Birgitta Helmersson細心地把從二手店、慈善商店或拍賣行找到的古董布料分配成「零浪費裁剪」的設計。傳統剪裁的方式一般會浪費10-20%的布料，而零浪費剪裁意味著所有布料最終都會用進衣服裡，而不會掉進垃圾箱。
位於瑞典馬爾默一個名為Davidshall的地區，包圍著古老建築和獨立小店，當中正面有著粉紅色紋理的房子，從街道走幾級樓梯，就到達Birgitta 40平方米的工作室，鋪著淡粉紅色混凝土地板，結合了工作室和零售空間。
「我們在這裡做所有的事情，設計、開發、製造，甚至為網店裝置拍攝；在後面的小房間裡有工業縫紉機，裡面有一個小窗戶，可以看到綠樹成蔭的庭院。滿載著我的自豪和快樂的，就是位於工作室中央前窗旁的大工作桌，我每天大部分時間都坐在這裡處理事情，時而用電腦，時而剪裁和嘗試新點子。這張桌子的框架是我們住在墨爾本時，一位朋友幫我們度身訂造的，粗壯的枱腳是由回收的紅膠木製成的，這是從墨爾本阿爾伯特公園救回來的舊木柱，然後它又跟著我們來到了世界的另一邊。」
Birgitta Helmersson takes great care in sourcing antique fabrics from second-hand shops, charity shops, or auction houses for use in “zero-waste pattern cutting” designs. Unlike traditional pattern cutting, which often results in 10-20% fabric waste, zero-waste pattern cutting ensures that every piece of fabric will eventually be used in the creation of the clothes instead of falling into the trash.
Located in an area of Malmö called Davidshall which surrounds old and full of character small independent shops. One of the facades of the building is a textured blush pink colour and Birgitta’s shop space is a few stairs down from street level with a large window at the front. It is a cosy 40sqm with pale pink concrete floors and it combines both studio and retail space.
“We do everything here, design and development, manufacturing, and we even have our own photography set-up for our online store. We have industrial sewing machines in a small back room which has a little window looking into a tree lined courtyard. The pride and joy of my work space is the large cutting table which holds center stage next to the front window. I sit here for the most part of everyday and work on things, either with my computer, or cutting out and playing with new ideas. We had a friend help us custom make the frame of this table while we were living in Melbourne and the chunky legs are made from recycled red gum, old wooden posts rescued from Albert Park in Melbourne. It has followed us to the other side of the world.”
Birgitta由為獨立品牌擔任製辦師和設計師，見證從設計、樣辦到製造的整個過程，並且很早就意識到了紡織廢料的問題，於是她的零浪費設計、紙樣、縫紉教學，以至書本出版就從這問題一路衍生出來。
「當我第一次創立我的服裝品牌時，我開始探索圍繞廢料的意念，但它不僅限於零浪費裁剪，我嘗試了很多想法，包括用升級再造羊毛毯來製作外套，也嘗試使用剪裁剩料進行拼縫和編織。幾年後，我開始將零浪費設計引進我的系列，然後就從那裡開始發展，而鼓勵人們自己製作衣服便成了自然發生的事情；我一直喜歡向人們展示工作室的製作過程，直到幾年前我才發布一些我的設計的縫紉紙樣，這樣做確實是我做過最好的事情！它成為了接觸更多人的工具，我認為一旦人們能夠真正看到紙樣佈局和我的服裝是怎樣製作，這個概念便能接通。這也引申了後來出版的合作，這是提高人們對零浪費裁剪認識的另一種很棒的方式。」
「送孩子上學的日子，通常我在6時醒來，早上的第一環節可能會很有壓力，因為我的3歲孩子基本上會挑戰我要求她做的所有事情，但不知怎的，我們總是設法及時走出家門！我們騎著電動箱式單車，穿過美麗的公園去學校，聽著孩子們的說話和唱歌，這是展開新一天非常好的的方式。當我把他們送到各自的學校和托兒所後，有時我會在附近最喜歡的小地方Solde喝杯咖啡，有時就直接回到工作室，8點左右開始我的一天，我的工作通常是星期二至六，並且盡量不在下午4點之後工作。
我主要負責業務的幕後運作、電子郵件等，開發新的設計和縫紉紙樣，並為商店縫製衣服，而Sam就負責所有的產品攝影、記帳以及大量的服裝裁剪工作。我以前經常加班，但現在和孩子們在一起便很難，因為這樣，迫使我更好地平衡工作和生活，而這是我以前不太擅長的。Sam非常擅長組織晚餐，他是一名受過訓練的廚師，這點很有幫助，一星期中他常會留在家一天，把家裡收拾得井井有條。我們有時也會和住在店附近的朋友一起吃早（晚）飯。」
Birgitta worked as pattern maker and designer for small independent businessess, allowing her to witness the whole process from design, sampling and manufacturing. Early on, she became aware of the issue of textile waste. Therefore, she began exploring zero waste design, pattern cutting and sewing tutorials, even the book publications are developed with the awareness of textile waste.
“When I first started my clothing label I began exploring my ideas around waste, but it wasn’t just reserved to zero waste pattern cutting. I tried out a lot of ideas, including making coats from up-cycled wool blankets, and also experimenting with patch-working and weaving using fabric offcuts. I started introducing zero waste designs into my collections after a couple of years and then it just grew from there. Encouraging people to make their own clothes was something that happened organically over time. I have always loved showing people the process in the studio and how I make things but it wasn’t until a few years ago I released some of my designs as sewing patterns. Doing this was really the best thing I ever did. It became a tool to be able to reach more people, I think once people could actually see the layouts and look at how my garments were made the concept finally clicked. This also led to getting a book deal which has been another amazing way of bringing awareness to zero waste pattern cutting.”
“On the days that I do the school drop offs I usually wake up around 6:00am. The first part of the morning can be quite stressful as my very head strong 3 year old will challenge basically everything I ask her to do, but somehow we always manage to make it out of the door in time! We rode to school on our electric box bike through a really beautiful park and it is a really nice way to start the morning, listening to the kids talking and singing. Once I have dropped them off at their respective school/childcare I either grab a coffee at Solde, my favourite little place nearby, or head straight into the studio and start my day around 8am. My working week is usually Tuesday-Saturday and I try not to work past 4pm.
I work mostly with the behind the scenes running of the business, emails and so on, developing new designs and sewing patterns, and sewing clothes for the shop. Sam does all the product photography, bookkeeping, and a lot of cutting out garments for production. I used to do a lot of overtime but it is so hard to do now with the kids. I do like it as it forces me to have a better work life balance, which I was not so good at before. Sam is great at organizing dinners, it helps that he is a trained chef! He will often take a day at home during the week to get the house in order. During the week we sometimes have an early dinner with some friends that live down the road.”
Birgitta回想起10年前由墨爾本家中的廚房桌上做到開店再搬到瑞典:「剛開始的時候，我的大女兒只有幾個月大，她常和我一起回工作室，直至她3-4歲左右，她也常和我一起回店裡，她總是超級冷靜，可以坐著玩裝扮幾個小時，我甚至開始教她縫紉一點點；但自從我有了第二個孩子，帶著他們工作就不那麼容易了！但偶爾，我仍會在周六帶著現在11 歲的大女兒去上班，我們會一起做一些事情。
我試圖教育孩子們要意識到當取用了什麼便要回歸世界；我們不是一個「購物」家庭，如果我們確實需要某東西，我們會花很多時間研究才決定購買，我認為這有助於我們更加珍惜所擁有的一切。如果孩子們需要衣服，我們總是先選擇二手衣服，並盡我們所能地進行修補和重新加工。對於食物，我們會嘗試發揮創意並耗盡一切；生活在瑞典，教導孩子回收垃圾並不困難，所以這是一個優點。」
Birgaitta recalled she worked at her kitchen table 10 years ago and then eventually opened a store in Melbourne before relocating to Sweden. “When I first started my eldest daughter was only a few months old, she came to the studio with me all the time, and even up until she was around 3-4 years old she was at the shop with me a lot, she was always super calm and could sit around for hours playing dress ups, I even started to teach her to sew a little. Since I had my second child it is not so easy to have them at work. Occasionally I will still bring my eldest daughter, who is now 11, to work on a Saturday and we will make something together.
I try to educate my kids in being conscious of what you use and put back into the world. We are not a big ‘shopping’ family and if we do need something we tend to spend a lot of time and research deciding on what to get and then saving up for it, which I think helps us to appreciate everything we have so much more. If the kids need clothes we always opt for second hand first, and we mend and re-work anything we can. With food we try to really get creative with what we have and use up everything. Living in Sweden it is not difficult to teach the kids about recycling so that’s a plus.”
我特別喜歡去年做的一件摺褶連身裙，它是用古董布料拼湊而成的，用了我珍藏多年的小桌旗，以白色底和藍色小心形編織而成。
I particularly loved a gathering dress I worked on last year, it was patch-worked together with vintage cloth and used a small table runner I had been saving for many years, with a white base and small blue woven love hearts.
另一件作品是我們幾年前第一次來到瑞典時為我的另一個品牌Helgrose設計的，我們用上附近一家布料回收廠捐贈的舊牛仔褲，我將它們剪裁拼湊起來，而小污漬就用補丁和手縫線覆蓋，雖然十分耗時，但非常有趣。
Another piece I really loved working on was quite a few years ago when we first came to Sweden, for my other brand Helgrose. We used old denim jeans donated by a fabric recycling facility nearby and I cut up and patch-worked them together. Some small areas with stains I covered with patches and hand stitches. They were super time consuming but very fun to work on.
「對於時裝的未來，我會嘗試保持樂觀，但是有時感覺很可怕，我認為集體的改變的確正在發生，但當中的持份者衆多、牽涉的資金這麼多，要改變如此龐大的骯髒行業確是緩慢且困難的。我的希望是，作為一個整體，與其追隨最新的時尚潮流，不如更專注於個性風格，減少購買，提高質量，並照顧好我們擁有的衣服。」
“For the future of fashion, I try to remain optimistic but it feels quite dire at times. I think there is a collective change happening, but it is slow and difficult to alter such a large dirty industry when there are so many actors at play and so much money is at stake. My hope is that as a whole we start to lower our consumption and rather than following the latest fashion trends we focus more on personal style, buying less, better quality, and taking care of the clothes we do have.”
