Beer&Yarn
2021-03-08 20:00 - 23:00 UTC | Online
Join us the second Monday of every month to work on projects over a pint. Bring a hand-sewing, knitting, crocheting, mending, or embroidery. We’ll be meeting on zoom until our favourite local pub is open again.
Looking forward to seeing you!

Mending session: skill share
2021-04-20 08:00 - 17:00
Bring along your socks to darn, that lovely dress that need attention or learn how to sew the button back on your jeans. You will learn skills for life and reduce your carbon footprint by reusing and repairing in a Covid safe environment.
No sewing experience is necessary, Sewing Cafe Lancaster will take you through the steps. Spread the word. 90 minutes slots, booking required at sewingcafelancaster@gmail.com

Conversation
2021-04-22 18:00 - 19:00
Imprint mag and the Sewing Cafe Lancaster: on sewing, sharing skills and building communities

Give Away: Mending kits
2021-04-24 12:00 - 13:30
Come along, meet the team, have a chat and get one of the mending kits our team have made for you.

Storytelling Cafe: Frances Elizabeth Johnson
2021-05-11 09:30 - 22:30 | Online
By Professor Alan Rice
Online Storytelling Café. Sewing Café Lancaster is making a banner about Lancaster and the slave trade. To get inspired the researchers are talking (online) about the stories they have found.
Everyone is welcome, because the past has loads to teach us about the quest for profit, growth and consumption.
To book click here or get the zoom link at sewingcafelancaster@gmail.com

Storytelling Café: Jack Gladstone and the Demerara Slave Rebellion (1823)
2021-05-18 09:30 - 22:30 | Online
By Professor Imogen Tyler
Online Storytelling Café. Sewing Café Lancaster is making a banner about Lancaster and the slave trade. To get inspired the researchers are talking (online) about the stories they have found.
Everyone is welcome, because the past has loads to teach us about the quest for profit, growth and consumption.
Book your place here or get the zoom link at sewingcafelancaster@gmail.com

Ibo Boy and Dent Runaway Stories
2021-05-25 09:30 - 22:30
Ibo Boy Story by Drahoslava Machova and Dent Runaway Story Professor Imogen Tyler, an online Storytelling Café.
Sewing Café Lancaster is making a banner about Lancaster and the slave trade. To get inspired the researchers are talking (online) about the stories they have found.
Everyone is welcome, because the past has loads to teach us about the quest for profit, growth and consumption.
Book your place here or get the zoom link at sewingcafelancaster@gmail.com.

Natural Dyes & Printing: The Basics
2021-06-05 10:00 - 16:00
Learn how to make a dye from dried or fresh ingredients, experiment eco-printing and more
by Katrina Barnish and Sewing Cafe Lancaster’s team.
Where? At The Rewilding, Patty’s Barn LA2 0DY https://www.the-rewilding.com/
How much? Early bird £60 until the 22nd of May Full £65
How to book? sewingcafelancaster@gmail.com
Limited numbers in a Covid safe environment

Storytelling Café: Dent Runaway Story and Sattherwaite Family
2021-06-15 09:30 - 22:30
Because the past has loads to teach us about the quest for profit, growth and consumption
Sewing Café Lancaster is making a banner about Lancaster and the slave trade. To get inspired the researchers are talking (online) about the stories they have found. Everyone is welcome, get the zoom link at
sewingcafelancaster@gmail.com or at www.sewingcafelancaster.com

Convivial Clothing: let's explore the power of positive change
2021-07-07 13:45 - 15:15
Sewing Café Lancaster and Stitched Up Co-operative collaborate to reimagine the textile Industry while doing some mending!
7th Degrowth / 16th ISEE International Society for Ecological Economics Conference: “Building Alternative Livelihoods in times of ecological and political crisis”
Registration: https://www.eventsforce.net/hg3/197/register

Storytelling Café: The Lancaster Lindows
2021-07-13 09:30 - 10:30 | Online
Because the past has loads to teach us about the quest for profit, growth and consumption
By Jasmine Patel, Emma Chandler and Emily Yates, Lancaster Girls Grammar school students and researchers.
Sewing Café Lancaster is making a banner about Lancaster and the slave trade. To get inspired the researchers are talking (online) about the stories they have found. Everyone is welcome, get the zoom link at
sewingcafelancaster@gmail.com or at www.sewingcafelancaster.com

Beer&Yarn
2021-07-13 18:00 - 21:00 | Stonewell Tap, 8-10 Church Street, Lancaster, Lancashire, LA1 1NP, United Kingdom
We are back to the Pub!

Bring a project and connect with the sewing, crafting, mending community.
Would love to see your faces and hear about what you are working on.

Dyeing With Kitchen Waste
2021-07-31 13:00 - 17:00
Come and have a taste of the variety of vibrant colours using non toxic plant based processes.
Bookings at:
1pm to 2:30 pm https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/dyeing-fabric-with-kitchen-waste-lancaster-health-festival-tickets-163827166465
3pm to 4:30 pm https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/dyeing-fabric-with-kitchen-waste-lancaster-health-festival-tickets-163827296855
Come and have a taste of the variety of vibrant colours using non toxic plant based processes. Learn the basics on how to extract and use pigment from vegetable waste on natural fibres. Suited for beginners, limited spaces available, materials included.
Chemical dyes are extremely toxic and cause huge amounts of pollution at every stage of their production and use.
Ingredients in chemical dyes are responsible for huge amounts of pollution of soil and water, this goes beyond those involved in the industry and affects people living in the whole region.
Little textile production occurs in the UK or across Europe, so we become
increasingly divorced from the process and problems inflicted and awareness
declines.
Connect more closely with nature, join us for a small scale DIY alternative to fast fashion, and have fun in the process.
You will learn more about food waste and textiles while having fun in the process

The Lancaster Gregsons and the Brockbanks: Links to Empire and Transatlantic Slavery
2021-09-21 09:30 - 22:30
By By Lancaster Royal Grammar School
Because the past has loads to teach us about the quest for profit, growth and consumption
Sewing Café Lancaster is making a banner about Lancaster and the slave trade. To get inspired the researchers are talking (online) about the stories they have found. Everyone is welcome, get the zoom link at
sewingcafelancaster@gmail.com or at www.sewingcafelancaster.com
LBHG Lancaster is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81866016026?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 818 6601 6026
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Mending at Great Big Green Week
2021-09-25 13:00 - 16:00
Come and join us for a mending session at the Cornerstone in Sulyard St, Lancaster LA1 1PX

Clothes Swap, Mend along and Talk
2021-11-23 19:30 - 21:00 | Gregson Lancaster, 3 - 35 Moor Gate, Lancaster, Lancaster, Lancashire, LA1 3PY, United Kingdom
What’s on offer?
This year’s Crafternoon will focus on fashion and its implications for social and environmental justice. Bring your mending and join us to explore the fate of secondhand clothing as we unpick the connections between clothing, climate and more…
What’s it about?
The rise of the so-called fast fashion industry is a major contributor to climate change and a host of other social and environmental impacts. This mend-along session will take us on a tour of what happens to the clothes we donate or throw away – we’ll get inspired with talks from some of the researchers and activists working in this field and then put our thinking caps on to try and design some alternative solutions.

Booking in advance is required

Natural dyes at Midwinter Market
2021-12-17 10:00 - 17:00
Our Natural Dyes exhibition at the Midwinter market!
On the 17th December from 10:00-17:00 Lancaster’s Midwinter Market will return to Lancaster’s central market square; showcasing local food and drink producers, woodworkers, community food projects and local craftspeople.
It’s a great chance to source food and ‘sustainable’ gifts for Christmas from small local businesses and community projects – supporting our local sustainable food and crafts economy. It also provides the perfect opportunity to meet local landworkers and crafts people directly and celebrate the Midwinter for: “What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness”?

Confirmed stalls so far include:

Backsbottom Farm will be selling a range of unique cider vinegars, organic heritage apples and woodland crafts.

Relic Plastic will be showcasing their range of 100% recycled artisan plastic gifts – extending the life of plastic destined for the landfill or incineration.

Lancaster and Morecambe College will be decorating biscuits for people to try, whilst also bringing along a range of Christmas products to sell.

Claver Hill community food project will have ‘no-dig’ winter salads on sale, surplus veg and locally made chutneys, jams, jellies and cider – made from locally grown fruit and veg. All money raised directly supports this great community food project.

FoodFutures will be launching the midwinter edition of THRIVE Magazine – North Lancashire’s community food magazine – which seeks to highlight and celebrate all the great food work going on locally. They will also have prints on sale and a Midwinter hamper prize draw for anyone who signs up to be a FoodFriend during the day.

Billy’s Eggs, a solid supporter of LESS’s seasonal markets, will have a range of local and free-range eggs, honey, free range cheese and preserves on sale.

Logs Direct will be taking orders for fire wood, including a range of ‘eco logs’. And the Woodland Trust will be handing out information about their work protecting and regenerating British woodlands, including how you can get involved.

To keep us warm, Eggcup will be serving takeaway soup made from surplus food and the Bubbly Box will be offering mulled wine alongside other hot drinks.

If that wasn’t enough, Sewing Cafe Lancaster will also be setting up a one-day-only pop up exhibition “Should Natural dyes be employed again on an industrial scale?”

Join us on the 17th December to find out more!

Unlocking Lockdown: Exhibition
2022-02-01 - 2022-02-12 | The Storey, 27 Meeting House Ln,, Lancaster, Lancashire, LA1 1TH, United Kingdom
Unlocking Lockdown is a community-based arts project organised by Sewing Café Lancaster.
The Covid-19 pandemic and lockdowns have brought hardship and challenges to all of us in different ways and to varying degrees. In the midst of these tough times, we hope there were some positives too, such as people working together to support one another, perhaps discovering new strengths/skills in themselves and the world around them.

Beer & Yarn
2022-03-01 18:00 - 22:00 | Stonewell Tap, 8-10 Church Street, Lancaster, Lancashire, LA1 1NP, United Kingdom
Bring a project and connect with the sewing, crafting, mending community.
Would love to see your faces and hear about what you are working on.
An evening event where Menders, Embroiderers, Knitters and Crocheters come together socially to share and enjoy the craft.
We love natural fibres and natural beer.
First Tuesday of every month, 6 – 8pm (and usually later!) at Stonewell Tap.
We are an inclusive club open to all.
Our event is free, but we kindly ask you to buy a drink from the great selection at the bar.

What is Sewing Cafe all about?
2022-03-08 18:30 - 20:30 | Lancaster Priory, Priory Vicarage, Priory Close, Lancaster, LA1 1YZ, United Kingdom
Learn more about Sewing Cafe Lancaster, ongoing and upcoming projects and events, and how you can get involved in a community of passionate individuals who care about sustainability and our closets. We’d love to meet more of this community in person!

Hapa-zome and Bundle Dyeing
2022-04-18 08:00 - 17:00
Come and have a go at Hapa-zome and bundle dyeing with spring flowers at Claver Hil, with Enda O’Regan and Katrina Barnish from Sewing Cafe Lancaster.
Free and all materials provided
This is an outdoor event, please come dressed for the weather.
Claver Hill Community Food Growing Project is located on Ridge Lane, just past the Central Lancaster playing fields.

Undressed
2022-04-22 - 2022-04-26 | The Storey Gallery, Meeting House Lane, Lancaster, Lancashire, LA1 1TH, United Kingdom
Undressed: A festival unravelling our relationship with clothes.
22 – 26 April 2022
“Textile production is a major contributor to climate change. It produces an estimated 1.2 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent (CO2e) per year – more than international flights and maritime shipping combined.” – Ellen Macarthur Foundation
Sustainability starts with us and can be easy when we know that the best option is to Buy Less and Care More.
Join us over the course of 4 days for a clothing swap, guest speakers, activities, mending drop ins, and an exhibit. The opening event will be held on Friday, April 22nd from 6-9pm at The Storey Gallery, the tickets are £5 per person. Bring clothes to swap and enjoy drinks and nibbles from Baked by Brew as you find something new-to-you. Tickets can be found through the website.
Undressed Fest coincides with Earth Day and Fashion Revolution Week, an international event. The Clothes Swap Soirée on Friday evening is the only ticketed event – the clothes swap continues with free admission across Saturday, Monday and Tuesday events.
Mens, Womens and Childrens clothing, accessories, and shoes, hangers (no underwear please). Please only bring Spring/Summer seasonal clothing, clean and in good condition, free from holes and stains — anything you’d happily give to a friend.
We hope to see you there, and feel free to bring your friends, neighbours, and kids!

Other Worlds
2023-04-28 17:00 - 2023-04-30 16:00 | The Storey Gallery, Meeting House Lane, Lancaster, Lancashire, LA1 1TH, United Kingdom
Sewing Café Lancaster presents ‘Other Worlds’ in the beautiful Storey Gallery. The clothing swap is back with a twist, alongside interactive events, guest speakers, music, gallery displays, and workshops in this 3-day event. Everyone participates in fashion (whether we care about it or not) which is a major contributor to climate change – more than international flights and maritime shipping combined. Join us in giving breath to new ideas and different ways of being, for ourselves and for our future. All welcome, the event is free, but we recommend reserving tickets ahead of time.
This year our theme is ‘Other Worlds’, based on the parallel Worlds project called Fashion Fictions, created by Amy Twigger Holroyd and the idea of ‘Applied Utopia‘ by the Slow Factory. With the premise that we can envision parallel worlds, then work towards making them a reality for a more sustainable future. We hope to create a space for participants to create their own visions and feel inspired to act upon them.
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Friday evening: 5:30 – 9:00pm
Opening Reception
A Warm Welcome to ‘Other Worlds’
Please Book FREE Tickets here so we know how many people to cater for.
Enjoy vegan/vegetarian appetisers, desserts and drinks, with catering from local favourite Baked by Brew.

Introducing ‘Worlds’ with Dr Amy Twigger Holroyd
Associate Professor of Fashion and Sustainability in the School of Art & Design at Nottingham Trent University, Amy leads research projects at the intersection of fashion, making, design and sustainability. Her research focuses on fashion transitions: the participatory exploration of alternative, open and plural fashion systems that respect the Earth’s capacity to support life.
Live Music & Storytelling with Jennifer Reid
Folk music has lost its way, and people have lost track of their geographical heritage. The working classes made music as a provocation and this is a tradition Jennifer continues. She is a performer of nineteenth century Lancashire dialect weaving songs and will be sharing them with us to celebrate the heritage of local textile workers.
Explore ‘Other Worlds’ (continues throughout the weekend!)

Discover the Worlds created by past participants in the Fashion Fictions workshops and create your own.
View projects that explore parallel worlds from a local perspective that are currently working towards more sustainable, just, and equitable futures.

Clothes Swap with a Twist (continues throughout the weekend!)

Free to participate.
Please bring clean items in good condition, items you’d be happy to give to a family member or friend.
Accepting clothes, shoes, and accessories for men, women and children.

The clothes swap will continue throughout the weekend, meaning we constantly have new clothes coming and going during our open hours. This year, we’ll be capturing some of the clothes’ stories and cataloguing them for future wearers.
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Saturday 11:00am – 2:00pm
Clothes Swap with a Twist & Explore Other Worlds

Free to participate.
Please bring clean items in good condition, items you’d be happy to give to a family member or friend.
Accepting clothes, shoes, and accessories for men, women and children.

The clothes swap will continue throughout the weekend, meaning we constantly have new clothes coming and going during our open hours. This year, we’ll be capturing some of the clothes’ stories and cataloguing them for future wearers.

Saturday 10:00am – 12:00pm
Music Workshop with Jennifer Reid – FULLY BOOKED
Kick off Saturday with a musical workshop of Lancashire dialect weaving songs with Jennifer Reid. We highly suggest taking a listen beforehand!
Folk music has lost its way, and people have lost track of their geographical heritage. The working classes made music as a provocation and this is a tradition Jennifer continues. She is a performer of nineteenth century Lancashire dialect weaving songs and will be sharing them with us to celebrate the heritage of local textile workers. Jennifer researches ballads and applies them to modern life. Tickets REQUIRED
Saturday Afternoon
2pm – 6pm. Tickets Required
Our friends at FoodFutures will be hosting Rob Hopkins ‘From What is to What If” workshop in the Storey Auditorium.
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Sunday 10:00am – 11:00am
World’s Workshop
Sewing Cafe Lancaster will facilitate Dr Amy Twigger Holroyd’s ‘Fashion Fictions’ Worlds workshop where participants imagine, explore and enact enticing alternative fashion Worlds. Not into fashion or sewing? Don’t fancy yourself a clothes designer? Not a problem, engage through the lense of consumer, waste management, or apply the workshop to another area of interest. Tickets recommended

Sunday 11:00am – 5:00pm
Clothes Swap with a Twist & Explore Other Worlds

Free to participate.
Please bring clean items in good condition, items you’d be happy to give to a family member or friend.
Accepting clothes, shoes, and accessories for men, women and children.

The clothes swap will continue throughout the weekend, meaning we constantly have new clothes coming and going during our open hours. This year, we’ll be capturing some of the clothes’ stories and cataloguing them for future wearers.

Sunday 11:30am – 12:30pm
Hapa-zome Workshops – FULLY BOOKED
Quite literally meaning ‘leaf dye’, hapa-zome is the Japanese technique of smashing flowers and leaves into fabric. A quick and creative way to upcycle fabric using locally collected plants. Capturing beautiful natural colours to enhance and revive clothing and textiles. You are welcome to bring clean white or light coloured natural fabrics (cotton, linen, etc) and any flowers or leaves you might want to try. But all tools and materials will be supplied. Children may join with the supervision of an adult. Tickets recommended
Sunday 2:00pm – 4:00pm
Speaker Series
To close out our weekend of possibilities, we’ve invited local guests for a Speaker Series. Hailing from Lancaster and the North of England who are already living in ‘other worlds’ through their art, community projects, research, and businesses. From foraging to forging connections, there are so many ways we can we practice radical acts in our own lives, living in our own ‘other worlds’ to create a more sustainable, fair and equitable future for our shared world. We’ll welcome local artist Sam Pickett, Maria Benjamin of The Wool Library, and Sewing Cafe Lancaster community members Katrina Barnish, Enda O’Regan, Virginia Edwards, Sian Bowes and Victoria Frausin to discuss local projects. Tickets recommended
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Any questions, feel free to shoot us an email at sewingcafelancaster@gmail.com

Craft of Use - Photoshoot
2024-03-15 12:00 - 14:00 | Lancaster Market Square, Market Square, Lancaster, LA1 1AL
Every item of clothing has a story to tell. We are documenting local stories and portraits of garments and wearers for this year’s Fashion Revolution Week event Interwoven.
Maybe your grandmother made it for you and it reminds you of her, or you’ve just had it so long you can’t get rid of it. Maybe you’ve mended it so many times it’s no longer the same fabric it started as, or it was something you bought with your first paycheck and it means the world to you.
Whether it tells a story of your past or reminds you who you can be in the future. The Craft of Use displays how our wearing and caring of our clothing reveals our identity.
This project won’t be possible without YOU – so please wear your favourite/most cherished outfit to Lancaster Market Square on Friday 15th March between 12pm and 2pm. Have your photo taken by local artist/photographer Ginny Koppenhol and share your connection to the outfit in a quick interview (written or recorded).
There will be a second photoshoot during the opening night of Interwoven on 2 May.
Whether we care about designer brands, the newest trends or vintage scores, finding fulfilment in extending the life of our clothes needs to be front and centre to our approach to sustainability. Honouring individual style and identity through clothing – from plain white tees and classic jeans to handmade, patched and mismatched – is important. But we need to consider the socio-environmental impact of the life cycle of the garments from production, purchase, and care, to eventual discard.
To celebrate our individuality and clothing that tells stories, Sewing Cafe Lancaster is creating a photographic archive called ‘The Craft of Use’. We are working with local artist Ginny Koppenhol for this project to capture portraits of beloved clothing.
The Craft of Use Portrait Project is inspired by Kate Fletcher’s work, which has been published in a book by the same name. We will welcome Kate to Lancaster this May as a keynote speaker for the Fashion Revolution Week event where the portraits taken by Ginny will be on display.
If you are unable to attend either event but want to submit your photo and story for the project, please use This Link.
Here are some beautiful examples, for the full stories you’ll have to join us 2-4 May in the Storey Gallery, and we will also be hosting the archive on our website after the event.

“The jumper is threadbare in places and has been mended both visibly and invisibly in many places. Always handwashed. I think this gives it a feeling of being cared for, as an old, loved companion should be.” – Enda on her favourite outfit

“The brand was Avoca, an Irish manufacturer. The garment was in a dire state – quite the dirtiest item I’ve ever seen in a charity shop, although the coat must have been owned by a very keen smoker, as the arms were nicotine yellow and there were even fag ends in the pocket.” – Katrina on her favourite jacket

“It’s been carefully mended many times but now bigger holes have appeared so it’s time to move on to some bolder and more visible techniques and possibly adding on freshly knitted cuffs. It’s definitely got many more years of wearing ahead. Who’s turn next?” – Tom on his favourite jumper

“I love the colours of this blouse, it cheers me up every time I wear it! I got it for my mum donkey years ago, it’s from a fast fashion brand, and over a decade later I’m still wearing it, I haven’t had to mend it even once! I wash it by hand though, because I want it to outlive me.” – Victoria on her favourite blouse

Book Club
2024-03-26 19:30 - 21:30 | Gregson Lancaster, 3 - 35 Moor Gate, Lancaster, Lancaster, Lancashire, LA1 3PY, United Kingdom
On the last Tuesday of each month, the un-named book club meets from 7:30 pm at the Gregson to discuss social and environmental issues that concern us all. Using a book, podcast or any other visual content as a starting point we gather together to learn from each other and draw ways forward in a friendly environment. Come and join us.
Each month we’ll read a book together or listen to podcasts. If you’d like to learn more, please send us an email so we can update you on the next book! sewingcafelancaster@gmail.com

Palestinian Embroidery Workshop
2024-04-13 13:30 - 16:30 | The Music Room at The Storey, 27 Meeting House Lane, Lancaster, Lancashire, LA11TH, United Kingdom
Spend the afternoon learning about the Palestinian art of Tatreez.
Join Palestinian Solidarity Campaign Lancaster and Sewing Cafe Lancaster in the Music Room at The Storey for a hands-on experience in traditional Palestinian embroidery. Learn about the history and significance of this art form while creating your own masterpiece.
Our skilled instructors will guide you through the intricate patterns and techniques passed down through generations. Whether you’re a beginner or experienced in embroidery, this workshop is perfect for anyone interested in Palestinian culture and crafts.
Patterns and materials will be provided. Mint tea and treats will also be provided. Tickets are free, but required to secure your place. Get Tickets Here
Don’t miss this unique opportunity to connect with a rich heritage and create something beautiful.
This event is organised by Sewing Cafe Lancaster in conjunction with the Fashion Revolution Week events taking place May 2-4 in the Storey Gallery.
If you are an experienced embroiderer and would like to assist in hosting the workshop – please drop us an email: sewingcafelancaster@gmail.com. We are holding a meeting March 8th to plan.

Interwoven - Fashion Revolution Week 2024
2024-05-02 17:30 - 2024-05-04 18:00 | The Storey Gallery, Meeting House Lane, Lancaster, Lancashire, LA1 1TH, United Kingdom
Join us for 3 days of activities, workshops, speakers, and exhibits to explore how the wear and care of our clothes is entangled with the socio-environmental crisis. Let’s nourish healthy relationships with the clothes in our closet and the environments beyond. All events are donation based/free, if you require concessions for the donation based events, please get in touch via email.
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Opening Night

Thursday 2 May 5:30 – 8:30 pm
Tickets
Booking is essential. The tickets are available for a donation, if you require concessions please contact us and we will be more than happy to put you on the attendance list for free.
Keynote speakers Kate Fletcher and Mathilda Tham of Earthlogic.
Earth Logic is an uncompromisingly holistic approach to change. This means refusing to separate environmental, social and economic dimensions of sustainability. It also means addressing real challenges, like providing livelihoods in a world of less production and consumption.
Vocal Factory
Marvel in the sounds of a factory created with voices and a presentation by the initiator of the soundscape, artist Catriona Stamp.
Craft of Use Gallery & Photoshoot
Wear your most cherished, mended or story-worthy outfit and have your portrait taken by local photographer and artist Ginny Koppenhol for the gallery that will be hosted during the event and online. This project is based on Kate Raworth’s book and work, we’ll be gathering local stories of clothes and wearers. If you are unable to attend but want to submit a story, please follow this link: Submit your story.
Clothing Swap for a Story & Mending Surgery
You’ve heard “I got it for a song” how about “I got it for a story”. At our annual clothing swap, trade your unused-but-well-cared-for garments for a story. The price – 1 story per garment is required, we will compile them with the stories collected last year. We’ll also have materials on hand and volunteers to provide guidance on how to restyle, alter or mend items you take home. *Please note this year we will only accept clothing on Thursday and Friday, Saturday will be take away only.
Catering and drinks by two of our regional favourites Brew and Fell Brewery
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Friday 3 May

We have a wonderful lineup taking shape for Friday afternoon/evening including workshops around spinning and visible mending, a talk about Degrowth and our Clothing Swap for a Story & Mending Surgery will be taking place. We will also begin the dye pot for our Saturday event.

Clothing Swap for a Story & Mending Surgery
Friday 3 May 3:30 – 7:30 pm

You’ve heard “I got it for a song” how about “I got it for a story”. At our annual clothing swap, trade your unused-but-well-cared-for garments for a story. The price – 1 story per garment is required, we will compile them with the stories collected last year. We’ll also have materials on hand and volunteers to provide guidance on how to restyle, alter or mend items you take home. *Please note this year we will only accept clothing on Thursday and Friday, Saturday will be take away only.
Tickets: No need to book, just turn up on the day.

Mending Circle
Friday 3 May 4:00 – 5:30pm
Bring your mending and join us for a discussion about Sewing Cafe Lancaster’s activities and ways to get involved in a variety of projects and regularly running sessions in Lancaster.
If you need assistance mending something, this is also the perfect time to bring your garment and ask for pointers or use an array of materials and tools for some hand mending.
Tickets: No need to book, just turn up on the day.

How to: Start a Natural Dye Pot
Friday 3 May 6:00 pm
Drop in to learn about making a natural dye pot using food waste or local plants. We’ll be starting a dye pot that will be used at the Saturday event: Sow, Eat, Wear, Share, Dye, Rot, Renew – but you don’t need to attend both events to participate. If you’ve ever wondered about natural dyeing, this is a great taster to learn how to get started. Using simple kitchen scraps or locally foraged plants you can create some magic with very little energy use. Sewing Cafe Lancaster’s own Enda O’Regan and Katrina Barnish will provide the primer on setting up your own natural dye pot at home.
Tickets: No need to book, just turn up on the day.

Sustainability & The Fashion Industry: An international view
Friday 3 May 7:00 – 8:30 pm
Join us to explore Sustainability and the fashion industry: an international view, hosted by Dr. Emma Cardwell of Lancaster University.
Tickets: No need to book, just turn up on the day.
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Saturday 4 May

Alongside the Clothing Swap – with clothes available to take away only, and the Gallery being open to the public – we will be running some events and workshops.
Sow, Eat, Wear, Share, Dye, Rot, Renew
Saturday 4 May 10:00 am – 2:00 pm
Tickets
Booking is essential due to the nature of the activities. The tickets are available for a donation, if you require concessions please contact us and we will be more than happy to put you on the attendance list for free.
Organised in collaboration with FoodFutures: Closing Loops we will be hosting a daytime event and lunch. Learn about how processes of growing and foraging plants are interwoven with caring for our clothes and our environment.
Join us for a day exploring the opportunities that local and seasonal eating brings – more than just a meal, we’re using plants to transform textiles that need a glow up. From foraging to growing our own, plants can be used for medicinal purposes, a tasty meal and we can even use our food waste to alter the colour of fabric before we put them in the compost.
Natural Dyes
Sewing Cafe Lancaster Natural Dye Group’s own Enda O’Regan and Katrina Barnish will share their adventures in natural dyeing using locally grown and foraged plants and seasonal food waste to update and transform clothing in order to give our wardrobes longer life. Learn how to make a solar dye pot (stop in Friday night to see it all begin) and get some tips for doing food waste dyes at home.
Weeds for your needs
A workshop exploring the medicinal and culinary uses of common “weeds” that you find growing underfoot, in pavement cracks and untended corners. Learn about the properties of these plants and how to prepare nourishing food and medicine from them. The workshop will use some of the plants highlighted in the dye workshop with a focus on nettle and dandelion. This session will be run by Julia Russell, a plant forager and a member of the Association of Master Herbalists (www.juliarussellherbalist.co.uk)

Lunch inspired by the seasons and food that can be harnessed for natural dyeing
Lunch will be prepared by a community chef from the FoodFutures network. The food served will use the plants and produce discussed in the morning workshops as well as drawing inspiration from the spring season.
Rot & renew
We hardly think about what happens to our textiles when they are donated to charity shops but somewhere around 85% of all our textiles end up in landfill, whether in our home country or overseas. Dr. Laura Pottinger will be presenting some of her project for the Textile Biennial which explored the environmental legacies of cotton. Experimenting with various natural dye related processes, including burying large strips of cotton different kinds of soil and compost, the work draws on the multiple meanings of a ‘litmus test’ – a universal, dye-based indicator of pH levels derived from lichen, and a social indicator proving success, impact or values. We will also hear from FoodFutures about the Community Composting happening in our area.

Drop Spinning Workshop 2:30 – 4:00pm
Tickets
Booking is essential as this workshop can only host a small number of participants.
A taster session exploring the basics of spinning your own yarn on a drop spindle.
Be guided though:
– How to hold fibre and spindle
– How twisting fibre works to create yarn
– What makes wool such a good fibre to spin
– Connect with others and with the history of this ancient craft.​
No experience necessary and all materials provided. Additional materials and kits may be available to purchase on the day.
Ruth’s passion for Spinning has grown from a desire to make her own knitting yarn from sustainable materials to encompass the whole process of turning fleece into yarn. Spinning in the city at first sight has many limitations, without the space or resources for spinning that living in the countryside would afford. The hints and tips Ruth has learnt from years of spinning in this way give a unique perspective to her spinning workshops.

Clothing Waste in Lancaster District: Discussion
5:00 – 7:00 pm

The making of clothing waste in Lancaster district, and the (un)successful ways to get rid of it. A workshop and discussion with Activist/researcher Victoria Frausin. Join us for a two-hour workshop to learn and discuss the current clothes waste crisis and the alternatives. ***Please bring an item of clothing separate from what you are wearing for the workshop. ***
Tickets: No need to book, just turn up on the day.

Clothing Swap for a Story & Mending Surgery
Friday 4 May 10:00 am – 7:00 pm

*Please note this year we will only accept clothing on Thursday and Friday,
Saturday will be take away only.
You’ve heard “I got it for a song” how about “I got it for a story”. At our annual clothing swap, trade your unused-but-well-cared-for garments for a story. The price – 1 story per garment is required, we will compile them with the stories collected last year. We’ll also have materials on hand and volunteers to provide guidance on how to restyle, alter or mend items you take home.
Tickets: No need to book, just turn up on the day.

Renew - Fashion Revolution Week 2025
2025-04-23 - 2025-04-26 | The Storey Gallery, Meeting House Lane, Lancaster, Lancashire, LA1 1TH, United Kingdom
Storey Gallery and Music Room
Join us for 3 days of activities, workshops, speakers, and exhibits to explore how the wear and care of our clothes is entangled with the socio-environmental crisis. Let’s nourish healthy relationships with the clothes in our closet and the environments beyond.
All events are donation based/free.
Our event coincides with Fashion Revolution week 2025.
Fashion Revolution was founded by Carrie Somers and Orlando Castro in the wake of the Rana Plaza (Bangladesh), disaster in 2013.
We have multiple events scheduled over the 3 days – please book a ticket where you see a link, as spaces are limited.

Opening Night (booking required)
RenewOpeningNight.eventbrite.co.uk
6 – 8.45pm | Clothes Swap (more info below)
7pm | Open Weave
Rhythms of the loom, poetry and voices from the past, present and future – raising our voices for those who make our clothes.
Talk – Janet Swan, Composer & Environmental Artist.
Followed by recorded performance of Soundscape composed by Janet Swan and Scott Robinson, Digital Composer.
Refreshments

2 – 8.45pm | Clothes Swap (more info below)
2-3.30pm | Mending session
– Bring your mending and join us for a discussion about Sewing Cafe Lancaster’s activities and ways to get involved in a variety of projects and regularly running sessions in Lancaster.
3.45- 5.15 | Daniella Southin Workshop
Leaf Stitching – Make a leaf and add to our commemorative exhibition.
5.30 – 5.40 | Nan Sewing, stitched film
Amy Dickson and Sewing Café Lancaster, 2024,
6 min, video and 16mm.
5.45 – 6.45 | Panel – My Clothing Journey
Representatives from the Sewing Cafe Lancaster Community.
7 – 8pm | Kate Fletcher – Talk
Fashion, Sustainability and Other Animals: thinking and doing through clothing.
(Booking required)
talkkatefletcher.eventbrite.co.uk
8.15 – 8.45pm | Alternative Runway
Upcyclers and second hand fashion.

11am to 1pm | Clothes Swap (more info below)
*Please note, this year we will only accept clothing on Thursday and Friday. Saturday will be take away only.

11 – 11.30pm | Talk – Laura Stanbridge
(Manager of St John’s Hospice Retail)
-The Roll of Charity Shops in the Supply Chain.
11.30 – 12.30 | Dr Beccy Whittle – Talk
on RefuseLab Clothing Library Research Findings.
1 – 2pm | Deborah Barker – South East England Fibershed
Talk – Fashion and Farming.
(Booking required)
TalkDeborahBarker.eventbrite.co.uk
2pm – 4pm | Workshop with LUSU Green.
Join us for Patch Up for Change, a creative and empowering event where you can design and make your own patches to express your activism and support for various causes.
4pm – close

Displayed and continuing throughout the event.

Craft of Use : Loving Care
Food Futures and Sewing Cafe Lancaster – Display of photos from ‘Bury your Pants’ trial
Creative Waste – Rainbow of Umbrella bags by Candy Galarza
Weaving Stories Videos
Active Stitching throughout event
Clothes Swap for a Story & Mending Surgery
You’ve heard “I got it for a song” how about “I got it for a story”. At our annual clothing swap, trade your unused-but- well-cared-for garments for a story. The price – 1 story per garment is required, we will compile them with the stories collected last year. We’ll also have materials on hand and volunteers to provide guidance on how to restyle, alter or mend items you take home.
*Please note this year we will only accept clothing on Thursday and Friday, Saturday will be take away only.

Get in touch at sewingcafelancaster@gmail.com
Accessibility | The Gallery and Music Room are located on the first floor of the Storey Building. There is a lift on the ground floor near the front desk.

Leaves of Dhaka
2026-02-06 17:00 - 20:00 | Gregson Lancaster, 3 - 35 Moor Gate, Lancaster, Lancaster, Lancashire, LA1 3PY, United Kingdom
Find us in Gregson’s Snug
Sew hand stitched fabric leaves and contribute to the ever enlarging commemorative exhibition for the thousands who died in the 2013 Rana Plaza collapse.

All About Pockets
2026-02-07 12:00 - 16:00 | Global Link, 29 Queen St,, Lancaster, LA1 1RX, United Kingdom
Pocket history, pocket instruction and pocket sewing. Make the most of your clothes!
