Field to Fashion: Making our Clothes Sustainable is a project kindly funded by Artfund, where we have sought to provide a fresh perspective to our Textiles heritage and collections. Through talks, workshops and events we have engaged many visitors to start thinking about sustainability with their clothing; we have given opportunities to learn a new skill, repair clothes and a space to think wisely about future wardrobes, saving pennies and the planet.

We hosted a Wool Month in October 2025 highlighting the material’s versatile and sustainable credentials by offering workshops in knitting, crochet, felting and repurposing wool clothing; inviting a speaker to discuss regenerative farming practices involved in wool production, and hosting a farmer, wool spinner and wool artist to showcase their processes at Assemble 2025.

Another facet of Field to Fashion is the Uniform Project, engaging GCSE Textile Design students at Derby Moor Spencer Academy in a real-life solutions project. Together with John Smedley, the students are exploring the possibilities of returning to using wool as a viable material choice for a school uniform jumper, and learning about present and future 21^st century textile industry conversations of sustainability, natural material choices and traceable slow fashion. Alongside this, the uniform project enlightens the students to follow in the footsteps of the thinkers and innovators of Derby and Derbyshire’s rich textile manufacturing heritage.

Collaboratively in groups, the students have designed a school uniform wool jumper that has been produced in the John Smedley factory. Working with Abigail Wastie, a textile designer, and Pip Jenkins, Head designer at John Smedley, the students are getting hands on experience of the processes involved in getting it to a prototype stage and fit for production, emulating the skills and career choices in the fashion industry. We visited The Museum of Making, British Wool Headquarters and Laxton’s Spinning factory in Bradford, and John Smedley where the students have met many skilled people involved in all aspects of wool fashion production.

Through this project, we have endeavoured to allow the students to feel a sense of pride, achievement, and tangible aspiration for their futures. It has allowed them to transform the stories of the textile heritage of their home city and county, into their own design ideas; this has evolved into real life product prototypes that will inform the future of sustainable school uniform clothing.

As one student said, “Its inspired me to see different careers and pathways in fashion; I’ve always had an interest in fashion so it’s also helped me see what I like best, which is designing.”

The student’s prototypes are now part of the ‘Field to Fashion’ exhibition open now at the Museum of Making. Visitors can explore the process of British wool, from fleece to fibre as well as discovering about local heritage knitwear companies such as John Smedley. Learn from academics, fashion students and designers and artists and how they are thinking about wool as a valuable material choice for the future.

College project

Derby Moor School - Uniform Project and Wool Jumper Project

Family Drop-ins

SEM session

Wool Takeover Programme

Thank you to our wonderful volunteer Amy for listing and editing the blog posts on the ‘Discover’ section of the website.