About
Who is Tattymoo?
My name is Julia Brown, and I am the designer, maker, photographer and model behind Tattymoo.com
I worked in the fashion industry for nearly 20 years as a senior garment technologist. Within my role, parts of my job included assessing garment quality, deciding what was commercially acceptable to the customer as well assessing factory capability – and helping them to improve their working practises and quality alongside fit.
It was on a factory visit in the UK that the wasteful nature of fast fashion really affected me. I was working for a well-known fast fashion online retailer – who’s brand values were mainly based on speed and agility. This transpired not only within head office; but into their supply base too – and little thought was made during the cutting process due to fast lead times pushed onto them by the buying teams- meaning that there was a lot of fabric being wasted and then discarded during the production process. I had been around to see a few factories in one day - and outside 3 of the 5 the buildings were 2 or 3 skips a piece that were filled with bags and rolls of fabric that had been discarded during the production process. One of the sites had around 10 extra bags just dumped on the street and these were also full of fabric that was due for landfill.
I spoke to the factory owners and asked about the fabric waste and they said there used to be guy who picked up the waste and ‘down-cycled’ it into boxing bag liners and fillers, but he didn’t do that anymore. I thought that was a good idea to re-use the fabric waste so I asked if I could take some of the bags home with me, and one kind factory owner obliged, and helped me fill my car.
I left my job not much longer after this instance; and it was only really once I’d moved away and settled into my new home I began working solely for myself.
Why I'm different to other sustainable fashion brands
So sustainable, zero waste, ethical and eco have all become great buzzwords in the last few years when it comes to fashion. But do you know what? None are buzzwords for me. It's a way of life, and a way of working in my business. I only source new materials if I have a certain request - and (for whatever reason) if I don't have that fabric in my stash.
Printing is all done in house by me, using eco friendly inks and reusable stencils. Fabric waste is a thing of the past as I reuse and remake it as often as I can.
Mixed prints and colour blocking are standard, as these are fabulous ways to keep waste low and use up the materials that I have.
I started to make DIY kits in 2020 to bring you easy fun printing and creating at home.
Oh and I also offer a clothes repair and alteration service as I believe clothing should last.
So. That's me, Tattymoo, nice to meet you!
If you follow my blog you will find lots of great tutorials on zero waste and sustainable living and see events where you can find me in person