The Social Studio

Yesterday I went along to the Social Studio in Collingwood, Melbourne to take part in one of their Re-mixed workshops. What a brilliant place! The Social Studio is a fashion store/design studio/cafe that assists young refugees to gain fashion design skills and employment in the industry. They source recycled and excess materials from the fashion industry and encourage community involvement in the many things that the studio does.

When I walked into the Social Studio I felt immediately at home. It has a really friendly, casual vibe and there are people from a whole range of nationalities and cultures which gives it a really exciting feeling. Our task for the day was to look through boxes of seconds clothing, choose an item (or items) that we liked and refashion it.

Being my first venture in the world of refashioning (and believe me, I've been visiting Wardrobe Refashion for ages wanting to have a go) I went with something easy and relatively plain. I took this black singlet and made it longer by chopping it off about 15cm from the bottom, sewing a piece of alternative fabric in between and then sewing the bottom of the singlet back on underneath. Simple, but came up looking pretty good and it is definitely something I will get good wear out of.

You want to know what's awesome? The Social Studio workshops, which run from 10am - 1pm every Saturday, only cost $30. For that you get all your materials, access to the industrial sewing machine and overlockers, and qualified teachers to help you with the tricky bits. Amazing. Not to mention the delicious vegetarian lunch I had in the cafe afterwards for $8. $8! And you get to take home whatever you make, of course.

If you're in Melbourne, you MUST check out the Social Studio!