Sustainable Sewing Workshop
The sustainable sewing workshop took place over two days, where we engaged with students from different backgrounds and study areas, all of whom shared an interest in sewing and sustainability in fashion. The event received recognition from the University of Sydney’s Instagram social media platform. We were one of the first projects in the sustainability stream to receive a Student Life Grant. Overall, we received AUD$2,500 through our grant to promote equal accessibility to sustainable fashion, a focus that our society, USYD Fashion Revolution, emphasizes.
PLANNING
During the process of applying for the Student Life grant, I submitted a plan to the University of Sydney’s Student Life for a potential sustainable event opportunity for students to engage with their knowledge and curiosity in sustainable fashion through sewing. It pushed me to plan an event with extensive details involved such as liability, sustainable waste management, event capacity and venue findings, and an effective learning environment for students.
During the process of applying for the Student Life grant, I submitted a plan to the University of Sydney’s Student Life for a potential sustainable event opportunity for students to engage with their knowledge and curiosity in sustainable fashion through sewing. It pushed me to plan an event with extensive details involved such as liability, sustainable waste management, event capacity and venue findings, and an effective learning environment for students.
While I led the application and planning process for this event, my team members in the USYD Fashion Revolution made it possible. Without their efforts and collaboration, this event would not have been possible. During the planning process, we used mainly the Trello board to organize and assign tasks.
One struggle faced during this planning stage was the communication aspect with our coordinator at Student Life because there was no flexibility in the hours we could have the meetings. This led to some miscommunication and frustration within the team, specifically with the budgeting of the event. However, because we held meetings once a week with my team, there was still proper communication going on while we did not properly communicate with our coordinator.
University Recognition
The event was a success with more than the expected amount of students. Our aim was to have 40 people at the event which we exceeded receiving very good feedback from the participants. One thing that I learned from planning this event is that sustainability should reach everyone, not just those with money. And this is one of my passions, to make sustainability more accessible. In the future I hope to create more events like this free sewing workshop.
Furthermore, our initiative to reach students by encouraging fun with sustainable fashion brought attention from the University of Sydney leading to coverage on the University of Sydney’s social media page of our sustainable sewing workshops.