Recycle and Sew

          Who Made Your Pants?
                                Training and Community
    
          

Recycle and Sew are part of this amazing project called whomadeyourpants? We have designed the pants, sourced the machinery, set up the manufacture unit and are now teaching 25 women how to manufacture knickers.

Throughout the project we provide consultations to the charity on manufacture set up, design, production line, NVQ training, Health and Safety and fashion forecasting.

Whomadeyourpants? is a worker co-operative set up to enrich and educate the lives of marginalised women with the outcome of a new career and an opportunity to thrive.

25 women have been given English lessons and we are providing the training in all areas of manufacture including laying out, cutting, production line and qaulity control.

This is an ongoing project that hopes to give more opportunities to many more women that have left hardship behind and are working towards bettering their lives.

The knickers are pretty, functional and completely feminine in style. 
They come in a thong, brief and short and a mix of pink, black and white.
We will be launching in December ready for Christmas, and what a way to prove that Christmas spirit still exists than with a project like this, empowering women and promoting new skills.

A new year and a new life is what this project offers .

                                                                 

September 9th 2009
Day 1 of training

June and i met half of the women today, all of whom shine and are so friendly and willing to learn.  The class covers health and safety and we show them the process of pants construction by leap frogging each other on each station. They gather round and watch excited by the fact they will be using them next week!  


September 16th 2009         
Day 2 of training

Today we had everyone sewing and doing their first samples.  Each lady had to practise until they were comfortable and then they made samples of what each machine does.  June and I spent lots of time rethreading machines and sorting tensions, as they zoomed along speedily and breaking threads!!! But everyone learnt very quickly excellent foot control and were steadily making their final samples by the end of the day!

September 23rd 2009
Day 3 of training
We continued sample making this week only with the real fabric.  The delicate nets and silky fabrics are difficult to handle especially for beginners and the class did really well.  Their folders are now filling up with samples from every machine.

September 30th 2009
Day 4 of training
A chaotic week for everyone as we handed over the tweezers, threads and wires for eveyone to learn...the most annoying of all sewing activities...rethreading the machines!  As the class grouped together to suffer this they did really well and even with a smile!  In the second half of the day we organised folders ready for their NVQ assessments.
              

Day 4 of Training! RETHREADING!

           

October 7th 2009
Day 5 training
Everyone moved onto the trickiest fabric of all today, silky 2 way stretch with net! 

October 14th 2009
Day6 training
June and I cut the thong pattern pieces out in preparation for the ladies to start making up the shapes.  A few of them had never seen a thong before and couldnt believe which way round it went!  Thats not the back piece!!! hehe!!!   Understandably asking..well whats the point of pants like that!!! After an exhausting three hours warped, mishapen thongs were fininshed and we all had a giggle about wearing them.  We must say though the pace at which these ladies are learning is formidable and we are very impressed, its the hardest fabric to work with, some of them have never even sewn before and the shapes are very particular for delicate thongs!

October 21st 2009
Day7 training
We made thongs again today, people finished off last weeks and began new ones, the pace quickened as they recognised the pattern pieces, felt more at home on the industrial machines and manipulated the fabric with more intent. Those that fininshed two thongs began in a manufacture style making Shorts, we have some very talented women!
              
                      
October 28th 2009                                          
Day 8 training
The cutting table was finished and ready to use for today so we halved the class teaching how to lay out and cut the pattern pieces ready for manufacture, whiulst doing one to one tuition.  It was a calm and lovely day that allowed us to evealuate the women and for them to ask any questions and get tips on their problem areas.