A CRAFTY event showcasing the best of Redditch’s sewing community has been hailed a success by organisers.
The Inkberrow Design Centre (IDC) in Britten Street marked its 25th birthday on Saturday (October 15), with an event opening its new Korbon sewing studio and a catwalk competition showcasing the best of its students’ work.
The contest saw Jenniffer Taylor from the BBC’s Sewing Bee and Bex Farr from Channel 4’s Superscrimpers take on a clothing recycling challenge, each with a team of four sewing students, to transform old clothes into new garments fit for a catwalk in just four hours.
Bex’s team took the crown after spending their time making four high-fashion dresses out of old clothing, while Jenniffer’s team upcycled their garments into four complete outfits, including accessories, hats and handbags.
Jenniffer said: “It was an amazing day, and a fantastic way to celebrate the talents of our students at the IDC.
“We had a really great turnout and our students and models were delighted to have such a large audience.
“Up-cycling is great for so many reasons, but by saving clothes destined for the bin or landfill, we breathed some new life into them and did some good for the planet.
“It’s also a great way for people to get into sewing and creating clothes because it doesn’t matter if you make a mistake or two.”
As well as the Wardrobe War, there was a silver-themed catwalk to celebrate the IDC’s 25th, with clothes modeled by the students who created them.
The event, part of Sew Saturday celebrated across the UK, also coincided with the unveiling of the new Korbond Sewing Studio, which, complete with sewing supplies and equipment all donated by the Korbond Group, will kick start the new ‘Sew Fix It’ campaign at the IDC.
Headed by Jenniffer, the Sew Fix It community project is for adult learners to help them towards employment.
Visit http://bit.ly/1SfCzzG for more information.
Pictures by Keith Killigrew.
