Book Club
2024-03-26 19:30 - 21:30 UTC | 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!

Clothes Up-cycling/ Embellishing Workshop
2026-02-19 18:00 - 21:00 | Global Link, 29 Queen St,, Lancaster, LA1 1RX, United Kingdom
Preparation Workshop for our Alternative Runway
We are hosting a FREE workshop focussing on clothing up-cycling and embellishing for anyone who wants to take part in our Alternative Runway which will take place in Storey Gallery Saturday 25th April 2026.
All skill levels welcome. Technical support and materials/equipment available. Please book a ticket so we know you’re coming

Beer & Yarn
2026-03-03 18:00 - 20:30 | Stonewell Tap, 8-10 Church St, Lancaster, LA1 1NP, United Kingdom
Join us for a convivial meetup every 1st Tuesday of the month. Bring a personal project to work on and grab a drink at the bar to support the Stonewell Tap for hosting us.

Hand Stitched Historic Pockets
2026-03-05 11:00 - 15:00 | Judges Lodgings, Church Street, Lancaster, LA1 1YS
A work day in the original top floor sewing room at Judges Lodgings.
We will provide all materials, equipment and instruction to enable you to begin making your own tie-on pockets by hand.
Refreshments provided – please bring a packed lunch if you wish.
Please book a FREE ticket so we know to expect you!

Memorial Blanket Stitching
2026-03-06 11:00 - 15:00 | Friends Meeting House, Meeting House Lane, Lancaster, LA1 1TX, United Kingdom
A session planned by Fariha to stitch and crochet squares together, made across the community.

Stolen lives, Stolen Futures. Gaza’s children remembered.

Each square represents 10 children murdered by Israel.

Marsh Mending
2026-03-11 16:00 - 18:00 | Marsh Community Centre, Willow Lane, Lancaster, LA1 5PP, United Kingdom
Drop in mending. No experience required. Bring what you need to mend, volunteers will offer expertise, materials and tools.

LUSU Mending
2026-03-18 13:00 - 15:30 | Chaplaincy Centre, Lancaster University, Bailrigg, Lancaster, LA1 4YW, United Kingdom
Mending at Lancaster University

Upcycling & Embellishments
2026-03-28 12:00 - 16:00 | Global Link, 29 Queen Street, Lancaster, LA1 1RX, United Kingdom
A workshop for those intending or interested in making/adapting garments and outfits (modelled by yourself or someone else) for our 2nd Annual Alternative Runway to be staged on April 25th in Storey Gallery.
