In an era defined by the rapid consumption of mass-produced clothing, Eve Ogden Schaub has embarked on a radical experiment to create a garment from scratch. By growing her own flax in a 600-square-foot vegetable garden in Vermont, she aims to challenge the environmental and ethical implications of the modern apparel industry. Schaub, a self-described “fibre-person and maker,” began this ambitious project in April 2025, documenting the arduous, multi-step process on social media.
The project was born from a desire to explore the “slowest fashion imaginable.” Schaub explains that the initiative is about more than just clothing; it is a critique of a culture where speed and low cost are prioritized over meaning and sustainability. “I had this idea that I wanted to find the slowest fashion imaginable. And that’s when I had the idea I could grow a dress from seed in my back yard,” she notes.
The labor-intensive journey involves harvesting the flax and processing it through traditional methods, including retting—a decomposition process—followed by breaking, scutching, and hackling. Schaub is also cultivating indigo plants to eventually dye the yarn. Once the material is spun into linen, she plans to use a large loom to weave the fabric before sewing it into a dress with the help of an experienced friend. She acknowledges the irony of the undertaking, noting that while it feels like a monumental task today, such labor was once a standard part of daily life.
Schaub’s motivation is deeply rooted in her concerns over the global impact of “fast fashion,” which she describes as an environmental and health catastrophe. She points to the massive textile waste dumps in Ghana and the prevalence of lung disease among workers in India’s recycling facilities as evidence of a broken system. “The whole system, I want to question and say, is this what we want?” she asks, highlighting the poor treatment and low wages often associated with garment production.
Her previous lifestyle experiments, which include spending a year without producing trash and a year without sugar, have informed her perspective on synthetic materials. “Unfortunately, we’re all walking around wearing plastic bags most of the time, and we don’t even realise it,” she says. By learning to create her own textiles, she hopes to encourage others to consider the value of the items they wear and the importance of mending existing clothes rather than constantly replacing them.
The learning curve has been steep, and Schaub is candid about her mistakes. “There’s something inherently funny in the learning process, because you screw up and you screw up, and you know you’re going to screw up,” she admits. Despite the challenges, the project has resonated with her audience, many of whom have expressed a newfound appreciation for the historical difficulty of producing cloth and the reasons why garments were once treated as precious, long-lasting commodities.
While her previous sewing experience is limited to making Halloween costumes, Schaub remains committed to the final product. She is working with historical patterns to ensure the garment is well-crafted. Although she cannot predict exactly when the project will conclude, she is certain of the outcome’s significance.
“I cannot predict when this project will end, but I promise I’m going to wear something at the end of this,” she says. For Schaub, the value lies in the process itself. “Because of that, I hope it will be beautiful,” she adds. “I know it will be beautiful to me.” The report also notes that many of today’s clothes are the result of fast fashion, f rom crop tops to shorts and brightly patterned dresses. The report also notes that having harvested the first crop, Schaub sowed and harvested a second. The report also notes that she is also learning to process the material in steps that would not sound amiss in a Grimms’ fairytale – sometimes enlisting family and friends to help. The report also notes that “So it’s an enormous undertaking, but something that not all that long ago was completely commonplace, and I found that a very attractive, interesting facet of the project,” she says. The report also notes that it has never been easier to get a cheap, convenient garment delivered to your door, as Schaub says. The report also notes that in our current culture, “if you can do something cheaper and faster, it’s always the preferred option,” Schaub says. The report also notes that that bring us something that we can’t get from this fast-paced commercial world?”, what might we stand to gain if we were to slow down and try to find things that are more meaningful to us. The report also notes that a self-described “fibre-person and maker”, Schaub is no stranger to lifestyle experiments, having written books on a number of projects, including her family’s attempts to give up sugar for a year, and to go 12 months without producing any rubbish.
