Fashion meets sustainability at Rare Trades centre

FOR the first time, patternmaker and fashion educator Andrea Streefkerk will be at the Centre for Rare Arts and Forgotten Trades sharing how to make fashionable and sustainable clothes.

The two-day workshop will teach participants a range of skills including French seams, gathering, pleating, darts and tucks.

These techniques will be used to make a pair of Tessuti fabric denim pants.

Participants will also be introduced to industrial sewing machines and pressing equipment.

“I think it’s a really important step for them to be able to start creating their own clothing,” said Ms Streefkerk.

“They can then have some confidence that they can go into a fabric store, buy their own pattern and work on it individually.

“They are gaining those practical skills.”

Ms Streefkerk said there are many benefits to creating your own clothing including getting a better fit and design.

“It’s an incredibly important skill and it is a lost trade as it’s so easy to go and buy clothing,” she said.

“But we know clothing doesn’t always fit us and you can’t always go and buy what you want or what you like.

“The skill in making your own clothes is that you can project your own creativity, you can buy fabric that you like and prints and colours that you like, and the joy you get from actually producing something yourself.”

Self-made garments also have the effect of slowing down the fashion industry by promoting quality clothing.

“Sustainability is really important, to slow down fashion as fast fashion is a business model that the fashion industry has been using for a while,” said Ms Streefkerk.

“It’s the overconsumption of cheap clothing that ends up in landfill, it’s not well constructed and it doesn’t last.

“Being able to repair clothing, make your own clothing, perhaps buy something from an op shop and repurpose into something else, this is a skill that turns into that sustainability model we should be aiming for.”

The workshop will be on Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 October. To book a place visit the Centre for Rare Arts and Forgotten Trades website.