When COVID-19 brought the outer world to a pause, many turned to their inner worlds of creativity and imagination. Isolating in her flat in Glasgow, Sarah McMillan pulled out her old sewing machine and began making reusable masks.
What began as an artistic pursuit is now a low-waste textile business, Seven Makes, which Sarah runs from her home studio in Bangor, Co Down.
“I had to shelter during lockdown because I’m diabetic. I was staying in and when I looked out the window, I could see a lot of blue disposable masks lying on the ground and fluttering around. It just saddened me,” Sarah recalls.
“I thought, I’ve got a sewing machine somewhere. I’m going to start making high-quality face masks that people will be able to wash and use again. I bought some fabric online and got some robust patterns from the World Health Organisation, and made sure that I was making really good masks that would keep people safe but also wouldn’t end up lying on the ground.”
Having studied 3D design crafts at art college and worked as a blacksmith, Sarah always loved working with her hands. She is also passionate about the environment, and this was a way to connect both interests.
“I was just doing it for friends and family. Then people started saying: you should make these available more widely and cover your costs.” Sarah started to sell her masks through Etsy and she also set up her own website. Soon, she had her sights set beyond just making face masks. It was also around then [2021] that Sarah moved back home from Scotland to Northern Ireland.
Sarah's reusable facial cleansing pads. \ Claire Nash
“At that time, I’d started looking at making reusable alternatives for different things. I was identifying things [to make] that we would have bought a lot of in the house. My partner bought paper towels all the time so I made my unpaper towels.”
The awareness led to a growing range of reusable products at Seven Makes: sandwich bags, facial cleansing pads, scrubbing pads for pots and pans, wash bags, baby bibs and teething rings, to name a few.
One of Sarah’s most popular products are the reusable sanitary pads. “Women love them and it just makes me feel so happy because it helps to tackle period poverty [inadequate access to menstruation products].”
In Ireland, the average woman spends over €130 per year on sanitary products. Sarah says that the reusable alternatives save people money because they can be washed and re-used instead of having to buy new ones every month.
They’re also much better for the environment because disposable period products contain up to 90% plastic and end up going straight to landfill.
She also believes that there has been more of “a market for reusables” since the pandemic and she wants her eco swaps to be practical and easy to use.
The products are made from natural cotton, linen blends and bamboo blends.
Seven Makes is a low-waste textile business. \ Claire Nash
“Bamboo is such a fantastic material because it has antimicrobial properties so it is really good for your skin and it also washes soft as well,” explains Sarah.
For others curious about making the leap from single-use to reusable, Sarah recorded sewing workshops with funding from the environmental charity, Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful, and uploaded them onto her YouTube channel [@seven_makes].
“It’s about how to use your sewing machine and then how to make some of my products at home,” she says.
From sewing to skating
There’s another side to Sarah that you won’t see at the sewing machine. She also plays roller derby on the national Irish team and is preparing to represent the country in the Roller Derby World Cup 2025 in Innsbruck, Austria from 3-6 July.After showing Irish Country Living around her home studio, Sarah changes into her sports gear and slips into her quad skates. Skating around a flat track court makes quite the contrast to stitching.
Sarah playing in Ireland vs Rainy City Roller Derby, Manchester in March. \Roller Derby on Film
Roller derby is a full contact and primarily female-based sport that is played on an oval track the size of a basketball court.
It is an American sport but there are around five teams (known as ‘leagues’ within the sport) in Ireland. “There are 15 players on each team, but only five team members can be on the track at any one time,” explains Sarah. “Four of these skaters are called blockers and one is the jammer.
“The jammer scores points by getting their hips past the hips of the opposing players on track as many times as possible and lapping them as many times as possible in a two-minute period [called jams].
“The job of the blockers [the position Sarah plays] is to play either offense or defence. They either help their jammer get through or stop the other jammer [on the opposite team] getting through. They can hit with their hips and their shoulders. They can’t kick or punch.
“It’s a really dynamic and extremely strategic sport, and requires agility, fierceness, speed, teamwork and communication.”
When asked how you get into a sport like roller derby, Sarah laughs and says she was always into skateboarding and roller skating as a kid. She put the skates back on when she went along to a local team in Glasgow to try roller derby. That was 17 years ago and Sarah has been “hooked” ever since.
Seven is the name of Sarah's business, Seven Makes, and the number on the back of her roller derby shirt. \ Claire Nash
“It’s the most fantastic community. We are diverse. We are inclusive. Every skater who plays under the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association [governing body] has a voice in the direction of the sport.”
This is the second time that Sarah is competing with Team Ireland. “There’s a huge push for support and fundraising, and we’re very excited to go and represent the country in Austria.”
What do sewing and roller derby have in common? For Sarah, it is the number seven. “My shirt number for roller derby was number seven,” Sarah explains. “We stopped playing during Covid and I really missed it, so Seven Makes is a way of referencing the sport.” Work and play: stitched together by the number seven.
See gofundme.com/f/team-ireland-roller-derby-world-cup and sevenmakes.com
When COVID-19 brought the outer world to a pause, many turned to their inner worlds of creativity and imagination. Isolating in her flat in Glasgow, Sarah McMillan pulled out her old sewing machine and began making reusable masks.
What began as an artistic pursuit is now a low-waste textile business, Seven Makes, which Sarah runs from her home studio in Bangor, Co Down.
“I had to shelter during lockdown because I’m diabetic. I was staying in and when I looked out the window, I could see a lot of blue disposable masks lying on the ground and fluttering around. It just saddened me,” Sarah recalls.
“I thought, I’ve got a sewing machine somewhere. I’m going to start making high-quality face masks that people will be able to wash and use again. I bought some fabric online and got some robust patterns from the World Health Organisation, and made sure that I was making really good masks that would keep people safe but also wouldn’t end up lying on the ground.”
Having studied 3D design crafts at art college and worked as a blacksmith, Sarah always loved working with her hands. She is also passionate about the environment, and this was a way to connect both interests.
“I was just doing it for friends and family. Then people started saying: you should make these available more widely and cover your costs.” Sarah started to sell her masks through Etsy and she also set up her own website. Soon, she had her sights set beyond just making face masks. It was also around then [2021] that Sarah moved back home from Scotland to Northern Ireland.
Sarah's reusable facial cleansing pads. \ Claire Nash
“At that time, I’d started looking at making reusable alternatives for different things. I was identifying things [to make] that we would have bought a lot of in the house. My partner bought paper towels all the time so I made my unpaper towels.”
The awareness led to a growing range of reusable products at Seven Makes: sandwich bags, facial cleansing pads, scrubbing pads for pots and pans, wash bags, baby bibs and teething rings, to name a few.
One of Sarah’s most popular products are the reusable sanitary pads. “Women love them and it just makes me feel so happy because it helps to tackle period poverty [inadequate access to menstruation products].”
In Ireland, the average woman spends over €130 per year on sanitary products. Sarah says that the reusable alternatives save people money because they can be washed and re-used instead of having to buy new ones every month.
They’re also much better for the environment because disposable period products contain up to 90% plastic and end up going straight to landfill.
She also believes that there has been more of “a market for reusables” since the pandemic and she wants her eco swaps to be practical and easy to use.
The products are made from natural cotton, linen blends and bamboo blends.
Seven Makes is a low-waste textile business. \ Claire Nash
“Bamboo is such a fantastic material because it has antimicrobial properties so it is really good for your skin and it also washes soft as well,” explains Sarah.
For others curious about making the leap from single-use to reusable, Sarah recorded sewing workshops with funding from the environmental charity, Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful, and uploaded them onto her YouTube channel [@seven_makes].
“It’s about how to use your sewing machine and then how to make some of my products at home,” she says.
From sewing to skating
There’s another side to Sarah that you won’t see at the sewing machine. She also plays roller derby on the national Irish team and is preparing to represent the country in the Roller Derby World Cup 2025 in Innsbruck, Austria from 3-6 July.After showing Irish Country Living around her home studio, Sarah changes into her sports gear and slips into her quad skates. Skating around a flat track court makes quite the contrast to stitching.
Sarah playing in Ireland vs Rainy City Roller Derby, Manchester in March. \Roller Derby on Film
Roller derby is a full contact and primarily female-based sport that is played on an oval track the size of a basketball court.
It is an American sport but there are around five teams (known as ‘leagues’ within the sport) in Ireland. “There are 15 players on each team, but only five team members can be on the track at any one time,” explains Sarah. “Four of these skaters are called blockers and one is the jammer.
“The jammer scores points by getting their hips past the hips of the opposing players on track as many times as possible and lapping them as many times as possible in a two-minute period [called jams].
“The job of the blockers [the position Sarah plays] is to play either offense or defence. They either help their jammer get through or stop the other jammer [on the opposite team] getting through. They can hit with their hips and their shoulders. They can’t kick or punch.
“It’s a really dynamic and extremely strategic sport, and requires agility, fierceness, speed, teamwork and communication.”
When asked how you get into a sport like roller derby, Sarah laughs and says she was always into skateboarding and roller skating as a kid. She put the skates back on when she went along to a local team in Glasgow to try roller derby. That was 17 years ago and Sarah has been “hooked” ever since.
Seven is the name of Sarah's business, Seven Makes, and the number on the back of her roller derby shirt. \ Claire Nash
“It’s the most fantastic community. We are diverse. We are inclusive. Every skater who plays under the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association [governing body] has a voice in the direction of the sport.”
This is the second time that Sarah is competing with Team Ireland. “There’s a huge push for support and fundraising, and we’re very excited to go and represent the country in Austria.”
What do sewing and roller derby have in common? For Sarah, it is the number seven. “My shirt number for roller derby was number seven,” Sarah explains. “We stopped playing during Covid and I really missed it, so Seven Makes is a way of referencing the sport.” Work and play: stitched together by the number seven.
See gofundme.com/f/team-ireland-roller-derby-world-cup and sevenmakes.com
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