Sustainable Business with Meghann from Halfmoon Atelier // EP23
Halfmoon Atelier
What does it mean for your business to be sustainable?
Does it mean the products are earth-friendly? The workload is manageable over a long period of time, so you won't get burnt out? Or cracking the code to finding the perfect work/life balance?
Today we talk about crafting a business that is sustainable in all senses of the word - sustainable for your life, your time, and the planet.
Our guest today is the wonderful Meghann Halfmoon from Halfmoon Atelier. Meghann recently shifted her business model from selling physical products to digital products (PDF sewing patterns) to make her business function a little more smoothly from her remote island location in Saba. We talk about how this shift in business model is a lot more sustainable in respect to Meghann's time and work/life balance, and why she made this change.
We also got talking about sustainability in another sense - building a business that is sustainable for the planet.
Meghann describes her patterns as, "foundation pieces for modern sewists looking to create a “sew-cially” conscious capsule wardrobe" and shares her frustrations about how challenging it can be to find information about how to live a more sustainable and earth-friendly life - this part of the conversation really resonated with me, since I'm always trying to be more ethical with my purchases but am often confused by what's genuinely ethical and what's just another instance of green washing.
In response to this part of our chat, Meghann has sent over a whole list of resources linked in the show notes below with great information on making more ethical sewing choices. We would both like to re-iterate that this information is not designed to shame you (I'm in college, although I try my best, I'm certainly not buying earth-friendly goods with every purchase) but rather to offer you some resources if you've been searching for them.
In other exciting news, shortly after our chat Meghann released her second PDF pattern, the Ballet Top DELPHY. It's a beautiful woven cami (my favourite) with an elegant scooped back. Meghann sent me a copy of this pattern as a thank you and I'm excited to get sewing that tonight. As an additional thank you to Maker Style listeners, Meghann is offering 10% off her patterns until March 6th, 2017 using the code MAKER10 at checkout.
This episode really inspired me to be more conscious about my choices in all areas of my life. I know you will enjoy it!
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Show Notes
We LOVE Fiona's list of indie patterns.
This benchmark shows which fabric types are the most sustainable - interesting read!
Nosh, Organic Cotton Plus, and Sew Natural are all places Meghann recommends for purchasing organic fabric.
I love this list on Halfmoon Atelier with ethical and sustainable fabric and RTW options - all categorized by country so you can save on shipping. It was so cool to find so many awesome options from Canada.
Meghann also has a newsletter sharing lots of tips about sustainable fabric choices.