Upcycling is the swiss army knife of impact. It ticks the social, environmental and creative boxes. So why isn’t sewing the household staple it used to be?
We’re well aware of the waste problems global consumption habits are creating. But, what doesn’t get enough air time is the accessibility and opportunity to take meaningful action in to our own hands. Although the craft of sewing has skipped a generation, its potential for impact has only increased.
Textiles are one of the few product industries that still hold the right to repair. So what’s stopping us from taking action?
Through necessity, what used to be woven into the fabric (sorry) of a typical household was the ability to mend, tailor and repair. As the cost of new clothing dropped, for many, so did the necessity of repair... and the chain of knowledge began to break.
The good news is, we live in a knowledge-abundant world. A quick YouTube search will get you all the juicy details needed to fire up the sewing machine. The issue is feedback and troubleshooting.
If you’ve ever tried to troubleshoot a household printer with an instruction manual, you know the pain. Effectively applying new knowledge requires confidence. And confidence comes from context-specific step-by-step directions or personalised feedback (one of the many reason we love running sewing workshops).
Once you have the fundamentals of sewing under our belt, you unlock a world of creative possibilities to customise and repair busted materials. And that’s only the beginning...
With a few tips and tricks, you can deploy your new skills to create custom pieces from unwanted material. In the future, we might stroll to our local haberdashery for 1m of event banner...
Until then, sourcing upcycled materials that are as durable as they are sexy takes time and it’s easy to lose momentum before the first stitch. Which is why we started bag upcycling kits...
Our goal is to make upcycling as accessible, creative and impactful as possible. We’ve sourced sexy, sewable materials and pressed 100% recycled hardware, ready for you to upcycle. With detailed video tutorials, access to a global community of upcyclers and chat support in case you need some of that juicy feedback.
If you’re feeling the urge to take action into your own hands but don’t have time to source materials, you’re in the right spot.
Many hands make much impact... together we can resurrect the sewing machine as a household staple.
