Swap-O-Rama-Rama |
Next Milwaukee Swap-O-Rama-Rama will be at Milwaukee Sewing Machines on Saturday September 26th 2009, 9am to 5pm.
7226 W Greenfield Ave
Milwaukee, WI 53214-4710
Past Swaps
2008 Swap. Paul guided us on tea shirt print. Mary & Judy taught to used their sewing machines to tailor our clothes.
Oct 6th 2007 we had our 2nd Swap. Mary & Judy of Milwaukee Sewing Machines loaned us the sewing machines & taught people how to sew at the Swap. Paula volunteered to teach T-shrt printing at the swap. Everyone had fun swapping out their clothes for jazzed up clothes.
1st Milwaukee Swap, march 2007
About 80 people recycled their old clothes with other peoples clothes at Milwaukee's 1st Swap-O-Rama-Rama at Future Green on March 24th 2007. It started out as a foggy day but the sun blessed us with warmth & sunlight. Fasten, Milwaukee Sewing Machines, Paper Boat Boutique, Just Chairs Upholstry, Urban Ecology & a few other designers donated their time & expertise with transforming the clothes into pieces of art. Everyone had a blast sorting thru clothes & jazzing the clothes up before taking them home. Thanks to the many volunteers that helped to make this a success.
If you want to be informed of the next Milwaukee Swap : email to swee@futuregreen.net
Swap-O-Rama-Rama, an international community based clothing swap and series of DIY
workshops, is looking for deisngers, DIY'ers, creatives and recyclers of all calibers to
participate in its first event in Milwaukee.
First, check out what Swap-O-Rama-Rama is: http://gaiatreehouse.com/swap.htm
The core of the swap is the gigantic piles of free clothing sorted into categories: pants,
shirts, skirts, sweaters etc. These piles are the collective total of each guest’s
contribution of one bag of unwanted clothes. Guests may take home as much clothing as they
can carry. But what makes Swap-O-Rama-Rama magical is that these clothes are there to be
transformed by creative energy. At Swap-O-Rama-Rama you'll find a vibrant community of
creative people offering unique crafty ideas at DIY stations. You'll also find sewing
stations run by knowledgeable clothing and costume designers there to teach guests to
transform garments, as well as silk screening, and decoration stations for working with
beads, buttons, and a variety of accouterments. Each swap recycles aprox 10,000 lbs of
clothing while transforming consumers into creators through the process of creativity.
If this sounds like fun, get in touch and join our crew
Open Call: May ways you can participate!
1) Volunteer General Help/Clothing Sorters: Everyone attends the event with a bag of
unwanted clothing to donate to the swap. Collectively an anticipated 10,000 lbs of free
clothing is offered free to all who attend and saved from landfill. Participate as a
clothing sorter. This volunteer gig involves sorting the incoming clothing into piles:
shirts, skirts, hats etc. The perks are great, first dibs on all the clothes.
2) Run A Sewing Station: Each Swap-O-Rama-Rama features clothing designers, costume makers
and hobby sewers who offer on-site knowledge and hands advice to attendees. This part of the
swap teaches swappers to modify new/used duds and loose their inhibitions about sewing.
Participate: If you like teaching and love to sew and mod you'll love this gig! All
materials are provided. This role pays a small stipend.
3) DIY Stations: Each swap is different, here's some of the DIY stations we've had in the
past: knitting (and repurposing yarns), hand stitching, iron ons, fabric painting, silk
screening, t-shirt modifications etc. If you've mastered a craft that can be used to
transform used clothing your welcome to bring it to the swap and teach others at the DIY
area. All materials are provided.
4) Designer Fashion Show: Each Swap-O-Rama-Rama hosts a recycled fashion to show the work of
the swap staff as well as the attendees. All of the designers running the sewing stations at
the event will be featured. If you have created recycled wearables bring them before a like
minded audience by participating in the fashion show.
6) Make a Suggestion: Since swaps reflect the local talent of each community they often have
other kinds of on-theme contributions such as short films (these usually show an artists
work if they're not available or in the area). If you have a like minded performance and
want to add it to the swap just send an email. There's also a need for general helpers for
set up, room design etc., We're open to suggestions.
Swap-O-Rama-Rama Milwaukee Event
May 17th, 9am to 5pm
$5 plus any size bag of unwanted clothing
Once inside all of the materials for creativity and all the clothes you can carry are free
All ages welcome!
Join the List: milwaukee-subscribe@gaiatreehouse.com
"There is no beauty in the finest cloth if it makes hunger and unhappiness." Gandhi
Join in the communal process of reuse and celebrate our collective creativity! Your invited
to Swap-O-Rama-Rama, a giant clothing swap and series of do-it-yourself workshops in which a
community explores reuse and creativity through the recycling of used clothing.
It's easy to move from consumer to creator! At Swap-O-Rama-Rama you'll find a workshop an
hour, each teaching a unique clothing recycling modification skill, and DIY stations where
you can learn traditional crafts like embroidery, knitting, beading and appliqué. These
include a sewing stations with several sewing machines run by knowledgeable clothing and
costume designers; silk screening, and decoration stations for working with beads, buttons,
and a variety of accouterments. This year we'll have a team of stylist volunteers from FIT
ready to help you find a new recycled look. And scrapexchange will be bringing scrap yard
challenge, a techy wearable DIY event where you can add electronics to your new duds. a
You'll also find clothing labels that celebrate our collective creativity, they read 100%
Modified By Me and 100% Recycled. These are free and offered to you to sew over existing
branding and reclaim your creative space from industry.
But of course the core of the swap is the gigantic piles of free clothing sorted into
categories: pants, shirts, skirts, sweaters etc. These piles are the collective total of
each guest’s contribution of one bag of unwanted clothes. Take home as much clothing as you
can carry. Remainders go to a local women's shelter.
The day ends with a big fashion show of 100% recycled wearables, these are the creations of
our staff and our guests! If you make something fabulous that you'd like to share you'll be
invited to walk the runway too!
Wondering what to bring? http://gaiatreehouse.com/swapattend.htm
About Swap-O-Rama-Rama
Swap-O-Rama-Rama was created by artist Wendy Tremayne as a response to rampant consumerism in American culture. She cites textile waste (8.75 billion lbs per year), the use of synthetic fibers, and the marketing efforts of the fashion industry as factors that contribute to a deteriorating way of life. “Our over-consumption destroys the environment and wrecks economies elsewhere around the globe. This is perpetuated by a fashion industry that encourages the purchase of new goods through a constantly changing vision of what is ‘in style’. Through advertising we are asked to view shopping as a creative endeavor, when in actuality it is only the designers who play a creative role in the process: the consumer’s creativity is simply in the selection. The craft involved in the making of clothing, once viewed as a creative endeavor, is now left to the machines that manufacture most of the clothing purchased today. The average person is ill-equipped for sewing and distant from the creative process due to lack of experience. After goods are purchased, consumers become advertising billboards as they tote logos and labels on all areas of the body. Branding, in its current form, creates distinct social divisions as labels broadcast the spending power of the individual. This separates consumers into categories that reflect the size of their wallet rather than the expanse of their creativity.”
Swap-O-Rama-Rama is licensed under a Creative Commons deed which allows others to copy the event with attribution given to the original Swap-O-Rama-Rama, excludes commercial use of the Swap-O-Rama-Rama (with the exception of individual/ freelancers), and allows others to transform or build upon the work as long as all Swap-O-Rama-Ramas work under the Creative Commons license.
More about the concept of the Swap
Video from TreeHugger
When : May 17th 9am till 5pm
Location : Future Green, 2352 S Kinnickinnic, Milwaukee, WI 53207
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