Designtex Celebrates Textiles & The Power of Craft During NY Textile Month
Designtex to Host Two Events During New York Textile Month: Celebrating Textiles, Sustainability and The Power of Craft With Two Local Brooklyn-Based Groups –Weaving Hand and Black Girls Sew™
Designtex is proud to announce a partnership with Weaving Hand to host two community-oriented participatory events as part of the second annual New York Textile Month. These two events will take place at Designtex’s New York headquarters in SoHo, giving visitors a first-hand look into how textiles are made. These events have been named the Weaving and Sewing Gatherings because these crafts were traditionally done in a community environment. The crafts provided a place for exchanging ideas, techniques, cultures, crafts, communities and more. By emulating this type of community, people are better able to understand both the complexities of the textile industry and the power of collaborative work environments.
Please contact Karen Brooking at Karen@bdeonline.biz to RSVP to one or both of the following events:
Date: Wednesday, September 6, 2017
Time: 4:00 – 7:00pm
Location: Designtex, 200 Varick Street, 8th floor
Description: The Weaving Gathering will be set up as a performance art exhibition and function as a community-oriented hands-on weaving event. When visitors enter the studio, they are presented with four looms facing outward in a circle, surrounded by piles of Designtex scraps on the floor. Weaving Hand and Designtex will teach visitors how to weave the scraps, providing information about the weaving process as well as the project. As the weavings are completed, the textiles will be thrown into the middle of the weaving circle. This transfer of materials from the outer circle to the inner circle will allow visitors to experience the production process firsthand. Through this zero waste weaving event, we hope visitors will think more deeply about how much material is required to produce one textile and the waste created by the products they buy.
Date: Thursday, September 28, 2017
Time: 4:00 – 7:00pm
Location: Designtex, 200 Varick Street, 8th floor
Description: The Sewing Gathering focuses on making products out of the textiles woven during the Weaving Gathering. For this part of the event, we are partnering with Black Girls Sew, a not-for-profit that provides a positive influence on the lives of young girls through sewing, design and entrepreneurship. During the Sewing Gathering, participants will have the opportunity to sew a tote bag, pillow or coin purse from the textiles produced during the Weaving Gathering. Volunteers from Black Girls Sew, along with Weaving Hand and Designtex, will provide sewing instructions for everyone.
About Weaving Hand
Weaving Hand is a Brooklyn-based weaving studio and healing arts center that celebrates a fusion of traditional and contemporary weaving techniques with studio classes, workshops, commissions, outreach programs and exhibitions while embracing sustainable and ethical practices. As a healing arts center, Weaving Hand uses weaving as a creative tool to enhance developmental programs for adults and children with intellectual, emotional and physical disabilities. Weaving Hand values the evolving teachings and conversations surrounding this rich art form, and continually expands its knowledge by collaborating both locally and internationally with weavers in Asia, Central and South America, Africa and Europe.
About Black Girls Sew
Black Girls Sew™ is committed to having a positive impact on the lives of girls and young women through education in sewing, design and entrepreneurship. With years of experience as successful designers and seamstresses, our founders focus on teaching fundamental life skills such as creativity and resourcefulness through the design process. The mission of Black Girls Sew™ is to give women and girls the tools they need to create a more fashionable future.
