Like a large sewing basket spilling over with colourful scraps of this and lacey snippets of that, The Stitchery Collective is full of ideas, fabrics, vintage dresses, works-in-progress, books and patterns, clothes, quirky handmade dolls, sewing machines, pincushions and reels and reels of creativity.
Opening tonight in Brunswick St (on the corner of Water St, the Valley) The Stitchery Collective is open to everyone whether you only pick up a needle to sew on a button, are stuck on some sewing project begun long ago, are an accomplished sewer, or simply fascinated by fashion and the making of it.
It's a 60sqm space that is the work of Kathleen Horton, a senior lecturer at Queensland University of Technology's (QUT) School of Fashion and QUT fashion graduate Paula Dunlop. It will act as studio space for 13 QUT fashion graduates, a public workshop venue, a display space and a place where you can go to sit and sew.
"It's a place of joy - a place for connecting joyfully through clothes," Paula said.
"We have combined a studio for designers, a workshop and informal exhibition space with a 'stitch lounge' so that people can bring unfinished projects and get some advice or encouragement to finish them off in the company of like-minded people.
"We will have classes for upcycling old clothes such as how to turn a $1 man's shirt from an op shop into something new and wearable; and in July how to make zero-waste shorts and aprons."
QUT fashion graduates Madeleine King and Carla Binotto are members of the collective who will be involved in classes and exhibitions. They have worked on the life-size, patch worked, multi-stitch "Jumping Girl" - the joyful Stitchery Collective's mascot.
"I will use The Stitchery as my workspace and in August I'll give a workshop on ways the unique patterns and shape-memories of gloves can inspire the idea for an entire fashion collection," Carla said.
Madeleine, who is completing a masters in wearable technology at QUT, will hold the Exquisite Waistcoats workshop in September with Paula.
"We will show how to use chance, improvisation and rule-base collaboration to create a waistcoat using the co-operative fashion system," Madeleine said.
The Stitchery Collective is open on Fridays and Saturdays from 11am to 4pm and on Sundays from 11am to 3pm from Friday, May 6.
The Stitchery Collective is an independent artist-run initiative, supported by Arts Queensland and QUT Creative Industries.
Media contact: Niki Widdowson, QUT media officer, 07 3138 1841 or n.widdowson@qut.edu.au.
** High res photos of Ms Dunlop and The Stitchery Collective available for media use.
