this little bird is a maker of thoughtful, beautiful clothing to breathe, love and play in.
This is true slow fashion, so once you place your order I will contact you with an estimated delivery time. But, as a rough guide, please allow up 2-3 weeks for the making and sending of your piece.
Shipping within Aotearoa New Zealand is free.
Each garment is handmade to order by me, for you size:you, in my home in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Take a look at the clothing designs featured in the Shop.
Choose your design.
Choose your fabric (featured in the photos accompanying the design).
Size You: At Checkout there’s a form to pop in your bust, hip, waist measurements (don’t worry, if you’re not sure how to do this, there’s a guide to help).
I’ll make and deliver your dress in your fabric to your home.
Try it on. Any problems, return it within 14 days of delivery. I’ll refund payment (as long as its undamaged).
Made to order: How does it work?
Every piece is designed to be trans-seasonal and the provenance of the fabrics I use is something I consider carefully in terms of ethics and kindness to people and planet.
I don’t and can’t claim perfection and its an evolving process of weighing up all ethical considerations. But, as much as I can find out, I take into account how the fabric is made, the environmental impacts and whether the people involved in making it have fair pay and conditions. I also like to support smaller, artisanal producers.
Each piece can be worn throughout the year. As I use natural fibre fabrics, they breathe well and feel cool in hot, humid summers. But can also be layered up for winter. To minimise waste, I source fabrics in small runs so, friends, once it is gone, it’s gone.
Liberty is an iconic shop which opened up on Regent Street London in 1875, becoming a byword for the very best of avant-garde textile design. Today, every bolt of Liberty fabric is the product of a bespoke production process: hand drawn or painted by the in-house design team in London, Soho. Transformed onto fabric at Liberty’s own Italian printing mill, near Lake Como.
A famous masterpiece of fabric technology, Tana LawnTM is fine, cool and durable with a silk-like feel. I like to use it because it is beautiful with an iconoclastic rebellious heritage and because it is practical, amazing quality and lasts - it works hard for you and can be simply popped in the wash at 30 degrees.
If a garment is cotton, it is Made with Liberty Fabrics using their renowned Tana LawnTM.
Linen is made from flax best grown in Northern Europe. It needs little or no fertilisers and, due to the local climate, little extra water. It can grow in poor quality soils so does not require many pesticides. Linen is completely biodegradable, recyclable and due to its natural absorbency, it requires less dye than cotton. Every part of the plant is used, what cannot be used to produce linen can be used to make linseed oil, paper, cattle feed or even soap. It therefore scores high on the ecological chart.
My linen garments are made with super soft linen sourced from Merchant and Mills. The linen is grown from flax in Belgium and woven in Lithuania, which has a strong heritage in making linen fabric.
As both the cotton and linen I use is produced in the European Union, their production is subject to EU regulations securing and protecting employee labour rights in terms of health and safety at work, equal opportunities and protection from discrimination, participation and consultation, right to job security.
Workers rights in fabric production
Both Liberty Fabrics and the linen I use are good quality.
Some of my dresses I have been wearing for 5-10 years.
Although soft and drapey from the beginning, they become softer over time.
The linen especially is dynamic and will change over time, the colour fading slightly but nicely through washing and use.
I can’t claim perfection in these considerations, its certainly always an evolving process and there are gaps that I acknowledge: For one, the fabric is air freighted into Aotearoa and as I develop this little bird I will look at ways to offset this concern. Liberty Fabrics is a company in the UK which has now left the EU (although, apparently, workers rights will not be diluted, lets see). Their cotton is grown in Egypt (not subject to EU workers protections but subject to Liberty Fabric’s contractual controls).
Work to do, progress to make
What to do if I want to return an item?
All items can be returned within 14 days of receiving and I will be happy to issue a refund. Although, if a returned item appears to have been worn or damaged, unfortunately I will not be able to provide a refund. If you would like to return an item please send me an email.
Email: becky@thislittlebirdthreads.com