Sweatshop
- Words by Peppermint
Ever wondered what a day in the life of a Cambodian garment worker looks like? Sweatshop – Deadly Fashion, an online miniseries produced by Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten in November 2014, aims to reveal just that by sending three fashion-savvy Norwegians to the other side of the world for an experience they’ll never forget. Five short episodes track Anniken, Frida and Ludvig, along with their Cambodian counterpart, a young factory worker named Sokty, as they step into the shoes of a Phnom Penh garment worker in an attempt to alter their perspectives on fast fashion.
More than 500,000 people are employed in Cambodia’s garment industry, earning on average just one-quarter of what the Clean Clothes Asia Floor Wage calculates to be an acceptable living wage in that country. Large-scale factories are a huge employer in Phnom Penh, attracting thousands of women from rural and regional Cambodia who relocate to the big city every year and go on to produce garments for foreign-owned companies including H&M, GAP, Levi Strauss, Adidas and Target.
The sweatshop is the epicentre of Cambodia’s garment industry, but it’s not until Episode 3 of this series that the Norwegian trio partake in a day’s work on the factory floor. At first, conditions appear good in the well-lit workroom, where workers are filmed breaking for a shared lunch. But as Frida soon reminds us, this is just one example of a factory: there are hundreds of varying quality in Phnom Penh, and most would never let cameras or prying eyes inside. Eventually, it’s the repetitiveness of sewing the same seam over and over that gets to Frida and her friends; the long hours and the effects of little sleep and little food (they refuse to eat most of the Cambodian lunch they are offered) adds up and wears them down.
The trio’s other escapades include spending a night in Sokty’s modest home to experience the sort of living conditions a small amount of rent can buy, and completing a challenge to feed a group of 10 people on an average workers’ wage of $2 per day (although this task neglects the fact that most workers survive on $2 for all their meals, and most don’t have the luxury of pooling wages with their friends). When the Norwegians take Sokty clothes shopping in a flashy retail store, the realisation that the people who sew clothes for brands like Mango can never afford to wear them strikes an unpleasant note.
After some brief coverage of the garment worker’s protests that have been ongoing in Cambodia’s capital since 2013, the final episode of Sweatshop sees the three Norwegians sit down with a group of female workers for a one-on-one chat. Stories of decades spent sewing the same fabric in the same factory day after day, and tragic tales of growing up in poverty and missed opportunities, are translated for the trio. It’s famed fashion blogger Anniken who appears most disturbed by the anecdotes, and she later vows to lead the charge back home and educate her friends and peers about what she’s seen.
Throughout the course of the series, it’s interesting to watch the trio’s prevailing attitude – “at least they have a job” – give way to a torrent of disbelief and eventually anger at an industry that seemingly traps its workers in unnecessary poverty to save on expenses. Sweatshop succeeds in personalising the issue and putting Cambodia’s fight for fair wages into perspective, but unfortunately there’s not enough time to explore the more systemic issues at play – how did these workers get here in the first place? Drawing comparisons between life in Norway and life in Cambodia is certainly a contrast of extremes, and sometimes Sweatshop mishandles the cultural subtleties. Still, this series provides a valuable first-hand account and indicates continuing interest in Cambodia’s struggles, raising more questions around worker’s rights and placing renewed focus on the big brands who exploit factory workers for their own gain.
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TOGETHER WE STITCH RETURNS! 🪡✨
Ditch the dishes. Clear your cutting table. Pop the kettle on. Because Together We Stitch is back from 15 to 22 March for seven joy-filled days of sewing, learning and reveling in the joy of shared community, no matter where you are in the world!
Hosted by Megan from @SewAndTell.Co, this global online sewing event brings thousands of makers together for a week of practical know-how, confidence boosts and those “why didn’t I know this sooner?!” moments.
This year’s line-up is packed with masterclasses and practical inspiration, like:
🪡 Simple knit finishing tricks to make your garments look store-bought by @SewAndTell.Co’s Megan Linley
🪡 Troubleshooting your sewing machine by Jenni Miller from @LetsGetSewingNow
🪡 Hands-on pattern adjustments for sway back from @GinaReneeDesigns
🪡 An interview with Brandon Hayden from @HappilyDressed about building a garment around the fabric you love
🪡 Iron Care 101 by @MicheleMuska
🪡 Kate Boyle from @MindMovementHealth shares posture tips and exercises to help prevent sewing aches and pains
🪡 An easy jeans-to-skirt upcycle project from @LaCreativeMama’s Victoria Martinez Azaro
🪡 DIY custom fabrics and creative craft-room upgrades by Stephanie Young from @So_Stephanie_Says
🪡 Plus choosing prints with intention, making your dream wardrobe a reality, and meeting the creator of Project & Cut, Clinton Blackmore to talk all things PDF pattern future
Together We Stitch is all about expert-led sessions, creative demos, practical tips you can take straight to your sewing table, and a community that celebrates every win along the way. Join live or catch the replays when it suits you.
Head to togetherwestitch.com or hit the link in bio to save your seat. 🪡
#TogetherWeStitch #SewingExpo #SewingInspo #MeMade #SewingCommunity #SewistsOfInstagram
Coffee begins long before your morning cuppa! ☕️
2026 has been declared the International Year of the Woman Farmer, led by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the @UnitedNations. It’s a global spotlight with a practical purpose: to recognise women’s indispensable roles across agrifood systems, and to push for the changes that still haven’t arrived evenly, like equal access to land, finance, training, technology and decision-making.
Into that bigger picture steps Elizabeth Duna, a coffee farmer from Papua New Guinea and the chairwoman of the Keto-Tapasi Progress Association. Elizabeth is also the only female chairperson across the @FairtradeANZ cooperative network in the Pacific, overseeing farmers across the association and helping ensure Fairtrade standards are met.
We had the privilege of chatting to Elizabeth (just in time for International Woman’s Day this Sunday, too!) about what’s been growing and changing within her cooperative, what ‘fair trade’ means to her, and the hopes that manifest in a ‘simple’ bag of coffee beans.
Link in bio ☕️
#FairTrade #FairTradeCoffee #InternationalWomensDay
DIFFICULT ✊🏻✊🏽✊🏿
The collab we needed for International Women`s Day… and every day!
From @DangerousFemales:
"Hands up if you’ve ever been called difficult behind your back, to your face, or by an Australian Prime Minister during a Q&A?
DIFFICULT by Grace Tame, in her own handwriting is… one word: ICONIC!
100% of profits from our tees are donated, 100% of the time. Funds from this @TamePunk tee will go to @BerylWomen_inc, a First Nations led women’s refuge in the ACT.
Kinda ironic, don’t ya think?
Supporting an org in the parliament state with words from a politician for Australia’s longest running and underfunded women’s refuge.
Thank you @TamePunk for being difficult." 🫶🙌
Link in bio to get behind this tee!
#InternationalWomensDay #DangerousFemales #GraceTame #Difficult
NEW PATTERN ALERT 🎉
She’s giving comfort, she’s giving style, she’s giving palate-cleansing sewing. There’s nothing quite like an easy breezy dress that’s not only a dream to wear but a delight to sew, and the NEW Peppermint Myrtle Shift Dress delivers!
Cute, classic and cool with a touch of retro: the Myrtle Shift Dress is a beginner-friendly make with sleek lines and elegant curves. Bust darts are in play for shaping and spacious pockets to hold all your treasures. Top-stitching detail around the neck and armholes invites creative contrast threads and the keyhole loop closure at the back neck begs for a feature button (or a tie closure!).
Myrtle cuts above the knee with options to customise the length. Don’t think she’s reserved for hot weather either: try a heavier-weight fabric to turn your Myrtle into a pinafore-style garment for layering.
For our fabrics we chose two from @Karmme_Apparel – the bold Rottnest Stripes in a lightweight, soft-drape cotton, and the quality linen in the handpainted Mexico Collection. Karmme also stocks darling tassels so we popped a hot pink one on as a closure!
The love child of Imby Langenbach, Karmme Apparel (fittingly pronounced ‘calm’), is a haven of boho apparel sewing patterns alongside complementary fabrics steeped in tradition with modern iterations from Jaipur, India. Hand block-printed and digitally printed soft cottons produced by Indian artisans showcase rich colours and designs from Imby’s travels, perfect for showing off me-made masterpieces.
Our dresses were superbly stitched by our sewing manager @Laura_The_Maker, and modelled magnificently by Shannon @Pins_And_Tonic and Serah @SerahSews. And that perfect pink wall was courtesy of the good folk at @ShareTheDignityAustralia, an organisation that aims to bring dignity to women, girls and those who menstruate who are experiencing homelessness, domestic violence and period poverty.
Get making the Myrtle – the only question is, can you stop at just one?
Link in bio 🪡
Photos: @KelleySheenan
Sewist: @Laura_The_Maker
Patternmaker: @GarmentaApparel
Models: @SerahSews and @Pins_And_Tonic
Fabric: @Karmme_Apparel
#PeppermintMyrtleShiftDress #PeppermintPatterns
Connection 🫶🏻
Such great ideas from @GrowWithColby:
“A common theme I noticed in 2025:
Everyone is craving more connection.
Use these friend nights to make it happen in 2026.
Send this to the people you want to do these with.”
#Connection #Friends #Community
No bull - these pants are the cat`s (or cow`s) pyjamas...
Jenny from @RhubarbSundays:
And they are done! My @PeppermintMagazine #PeppermintFernPleatedPants made using a gorgeous fabric from @IndyBindyFabrics! I absolutely love this fabric! It’s soft and drapes beautifully. And the best thing about it is that, from a distance, it looks like an abstract print and then you look closer and theres a curious bull looking right at you. 🤣🤣 🐄 🐮
Really happy with the end product. They are very comfy! I didn’t make many changes to the pattern. Just a touch more room in the rise and a little bit off the waist. I’ll post some closeups of the details tomorrow when I actually take them off. 🤣 "
Grab the pattern from the link in bio!
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