Shirt Upcycling

Big Fashion's aggressive marketing has built emotional obsolecence into the clothes we wear: while our clothing is worse quality now than it was 30 years ago, we usually throw it away before it's even worn in. We're primed to clear space for ever more frequent shopping trips. Big Fashion fill their pockets and you, their underpaid workers and the envrionment get poorer.

We're on a mission to empower you to change that! Our vision is a world where you love everything you wear, and if you don't love it, you change it before replacing it. For this workshop you'll learn either:

• Personalisation: embroidery, patching beading and painting
• Alterations: cropping, turning long sleeves short, adding elastic, or any ideas you have (assuming they are simple alterations)

What to expect:

We will provide:

• full sewing kit
• 2-3 sewing machines
• emboridery threads
• assorted beads
• fabrics for patching
• fabric paints

Please bring a shirt/t-shirt/tank top you already own that you think could use some love. A good idea is to use corporate or events branded t-shirts (things like conference or school sports team merch) as these often have no resale value, and we can come up with a design that covers it up. If you don't have any, we will also have some plain, clean second hand t-shirts you can work on.

When and where to arrive

The workshop will run from 2-6pm. You can drop in anytime but we wouldn't recommend starting a project any later than 4pm. If you've never used a sewing machine before, please book an induction slot and arrive on time for it!

Is it free?

YES. But if you'd like to give a donation this will go to the Islington Climate Centre, and help us run more free community events.

More information and booking here