As part of Sydney Craft Week 2020, join The Social Outfit for 'Craft up late' where you will learn basketry, crochet, weaving and sewing skills with Nicole Robbins. A talented weaver and basket-maker, Nicole will teach you how to use remnant fabric provided by The Social Outfit to make woven wearables. Bring your own cords and ribbons to add to the mix.

The theme for Sydney Craft Week this year is Change Maker. Fittingly, one of the ways in which The Social Outfit creates positive change in the textile industry is by using remnant fabrics to reduce waste. To date we have saved 6.5 tonnes of fabric from landfill.

Nicole's art is also sustainability focused as she uses materials grown or gathered in her local area and places emphasis on the slower processes – gathering, drying, soaking and weaving. Having lived in Sydney’s Inner West for the past 20 years, Nicole employs traditional basketry and fibre art techniques to celebrate the natural world around her.

Knock off work and join us at The Social Outfit’s retail store from 5:30pm for a bit of shopping, nibbles and a glass of something. At 6pm we’ll venture upstairs to The Social Outfit’s workshop where, by day, our fabulous seamstresses create ethical garments, and by night you will get creative learning new techniques and skills, upcycling remnant fibres and trims into woven wearables.

ABOUT THE SOCIAL OUTFIT- The Social Outfit is a fashion label with a difference. A social enterprise whose purpose is to employ and train people from refugee and new migrant communities, our store and workshop are located on bustling King St, Newtown. In fitting with Sydney Craft Week’s theme, change makers, The Social Outfit works from the pre-existing strengths of our diverse community to build-up lasting skills which lead to empowerment and social inclusion.

The fee for these classes will go towards supporting The Social Outfit’s not-for-profit activities, including community training programs in sewing and retail. These initiatives provide opportunities for creativity and collaboration as well as bring our diverse community together.