Nowadays, there is a growing awareness of environmental protection, new findings in the field of sustainable chemistry, the use of biodegradable materials, and the increased use of eco-friendly textile products. For this reason, natural dyes are being used more and more frequently, giving rise to a new way of decorating textiles, namely, plant transfer printing, popularly known as “eco-printing”, in which the shape and/or pigment of a plant is transferred to the textile. In addition, the great interest of the young generation in the application and research into the use of natural dyes can create incentives for cultural and social sustainability through the preservation of national heritage. Plant transfer printing is a method that combines scientific technology and artistic design with corresponding benefits for the eco system. The very fact that the patterns are unique and unpredictable brings out the notion of artistic freedom. In the work, plant transfer printing was carried out on undyed cotton material and on material dyed with pomegranate peels, walnut leaves, coffee, and aleppo pine bark. The influence of the pH value and the capillarity of the fabric, as well as the treatment of the leaves with iron(II) sulphate heptahydrate solution, on the aesthetics of the print and the colour fastness during washing was investigated. Based on the optimised parameters and a sustainable fabric design, the clothing collection “Hamadryad”, inspired by Greek mythology, was realised.

The weaving process is constantly evolving in terms of productivity, quality, and possibilities of fabrication of different fabric structures and shapes. This article covers some issues that have still not been resolved and represents distracting factors in the woven fabrics production. In the development of woven fabric using the CAD technology, it is inevitably a deviation of the virtual image on the computer screen from the woven sample. According to comprehensive industry analyses, the findings of many authors who contributed to the resolution of these problems can be concluded that these problems are still present in the development and production of striped, checkered, and jacquard woven fabrics. In this article, jacquard, multicolor woven fabrics were investigated, with deviations in pattern sizes and shades of color in warp and weft systems compared to virtual simulation on the computer, as well as the tendency of the weft distortion arising from the weaving process leading to the pattern deformation.

The problem of textile waste generated in production processes poses new challenges for manufacturers. For this reason, an approach to clothing design has been developed that takes into account aspects of sustainable development and the zero-waste concept. The paper presents the development of “T” and “X” silhouettes for women’s dresses according to the proposed new method. The existing basic cuts of women’s dresses were modeled to obtain “T” and “X” basic silhouettes for women’s dresses, and we compare the reduction in losses between the cuts using the newly proposed TAXI method and the TAXI method according to the proposed design. The use of pattern losses based on the pattern of the basic dress cut provides innovative design solutions according to the TAXI method by applying structural elements that adjust the shape of the basic silhouettes of women’s dresses. Fabric utilization using the basic “T” silhouette cut model is reduced to 75%. The TAXI method improves fabric utilization, achieving 75% fabric use with the basic “T” silhouettes and up to 99.8% with modifications. The fabric utilization of the basic “X” silhouette according to the proposed TAXI design method is 99.8%, which is 32.5% higher than the fabric utilization according to the basic pattern. With this comprehensive concept based on the principles of sustainability, the proposed TAXI design method has been adapted for the maximum possible fabric utilization, esthetic quality and fit, while retaining the recognizable silhouette of the garment.