Unity Fashion Art Group started this week when ten people met in the Glasgow Social Centre to customise clothes that we had not been able to sell in Unity's new charity shop at Govan Cross. The group plan to meet every Monday and Tuesday afternoon to sew, chat, dye and print clothes to wear and / or to sell at a regular Flea Market we're going to hold in the Social Centre on Saturdays.
Unity Fashion Art Group started this week when ten people met in the Glasgow Social Centre to customise clothes that we had not been able to sell in Unity's new charity shop at Govan Cross. The group plan to meet every Monday and Tuesday afternoon to sew, chat, dye and print clothes to wear and / or to sell at a regular Flea Market we're going to hold in the Social Centre on Saturdays.
At the Unity Centre's new charity shop at Govan Cross we have been overwhelmed by the huge amount of clothes that have been donated to us. Almost every day local people, keen to support the shop, bring in donations of clothes, often five or six bin bags of clothes are brought in.
Despite our best effors we just cannot sell enough clothes to keep up with this number of donations so we have been investigating other ways of distributing the clothes. In the last week we have been distributing £10 vouchers to all asylum seekers in Glasgow allowing them to get clothes for free.(Destitute asylum seekers already can get clothes for free from us and our policy is that asylum seekers get clothing half priced anyway.)
When clothes are sold on for rags, they are sorted either to be made into rags for use for cleaning in industry, ripped up and turned into felt for making insulation and seat covers or sometimes useable clothes are sent to Africa.
Although these are good uses for unwanted clothes it is still hard for us to put perfectly good clothing into the rag bin. As a result we have worked with members of the social centre in Glasgow to set up 'U-FAG'. the 'Unity Fashion Art Group'.
The plan is to meet regularly and go through a selection of the clothes that we cannot sell at the Unity in the Community charity shop. People chose clothes that they may wish to modify to wear themselves or so the clothes can be sold at a Saturday Flea Market we hope to hold regularly.
U-FAG is planning to meet every Monday and Tuesday afternoon. It will be more than just a sewing circle - we hope to also look at using techniques such as tie-dying, silk screen prinitng, batik wax painting, and even using potato prints to modify and alter clothing.
We're also looking at using fabrics to make bags, cushion covers, etc.
Come along!
The social centre is at 68 Osbourne Street (near the 13th Note pub.) It is in the building that will be used as the African Caribean Network building. http://glasgowsocialcentre.blogspot.com/
If you're interested contact the Unity Centre or the Social Centre.
We are also interested in looking at other uses for the clothing we cannot sell. If you have an idea please get in touch. And please, despite this message we are still keen to take donations of clothing that we can sell or distribute to people in need in Glasgow.
Thank you!
