Recycling Clothes workshop a great success!

October 31 2011

Recycling Clothes workshop a great success!

Revamp Restyle Refashion Workshop

About 20 of us met on Saturday 15^th October for a great day of cutting and stitching. We transformed some discarded garments into glorious and glamourous apparel; created bags from swatches of material; and re styled favourite items of clothes to give them a more contemporary look with help from Angharad Barlow a talented local costume designer who trained at the London College of Fashion. The workshop was organised by Moretonhampstead Action Group for Sustainability and came partly as a response to disturbing short film from the Environmental Justice Foundation about cotton production in Uzbekistan, the world’s third largest cotton producer. Cotton requires a huge water supply to grow successfully and is partly responsible for the draining of the Aral sea in central Asia. Uzbekistan is run by a corrupt elite. Children are forced to spend long hours during the 2 month harvest collecting the cotton for little or no money. Traceability of cotton is a real issue. However, the globalised fashion industry is hugely exploitative of people and natural resources. Anyone concerned about child labour, fair employment practices and pollution needs to be careful about where they buy clothes. The message seems to be buy fewer clothes and make them last longer hence our workshop!  Our sewing day was so popular we are hoping to organise a re-run in the New Year. If you’d like to be kept informed contact Katheryn Hope 440855.

         

Look out for forthcoming MAGS events “ What’s happening to our bees?” More information, date and venue to be announced.

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