We hope your January was filled with art, creativity and community. We were very busy running our last swap and organizing some exciting new projects. Read on for all the news on WIP!
In this newsletter:
Clothing Drive & Swap wrap
Do it Together Workshop Announcement!
Opportunities to Help
Show & Tell
Housekeeping
Dates to Remember
Clothing Drive & Swap Wrap
A young shopper bags some treasures at our January clothing swap.
Thank you to everyone that volunteered, donated and came out to our very last 2019-2020 clothing drive #eternalswapmeet. The event was a huge success on so many fronts:
We managed to keep a ton (literally!) of textiles out of our landfills.
We partnered to with amazing front line social agencies like The Humane Society, New Circles, Yonge Street Mission and Fred Victor and provided them with some useful items.
We established TWO winter clothing free shops with community partners.
We raised some money for TDSB Eco-Schools and future swaps.
We got to spend time in with some beautiful people like you!
If you missed the swap, not to worry, visit our website to find other drives/free shops.
Do it Together Workshops start Sunday February 9 - register now!
Upcycling workshops will be held on Sundays at Moss Park Market.
Works-in-Progress, together with Building Roots,invites you to join us for a series of 2-hour workshops that will bring people together while learning new skills. Each workshop offers fun and creative ways to reduce waste by reusing and repairing textiles. Alongside your WIP leader, you will learn basic sewing techniques (if you don't already have them!) while making beautiful things to take home. On alternative weeks you can learn how to make your own health and beauty products: deodorant, hand salves, sleep sachets. Participants are encouraged to use their skills and make products for the market!
The workshops are a continuation of the successful Do it Together series started last fall in the Moss Park Market site at 260 Queen Street East.
Thanks to the generosity of Building Roots and the Ontario Arts Council, all workshops are free but donations always welcome!
Feb 2 Global Teas Feb 9 Make Your Own Sewing Kits Feb 16 Step It Up: Hand Salves Feb 23 Cold Hands, Warm Hearts Mar 1 Make Your Own Deodorant Mar 8 Green Jeans Mar 15 Step It Up: Sleep Sachets Mar 22 Make Your Own Cutlery Wraps Mar 29 Sprouts Apr 5 Make Your Own Air Freshener
Sign up for the Do it Together Sewing Kit workshop on THIS SUNDAY February 9 via this EventBrite link.
Workshop Volunteer & Paid Opportunities:
Do you have any ideas or skills you would like to share with WIP. We would love to hear them!
If you are interested in running a WIP workshop, even if you don't feel comfortable leading a workshop, come try it with us, we will always have a support artist with you.
Donations welcome:
Ongoing Works-in-Progess Winter Clothing Swap at Moss Park Market Saturdays 11-4.
Men's jackets and boots especially welcome. Great selection of kids clothes and boots available, fill a bag $5 or pay what you can. (Eggs available for only $2/dozen!)
Show & Tell - Printing on Fabric
Printing on fabric is easier than you may think! All you need is freezer paper, fabric (100% cotton works best), an iron and an ink jet paper.
First, on your computer, choose the text or image you would like to print. Then, cut your fabric and freezer paper to a size your printer will work with (e.g. 8.5X11) and remove any frayed edges. With the iron on a dry, high setting iron the fabric and paper together. Put the conjoined pieces into the printer and begin printing (you may want to do a test run first). You may want to place your fabric flat surface for 24 hours and then finish with a fabric setting spray - we skipped this step and didn't notice any issues.
Housekeeping
Storage: We are using garages and sheds for storage (winter bonus: the cold destroys any danger of moths). Thanks Amy for the use of your shed! If anyone has other storage options for please let us know.
Grants/Funding: We have applied for a Toronto Arts Council Artists in Community grant and are working on a few upcoming grants such as Ontario Arts Council, Artists in Community Project grant, a Trillium Foundation Seed grant and Park People grants. Fingers crossed we get more funding to continuing bringing our programs into our communities! To help us with funding opportunities we are exploring the option of registering as a non-profit. If anyone has information or advice we would love to hear it!
