thought I’d just see what happens! The hardest part was actually coming up with the brand name…The name ‘Sew Wasted’ is a bit of an inside joke and is actually a play on words from constantly being told I was wasting my life, creativity and talents by not pursuing a creative career or using my potential. Constantly hearing those words was hard, it was like I had this huge pressure to figure my life out straight away when in reality I had no idea who I was or what I wanted!” -Elysha, Sew Wasted 
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In May 2020, Elysha officially launched her website with a few product samples and her family’s support and was blown away by the response. Within a month she was able to quit her retail job and take on Sew Wasted full time.

“I spent every waking moment working on the brand, orders, new designs, social media content etc, but it wasn’t until I designed and created the iconic ruffle sleeve smock dress in cow print that things really took off!...This then led to the birth of the crochet Happy Sad Pocket Smock Dress which really helped find my brand's creativity, originality and niche.I find it so wonderful that something as innocent as making a random dress one day blossomed into a full time slow fashion brand! I truly believe that everything happens for a reason and that fate helped guide me to where I am now, something deep down tells me I was born to do this and time was just waiting for me to start believing in myself!”

-Elysha, Sew Wasted

All of Sew Wasted’s products are sourced and handmade by Elysha in her home studio in Manchester, with the odd bit of crocheting from Mama Edwards; as seen on the Happy Sad Pocket Smock Dress. Drawing inspiration from the 90’s, Japanese street fashion and icons like Vivienne Westwood her collections make for super fun frocks with originality.

“A lot of my ideas stem from childhood, personal memories and are filled with nostalgia. I always remember my mum dressing me in funky clothes and dresses that were always a bit different and quirky. I’m a 90s baby and I feel like this shines through my brand. I tend to not focus on trends and what’s popular, instead I focus on making/wearing things that I absolutely love and feel like my truest self in!” 

-Elysha, Sew Wasted

It’s Sew Wasted’s unique style and passion for slow fashion that made us reach out for a collaboration. That’s right, you can now rep Glisten with your very own Distorted Disco Dress by Sew Wasted! 😍😍😍

The dress will be available in three different colour tartans including pink, yellow and a mixed pastel fabric with half distorted wavy checkerboard and alternating ruffle sleeves! The black stretch bodice has a disco ball design that has been printed with holographic vinyl which reflects a rainbow of colours and has cute little white stars to help it pop even further!

“[Natalie and I] really wanted something that portrayed both of us whilst also complementing both of our brands at the same time! We finalised on a smock dress with matching liners and this is where the iconic split smock dress came in; we thought it would be the perfect duo to have tartan and the wavy checkerboard design (from Natalie’s packaging)! Natalie wanted the dress to capture Glisten even more and we decided on a disco ball theme (inspired by the Glisten logo) which really ties the whole thing together!”

-Elysha, Sew Wasted

All dresses are available in sizes S-3XL ( approx. UK 8- 30) and will be available to order in short (£80) and midi (£85) lengths. Customers will also be able to alter the length for specific heights if needed at the notes section at checkout. Thanks Elysha!

GARMENT CARE: Dress needs to either be hand washed or be washed inside out on a gentle cycle. The vinyl printed bodice will need to be ironed inside out OR with a piece of baking parchment covering the design.

Sew Wasted is a made to order slow fashion brand, meaning nothing is made until an order is placed! #NOWASTE Each item sold generally has a specific order quantity and goes live at a specific time and date which is announced on social media, via email and in the announcement bar at the top of their website. Please also bear in mind that typically items sell out within a few minutes on Sew Wasted so set your alarms for this one folks!

You can get your hands on the Distorted Disco Dress on March 3rd at www.sewwasted.com at 8pm GMT. Make sure to follow @sewwasted on Instagram to keep up to date with their other amazing collection launches! We can’t wait to see you all in your new fits! 

By Erin O’Neill

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