This is a fun activity in Northampton
The Stitch and Make Studio is a professional working studio that occupies the top floor of a Victorian boot and shoe factory. The studio, established in 2010, is the perfect place to begin your sewing journey. Flooded with sunlight, this fully equipped studio has everything you need to inspire you to be creative. Leave the world outside, park your worries, and prepare to be inspired.
According to Oxfam in 2019, we Brits binned 11 million textile items weekly. Infinite growth of material consumption in a finite world is an impossibility. So we need to start taking better care of the things we choose to wear by repairing, upcycling, remaking, and mending. Through finding joy in new skills and sharing, we not only make ourselves feel better but also help the planet. With this in mind, we have curated an ambitious day of celebrating the clothes we already own by making our wardrobes more sustainable, more individual, more joyful, and finding connection through repairing.
We plan to work this in a different way to our usual workshops. We'll have different zones for different mending, repairing, or embellishing techniques. This way, you'll be able to move from space to space and will have the opportunity to learn a range of new techniques.
Here's how the day looks:
- Hems: Learn to turn up skirt, dress, and trouser hems. Turn trousers into shorts. You can cut off sleeves or make them a different length.
- Patching: We'll show you how to make some patches from old vintage fabrics which you can use to cover holes. This is a visible mending technique, so it will involve learning how to use blanket stitch or fly stitch. We'll also show you how to hide holes from the inside for a more discreet repair.
- Darning: Learn to darn using a mushroom and wool for jumpers and woollens. This can be either visible or discreet using coloured wools and threads.
- Basic clothes alterations: Replace buttons and poppers, take in skirts and dresses, let out darts, mend tears.
- Embellishments: Embroidery stitches and beading to decorate your clothing.
Extending the lifespan and repairing the clothes you already have is the most radical thing you can do. The skills you learn in the session can be shared and passed on.
