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Community Fabric

Help up to 10 kids on Chicago's West Side learn how to sew at a free pop-up workshop in September.

Leader

Emily Robinson

Location

TBD Chicago, IL 60624

About the project

Community Fabric believes everyone needs a creative outlet, no matter who they are or where they live. We're a newly formed nonprofit that offers sewing classes to youth in and around Chicago's East and West Garfield Park. We're starting small with a pop-up sewing workshop for up to 10 kids on Saturday, September 16th. The participants will learn sewing basics and walk away with a garment they've created themselves. 

I have a simple website set up for kids to enroll: http://communityfabric.org/

If all goes well, we'll offer these workshops regularly. We'd love to eventually open a community space for kids and adults that offers daily open shop hours in addition to classes in knitting, macrame, screenprinting, weaving, quilting, and more.

The Steps

Step 1: Reserve a room (ideally for free).

Step 2: Purchase sewing machines, fabric, patterns, and supplies (donations welcome!).

Step 3: Find up to 10 kids who want to sew.

Step 4: Rope in some adult volunteers.

Step 5: Buy food.

Step 6: Sew! 

 

Why we‘re doing it

Hi, I'm Emily. I created Community Fabric because I want to share my love of sewing with others. You learn a lot about yourself sitting in front of a sewing machine. Sewing encourages you to think about the story your clothing tells about you, why you're telling that story, and what other stories you might want to tell. It connects you to people all over the world and to people many generations back. It builds up your grit. It teaches you to notice tiny details. It occasionally makes you do math. It sometimes makes you scream. It often tricks you into meditating. It convinces you that with a little research and a lot of trial and error, you can figure out just about anything.
Community Fabric exists to help others experience all of this, particularly people who might not otherwise have the opportunity due to cost or other constraints. 

$1,465.00 / $899.00