REPAIR & UPCYCLE 101 // Fundamental Skills to Upcycle Materials & Sew Bags.

REPAIR & UPCYCLE 101 // Fundamental Skills to Upcycle Materials & Sew Bags.

Looking to learn fundamental skills to repair and upcycle textiles at home. Look no further. For this course, no prior sewing skills are required, all you need is a hate for landfill and a thirst to bring materials back to life.

Over five lessons we cover key sewing techniques you can apply to damaged, misshaped or worn-down textiles (and the weird and wonderful materials like BBQ covers, billboards and tarps). 

✂️ BAGS & CREATIVE OUTCOMES: 

Over the five weeks, we cover and handful of practical textile repair and customisation skills so you can fix and style existing garments. These techniques are great for repairs but also lend themselves to styling and embellishing a wide variety of waste materials. 

Once we've got these techniques on the tool belt, we guide you through the sizing, utility and order of assemble for your perfect tote bag or market bag. Following our pattern guidelines, you have full control on the specifications of the design and process, so you can learn the decisions and troubleshooting required when working with various waste materials (including, but not limited to textiles, tarps, banners, plastics). Yum.

• Repair technique swatches and samples
• Customisable tote bag/market bag pattern
• Your badass custom designed tote

🌍 LEARNING OUTCOMES: 

Over the five weeks you learn the following fundamental sewing and repair skills:

• How to operate, thread and troubleshoot a domestic sewing machine
• Sewing and joining seams on various (trash) materials
  
• Straps from scraps. How to sew straps from various materials
• Hemming (pant legs etc)
• Domestic Machine Repair Techniques (mending splits or reinforcing worn textiles)
• Applique & Reverse Applique (patching and styling holes)

Fundamental textile upcycling techniques:

• Decorative Stitches & Embellishment (add pattern, style and texture to repairs)
• Creating sewable patches from waste materials
• Pattern guidelines for customisable tote bag/market bag

♻️ CLASS FORMAT:

Each week consists of one two hour class, for five weeks. Each class focuses on a different learning outcome so you can continue to tackle waste with your own projects at home.

• Class runs 6.30pm-8.30pm 
• 5 Weeks of 2 hour classes
• No prior sewing skills required
  
• We have an abundance of waste textiles here but feel free to BYO garment/textiles/random waste materials
• Each student will have their own sewing machine. Everyone is welcome to BYO machine if that's preferred. 
• Snacks provided to get the creative juices flowing

💚 WHO IT'S FOR: 

This class is for beginner to intermediate sewers. Maybe you remember sewing years ago but want to brush up on your skills, maybe you've never sewn before but you want to bring some of your wardrobe back to life. Either way, we cover the fundamentals of sewing while ensuring there's ample time for creativity and refining skills so you can repair garments and create at home. 

*All of our courses are designed to meet you at your current skill level. If you're new to sewing, we will guide you through fundamental processes. If you're more experienced, we can push you for a more complex design and manufacturing process. 

♻️ FIVE WEEK BREAKDOWN:

Week One: We discuss the course overview, what we want to learn and discuss any specific upcycling projects each student may have (optional). Then we dive into it... each student learns fundamental sewing techniques while creating multiple repair and upcycling samples. Great skills to keep on the tool belt for this course and future upcycling projects. 

Week Two: Design time! *my personal favourite session* You're welcome to BYO materials or you can browse our carefully curated selection of waste materials! We learn the pattern making process for lined tote bags and design the size, material and style of our bag. 

Week Three: The making process begins. We have key milestones to hit for each class but each project varies slightly. Here is where the majority of the 'upskilling' part comes. The thinking and understanding involved for the varying types of material properties, seam allowances, finishes and the process of assembly. All the juicy learnings you can take home and apply to your next project!

Week Four: The making process continues. This is the crunch class where we have extra snacks to get the majority of our sewing done. The hard work starts to pay off  and our bag starts to come to life!

Week Five: The "You did it" class! Bag assembly, finishing touches (d-rings, bedazzlements etc) and a quick snap of your beautiful creation. All that upskilling, design and problem solving comes to life and you see your epic bag that you made from materials someone else threw in the bin! How f#cking cool is that! Go you!

THE NUMBERS: 

Included in the $370 ticket is five weeks of classes, valued at $100 per class, carry wear, est $100, total value of $600 for $370. 

All leftover textiles and offcuts are externally recycled with UPPAREL. 

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Cancellations. We offer a refund policy up until 7 days prior to the semester starting. If the cancellation is within this 7 day window, we will release the ticket and refund your amount pending it's resale. No refunds will be processed once the semester has started. 

Free shipping Australia wide on orders over $50. All parcels are shipping in composible mailers with composible labels, tape and a 100% recycled product card from local legends Dodgy Paper.

Buying goods online can be a risky game (we've been burnt before). To ensure you're happy with your product, we offer 30 day returns. Not available on custom made products.