Striving to Be Better - Not Perfect!

“When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too.” — Paulo Coelho

There’s something powerful about the quiet persistence of people who make things with their hands. Stitch by stitch, seam by seam, we bring ideas to life. We make mistakes. We unpick. We adjust. We learn. And if we’re lucky, or maybe just determined, we get better. Not just at sewing or cutting patterns, but at how we live, what we consume, how we choose to engage with the world.

That’s the magic buried inside Paulo Coelho’s much-quoted line: “When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too.” It speaks to that beautiful ripple effect that happens when we invest in ourselves, not through self-improvement for perfection’s sake, but through conscious, gentle growth.

As makers, whether seasoned or just starting out, we’re already participating in a kind of quiet revolution. Every time we choose to sew something for ourselves or someone else, we step outside the fast fashion machine. Every time we spend hours drafting, fitting, adjusting, and reworking a pattern, we’re reclaiming a little bit of autonomy in a world that constantly tells us we’re not quite enough unless we’re consuming something new.

But how does striving to be better - at sewing, pattern cutting, or sustainability - actually make everything around us better too?

Better in Skill: The Joy of Making Things That Fit

Anyone who’s ever wrestled with sleeve ease or spent three evenings getting the crotch curve on a trouser block just right knows this truth: sewing and pattern cutting teach patience.

It doesn’t matter how many years you've been at it, there’s always something to learn. A more elegant way to shape a dart. A smoother neckline finish. A smarter way to approach a tricky fabric.

When we strive to become better at the technical side of things, we begin to build garments that truly fit. Not just our bodies, but our lifestyles, our values, and our desire to feel comfortable in our skin. That sense of alignment spreads outwards. We stop accepting poor fit from the high street. We begin to understand the craft and labour behind our clothes. And we may even find ourselves passing on what we’ve learned to others. Gently encouraging someone to pick up a needle, a ruler, or a rotary cutter for the first time.

And when we share our knowledge, the improvement multiplies. We don’t just become better on our own - we lift each other up.

Better in Process: Pattern Cutting as a Tool for Agency

Pattern cutting is more than just a technical skill. I truly believe it’s a form of liberation.

It gives you the power to bring an idea to life from scratch. To make something you can’t find in shops. To adjust for curves, height, proportion, and personal preferences that the fashion industry routinely ignores.

Learning to draft or adapt patterns puts you in the driver’s seat of your wardrobe. You no longer have to rely on commercial sizing, or feel the frustration of being “between sizes.” You can sculpt clothes that fit who you are now. Not who you used to be, or who society says you should be.

And the more you do it, the better you get. Not just at making clothes, but at recognising what suits you, what brings joy, and what’s worth your time and energy. You begin to see that chasing better is not about reaching some final destination - it’s about showing up for yourself with intention, curiosity, and creativity. This is most definitely something that is becoming more and more evident in the work of the lovely Diploma Ladies and how they are making better and better decisions about what and how they are making their own clothes.  

Better in Mindset: Sustainability as a Personal Practice

Striving to “be better” doesn’t just mean mastering techniques. It also means asking deeper questions.

Where did this fabric come from?
Who made it?
Can I use up my scraps?
Do I really need to buy more?
Could I mend what I already have?

These questions don’t always have perfect answers. But asking them at all is a form of striving. A way of staying awake to the impact of our choices, even when it feels overwhelming.

Sustainability in sewing isn’t about perfection,  it’s about progress. Maybe this month, you choose to use the organic cotton you’ve been saving for the right project. Maybe next month, you try deadstock instead of buying brand new. Maybe you finally sort through your stash and donate what you won’t use.

Each of these small actions is a step towards a better way of making. And here’s the thing: your individual choices do make a difference. Because they set an example. They spark conversations. They change the culture of making, one workshop, one Instagram post, one coffee-fuelled sewing session at a time.

Better Together: Community and Connection

One of the loveliest surprises in striving to get better is how often it leads to connection.

Ask a question in a sewing forum. Book into a workshop. Compliment someone on their hand-finished hem. Suddenly, you’re not sewing alone anymore, you’re part of a community of curious, generous, wonderfully nerdy humans who love cloth, creativity, and cups of tea.

At The Cloth Cutter, I’ve seen it time and again. Someone signs up for a workshop feeling nervous. They’ve been struggling with fitting. They’re not sure they belong. But by the end of the weekend, they’re chatting away about bias grainlines and topstitching with someone who was a stranger a day before.

When we strive to be better, we often start by focusing inward. But the impact spirals out. It changes the energy of the room. It invites others in. It turns comparison into celebration. And suddenly, the whole community grows stronger.

Better in Business: Choosing a Slower Way

As someone who’s been in this industry a long time, I’ve had to unlearn a lot about what “success” looks like.

The fashion industry thrives on speed and novelty. Constantly pushing more, faster, newer. But what if “better” meant something else?

For me, better doesn’t mean bigger. It means slower. More considered. More human.

It means making fewer things - but doing them really well. Designing patterns that fit real bodies and real lives. Teaching workshops that empower people to create clothes they feel proud to wear. Choosing fabrics and materials that align with our values, and saying no to things that don’t.

At The Cloth Cutter, our version of “better” is rooted in care.
Care for our customers.
Care for the craft.
Care for the environment.

Better made.
Better sourced.
Better for your body, your life, and the planet.

I don’t always get it right, but I try. I listen. I tweak. I strive. Because when you build a business around care, people can feel it. They trust it. And they carry that energy forward into their own making.

Better for the Future: Leaving a Legacy

Maybe you sew to save money. Maybe you do it for the satisfaction. Maybe it’s how you process the world. Whatever your reasons, know this: every act of making is also an act of resistance.

When you choose to sew, cut patterns, and wear your own creations, you’re part of a wider movement reclaiming agency from an industry that too often tells us what to want.

And when you strive to get better - at matching seams, or tracing off a block, or composting your threads - you’re leaving behind a legacy of thoughtfulness, skill, and care. You’re showing the next generation that fashion can be different. That slow is powerful. That mending is magical. That there’s beauty in the handmade and the heartfelt.

And yes, everything around you does become better too.

Be the Ripple

There’s something radical in returning to the hands-on, practical, and thoughtful world of making your own clothes. It might not feel world-changing as you hem another pair of trousers or try fitting your third toile - but it really and truly is.

You’re part of something bigger.

Striving to be better doesn’t mean striving to be perfect. It means being present. Being willing. Being curious.

So keep cutting. Keep stitching. Keep learning. And know that with every small step you take, the world shifts, just a little, towards something softer, slower, and more sustainable.

And that’s a kind of better we can all believe in.

 

 

Want to explore your next step?

Come and join us in a workshop at The Cloth Cutter, or dive into one of our online classes in The Cutting Room. Wherever you are in your sewing journey, we’d love to help you keep growing - with joy, confidence, and kindness.

Jules x