Last week I had two fun upcycle events where I got to upcycle in community with others in 2 of my favorite forms. First I headed to Laramie, Wy to teach a workshop at the 4H Showcase Showdown. I have been leading a sewing 4H group in Teton County for the past couple years, I love it so much. I learned to sew in 4H starting when I was 8 years old. I went all the way through high school. I loved that I got to sew whatever I could come up with, I also starting designing my own pieces and making them in my club. A few years ago my 4H leader got be back in touch with the 4H community and I started as a judge for the fair one year and got to meet all the kids and talk to them about their projects and omg I was hooked they all were such epic little sewers. So then I started helping with a group for a year. Then that leader asked if I could take it over and now I am on year 2 of being a leader. It is so cool to get to teach sewing in the same room where I learned. One of my favorite things about being a small town girl are the places that haven't changed, 4H is one of them.
So when I saw the opportunity to teach a class to kids from all over the state i was there. I brought a bunch of shirts and buttons and each kid got a shirt and cut it up and used buttons to decorate. The creativity was explosive! This is what I love about doing art with kids they just work on another level and it reminds me as an artist to just do what I feel, dont think too hard. They came up with a million ideas on the buttons I never would have thought of! Everyone left serving their new lewks to lunch and I left incredibly inspired.
There are buttons all over the craft sections of thrift stores. It is the most basic but helpful hand sewing technique to learn. It is the last moment in manufactured clothes that is a common repair, do you notice how your button up shirt comes with an extra button on the interior tag? I love that so much, we have lost so many elements of care for our clothes but we still have that extra button. The kids reminded me how many ways you can use a button to decorate.
I asked everyone at the end of the class what they learned about upcycling and they said "THAT ITS FUN!!" I couldn't agree more, heart full!!
The second event was back home in Jackson. Our local community radio station KHOL was hosting a silent disco and the theme was upcycled fashion. A friend I knew asked if I could come get involved. I thought it would be cool to bring trims so people could decorate the outfits they were wearing and see how fun and simple upcycling can be. I brought my favorite party trims, the giant sequins, safety pins, fringe and my new favorite punk studs! I brought my sewing machine so I could sew fringe on for people. Safety pins for the sequins so you could keep them on just for the night or longer! It was such a fun event and I loved that people got more into the upcycle throughout the night. The studs were a huge hit and people used just a few to sparkle up their shirts, bags and hats. I added fringe to the upcycled merch that the radio station was selling. One of my favorite stories was a girl who was wearing a denim jacket and we added fringe to it and she was like I actually don't know why I wore this I don't like this jacket very much but with the fringe she found a new love for it, and that is what upcycling is all about! I loved that people put even just one sequin on their shirt and it can now just be their party pin.
This was my first event back out in town in a long time for Cowgirl Mermaid and it felt so nice to reconnect with the community and share my love of upcycling and decorating yourself to sparkle on the dance floor. I ended the night dancing away. These events have re-inspired me to create more spaces to connect together caring and giving new life to our clothes and I am thinking of ways now to create those spaces and will share out soon!!!
