Sustainable Fashion and Up-cycling Workshop - Earth Hour 2021.
Earth Hour is the moment every year when millions unite around the world to show they care about the future of our planet. This year we’re focusing on a digital switch off to have fun, inspire and spread hope - held on the 27th March at 8.30pm. To celebrate Earth Hour and encourage more people to get involved I ran a 2 part workshop, made possible by WWF Cymru community grant.
The most effective way to support sustainable fashion is to avoid buying newly produced clothing, this is because second-hand and vintage fashion requires no new energy for production and is zero waste. That’s why I encourage people to buy second-hand, whilst putting forward ideas for how to appreciate what we have in our wardrobes. By repairing, altering and refreshing clothes you already own, you are prolonging the items lifespan and ultimately saving them from landfill.
​
​
Aimed at young people aged 18-25, the workshop outlined an introduction to sustainable fashion and provided step-by-step tutorials for clothes up-cycling at home. Exploring your creativity can be very empowering and rewarding, by learning a simple embroidery stitch or a dyeing technique you can refresh clothing and add to your wardrobe without buying newly produced. The workshops aimed to motivate its participants to get creative with clothing they already own, to inform participants of the environmental and social impacts of fashion, and to provide inspiration.
​
Split into two parts, Day 1 of the workshop began with an introduction to sustainable fashion, followed by an afternoon of embroidery up-cycling tutorials. The second part of the workshop/Day 2, allowed participants to continue working on their up-cycled works, giving us time to present and display works at the end. I then concluded the day with tips and advice, including reading list. A free day between each workshop days, allowed for participants to work on their pieces, network and connect with one another online.
