Community Clothes Swap and Creative Mending Workshop
Wednesday 11 December 2024
Time: 12.00pm - 2.00pm
Where: NRCG - 44 Cherry Street Ballina
Age: Open to all
Cost: Free to attend // Clothes Swap clothing exchange tokens required (details below) // Creative Mending Workshop tools and materials provided
Pre-Event Clothing Drop Off and Token Exchange:
2.00pm - 4.00pm Tuesday 10 December
10.00am - 11am Wednesday 11 December
Forget fast fashion this festive season and join our community clothes swap and creative mending workshop at the Northern Rivers Community Gallery (NRCG).
Tea, coffee, and light refreshments will be available.
COMMUNITY CLOTHES SWAP
Did you know the average Aussie buys 56 new items of clothing each year, but that every 10 minutes we are sending around 6,000 kilos of clothing to landfill? Much of that clothing is wearable, funky and could have a long life in someone else’s wardrobe.
Join Ballina Shire Council’s Resource Recovery and Gallery Teams for a free social event, swapping quality clothing items to refresh wardrobes, foster community and create a positive environmental impact.
This swap is for all genders and sizes, and we welcome clothing designed for male, female, adaptive and all body types. Availability of items on the day will depend on what other swappers bring.
HOW IT WORKS!
Step 1: Select between one and five quality clothing items from your wardrobe, in good condition.
Step 2: Deliver your items to the Northern Rivers Community Gallery ahead of the event, at the designated time. For each item of clothing delivered you will receive one Clothes Swap Token.
Step 3: Join us on the day, ready to exchange your tokens for new items!
We understand that some members of the community may be looking to refresh their wardrobe, but don’t have any suitable clothes to swap. The end of the swap, from 1:30 to 2pm, will be open to all with no tokens necessary, so feel free to come and join in on the fun!
Items remaining at the end of the event will be donated to charity or repurposed for art-making.
Can’t make it to the swap but still looking to keep your clothes out of landfill? Our top tips are:
- Donate – Follow the golden rule and only donate what you would proudly give to a friend.
- Resell – There are heaps of online clothing resell websites or host a garage sale.
- Repair or repurpose – Extend the life of your clothing by repairing or repurposing (old T-shirts become rags, cut pants down into shorts, turn old favourites into a pillow cover, the possibilities beyond landfill are endless!)
CREATIVE MENDING WORKSHOP
Learn a variety of mending methods with multi-disciplinary artist Pippin Nicholson to bring longevity and creativity to everyday clothing, with basic hand-sewing techniques and scrap/recycled materials. Mending and patching is a great way to be cost effective, mindful of the environmental impacts of fast fashion, and bring a beautiful uniqueness to the things we adorn ourselves with.
Bring along an item of clothing to mend, or simply come to watch/listen and join the discussions. No sewing experience necessary, and tools and materials will be supplied.
Led by transsexual butch hobbit, Pippin Nicholson (he/it), a multi-disciplinary artist based in Northern Rivers NSW, whose artwork explores ideas and imagery around the crafting of body and active (re)creation of self. Using textiles, painting, mixed media and poetry, Pippin ponders the colourful complexities of touchable growth and celebrates the unlearning of gender and sex norms.
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The Northern Rivers Community Gallery is a wheelchair accessible venue. Please contact us ahead of time if you have accessibility needs you would like us to be aware of.
Image credit: Amy Meng, Boys Don't Grow Up (detail), 2020