Greetings! We are spending the next 3 weeks co-hosting clothing swaps with our neighbours, so this newsletter will be heavy to swap info, but we also have a lot of information +FAQs on our website for each swap so won't duplicate too much. You can always contact us to find out more.
what you need to know for the three Works-in-Progress swaps Fall 2021
We are very excited to have THREE clothing swaps planned for this fall- let the closet sorting begin! This is our second annual Back to School Neighbour-to-Neighbour children's clothing swap, and this year, we will expand to a series of 3 swaps in three neighbourhoods. Works-in-Progress organizers are Marnie (in Hamilton) Tanya (in Midtown Toronto and on the web) and Leah and Mac from Building Roots at Moss Park. Each of us are working with the community in each neighbourhood to share information, organize hosts and volunteers and pass on resources and donations from one swap to the next.
This is a community event, and its success depends on all participants. Donors should sort donations into plastic bags labelled with the size, and then dropped off at that size the night before or day of the swap (we have maps included in individual swap info) We can offer help if donations need to be dropped off in advance, just contact us.
Marnie thought we could use an infographic so we made one:
Covid protocols: We want the swap to be safe and follow Public Health guidelines Swap sites are spread out, with one size per site and limiting participation at each site to reduce crowding. This also means that each host has a manageable amount to organize. **we encourage hosts to host the size of clothes they want to receive, and shop the swap. We want to keep these clothes on our backs.**
We are providing signs and experience and opinions and posters and signs and that sort of infrastructure. We really count on the community to bring donations and volunteer time to set up and swap/shop. Reach out to us at works.in.progressto@gmail.com if you want to take part as a volunteer (we give high school hours) to hang posters, host (either your yard or yourself as host, or both) or help shuttle donations.
ART MAKES IT REAL: We are an artist collective, so we know images are important. And we have access to some great talent: this year we reached out to Treya Beaulieu again to revamp our signs & she created a new design, the "Saved by the Bell" 90s pop style signs we have been putting up this year. United signs and posters make it feel like a real event. We revamped the size signs to make them more informative (multiple countries use multiple systems) and to keep it inclusive we have grouped clothes by size only, not gender.
We also kept the "best of" remains from our previous swap, and stashed them in basements and in (friend of Works-in-Progress) Amy's shed. we can't do a big group sort but we did meet up one or two at a time to sort some more donations that came in from our local public school- classroom clothes that were abandoned when schools closed for the pandemic in 2020, now outgrown. a lot of shoes.
Community Support
Each community has it's own strengths. We were starting cold in Westdale, but they have an active Buy Nothing group and enough people stepped up to host + they have our starter items. We have a history of swaps in Midtown Toronto, so our local councillor, school groups and trustee have been good about sharing the word, resources and we have had many return hosts. And Building Roots is our co-host in Moss Park Market. They have been running a series of vibrant park activities every Saturday over the summer while the Moss Park Market is open, and have a very enthusiastic team of volunteers who can run the swap on the 2nd.
We will drop off a starter kid (oops, kit!) at each yard the night before the swap or early morning (depending on weather) with a few T-shirt bags, clothes pins, size signs, a poster and printouts of maps of swap locations. Hosts will set up their site in the morning- tables, tarps, clothes lines, boxes all work well to display clothes. We will also include a Covid guidelines sign and ask host to provide hand sanitizer.
Donors can drop off donations the night before or morning of the swap at the house that hosts their donation size. **You do not need to donate to participate**
Participants can bring a bag to fill, or we have T-shirt bags as well (made fomr T-shirts up-cycled from previous swaps) The swap is pay what you can, we suggest $5/ bag but free=ok too. The money is not going to a charity; we will use it to cover costs of the swap, all participants are volunteers but we encourage hosts to host their desired size and shop the swap. We want all the clothes to find new homes. Last year we collected $200 and used it to pay the artist who created the posters.
At the end of the day hosts can put any remaining clothes back into bags along with signs etc. and organizer will collect that night or the next day, for use at the next swap.
Bonus: art swap, garden swap, repair
We are always looking for ways to extend the swap spirit- there is plenty to go around!
So in Westdale, organizer Marnie and her family have made this "little free ART library" to share art supplies (from repurposed materials, natch.) so keep an eye out for it on Saturday. More about this project in a blog post here.
In Midtown Toronto, we will have a presence by the community garden in June Rowlands Park, partnering with Cia from Davisville Garden/ Appletree group to accept donations of end of season soil/compost/seeds in preparation for next year. We hoped to have a tent there (thanks to Councillor Josh Matlow) and a place to accept donations on the day and offer advice on extending the life of your clothes (thanks to Mrs. R and the #stitchitdontditchit initiative) but this may move. We have all the most up-to-date maps and plans online for each swap- check in before you swap!
And in Moss Park Market, Building Roots have been offering crafts, music and art in the park all summer for free AND paying the artists, so there should be some fun along with the swap. Plus some great deals on vegetables from the market.
Apres swap
In our experience, we often end up with the same or more clothes than when we started. This year, we are doing a series of swaps, so one will feed the next. At the end, we either keep some for a start for next time, look for items that can be reused in a different way, as art or craft materials, and usually donate the bulk of items in good condition to Yonge street Mission or similar site. We hope to find homes for as much of the clothes in the swap with people who come to the swap and avoid the middleperson.
The Textile Museum of Canada Reopens- with new Textile Learning Hub
Great news- The Textile Museum of Canada is reopening after 18 months, with a brand new Textile Learning Hub. We are very proud of Works-in-Progress co-founder Leah Sanchez who, in her role as Head of Programs and Outreach at the museum, shepherded this project through the closure. The Textile Learning Hub and Reuse Program are all about providing accessibility to education and materials for sustainable textile practice. This newly renovated space will be the new home for studio activities, Library, the Life Cycle of a Textile display*, and the reimagined Textile Reuse Program, featuring great deals on materials for makers. FREE entrance- register online. *we contributed a version of this video to the display, featuring young spinner Safiya Saskin and her angora rabbit.
Wip Artist Gomo George at the AGO
Gomo George grew up in the Caribbean island of Dominica, and he has created a lot of work that reflects his deep knowledge of Carnival, among other things. We co-hosted a kite-making workshop back in May, with Building Roots, led by Gomo and daughter Abby Bird-George, as part of the Do-it-Together series- you can check out the video from that here.
The painting in this poster is on display in a compelling show that opened this month at the Art gallery of Ontario, called Fragments of Epic Memory, a conversation between archival photos of people throughout the Caribbean, and art made by artists with roots in the Caribbean on the walls.Free entrance for now.
Bonus online: scientific tips on welcoming your second hand clothes into your home
Reality check:
All clothes, new or used, can have unwanted guests... our resident textile experimenter, Marnie Saskin, uses almost exclusively second hand textiles in her products for Marnie Saskin Small Batch Goods, so she knows how to keep the moths at bay. She has shared her science based process for effectively preventing an unwanted incursion in a blog post on our website. Stay safe and enjoy your new clothes.
