Who made my clothes?

Hello!

Welcome to So Sloe and thanks for being curious enough to stop by the about section. 

My name is Jess and I am the founder, designer, seamstress, photographer, marketing human, social media content person, snack maker, mess maker and general boss lady here at So Sloe. I am a one woman operation!

All products for sale here are made by me, by hand. I have a small studio space where I work from home here in beautiful Queenstown, New Zealand.

I have one Singer heavy duty sewing machine and one Singer industrial overlocker, some very lovely fabric scissors and several hundred pins. 

 

The Story; a quick rundown.

So Sloe was born out of me wanting to make my own clothes. I find "fast fashion" and the the idea of all the waste, money, resources, pollution, exploitation and patriarchy really alarming. I much prefer to thrift, swap, up- cycle or make my clothes wherever I can. Having to fit everything I owned into a back pack whilst travelling a few years ago was a valuable life lesson in “less is more” and choosing high quality clothes that would last and that I really, genuinely loved seemed like the way to go. I like to have some transparency about how and where my clothes are made and/or that they have had a previous life. 

 

I absolutely bl**dy love sewing. It's a sort of fun puzzle where all the pieces fit together and are transformed into something practical AND interesting. After a couple of years of sewing for myself and friends I was getting requests from more people and it kind of organically grew into a busy hobby! I moved to Queenstown in 2020 and with some encouragement it wasn't long before I got a stall on the wonderful Queenstown Creative craft market. You can find me there every Saturday by the lakefront (unless it is raining!). COME SAY HI!

 

If you have any questions about So Sloe or custom orders (or just want to say hello!) then get in touch info@sosloe.com or via the contact page. 

 

A bit about the fabric. 

Unfortunately there isn't much fabric production happening here in New Zealand so although I buy it in New Zealand, most of the fabric I use is made overseas. The manufacturing country of the fabric is usually printed on the roll label (unless it is thrifted or gifted...) and so if you would like this information then please ask and I will do my best to answer. I do occasionally use second hand fabric, upcycle other pieces and use dead stock so it is not always possible to know but I will try to be as transparent as I can!

 

Wool

All of the wool beanies are 100% New Zealand wool.