Meet the Mancunian - Talking sustainable fashion with Sarah Revington

Transcript - Sarah Revington

Intro

Welcome to the eighth episode of the Meet the Mancunian podcast, Season Four. I'm Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe, your friendly host. On the streets and nooks of Manchester, my inspiring Mancunian guests tackle their causes with grit and passion. They are leaders, worker bees and community hosts, and they share their stories to inspire you all through the season.

Relax, grab a brew and listen in to the Meet the Mancunian podcast on Apple, Google, Spotify, or any of your favourite podcasting platforms. You can also check out all the episodes on my new website, www.meetthemancunian.co.uk.

Looking to learn about sustainable fashion, we hear from Sarah Revington, Events Coordinator, Stitched Up in this episode.

Episode Eight

Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: I'm delighted to introduce my guest, Sarah Revington, Events Coordinator, Stitched Up. Hi Sarah, it's great to meet you, and thanks so much for taking the time.

Sarah Revington: No problem. Hi. Yeah, how are you?

Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Doing good. Looking forward to hearing all about the great work you and Stitched Up are doing. So tell us first, about your passion for sustainable fashion. How did that come about?

Sarah Revington: Well, so I started learning how to sew and getting interested in crafting and things like that from a young age, like most people.

And I progressed learning how to refine those skills. So I went to college to do textiles and pattern drafting and all that kind of stuff like designing clothing. So I kind of continued to know that I wanted to work in the area of fashion. But my interest in sustainability didn't really come in once I'd really properly finished my degree.

So when I finished university, I got a standard job in a fast fashion brand in Manchester. So working in Cheetham Hill. And it was mostly just, listing products and things like that. So I never really got to learn too much about the insides of that organisation, but I just started to learn more about how the industry worked and the impact of that.

And it just didn't really sit with me. So quite luckily, I stumbled upon Stitched Up and started volunteering there. From there, I learned loads more about the environmental impact of the fashion industry as well as the impact on garment workers' rights and things like that.

So I just kind of learned mostly from the job really. But just having that interest to want to know more and what I could do and what we could do.

Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Thanks for sharing that. And that's so interesting. And tell us about what Stitched Up does, what it's all about? Sustainable fashion, but specifically what are the community programs you engage with and how are you making impact?

Sarah Revington: Yeah, so Stitched up we've been going for 10 years now. We just had our 10th birthday in September.

Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Congratulations.

Sarah Revington: Thank you. It was great. Yeah, so we are a community benefits society, which is a type of cooperative. And part of the work that we do is very much inspiring action on sustainable fashion.

And we do this by running workshops - teaching people how to sew and teaching people how to mend and upcycle. Taking parts in campaigns working with other organisations such as Labour Behind the Label. And then we also do a lot about wellbeing, which comes into the community side of the work that we do.

So we do workshops and courses, like social meetups with people. So, if they're socially isolated and things like that, we run projects through funding that we've been given.

Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: So before I asked you about impact, I'm really interested to know what are the challenges you're facing and how have you overcome that? Because again, that's a really useful message for listeners to take and maybe apply to their lives.

Sarah Revington: Definitely. So we've, I mean, as an organisation, we've faced many challenges in terms of keeping the organisation going. The lockdown hit us pretty hard because the majority of our work is face-to-face and community-based and workshops and trying to make all those things accessible to people.

So we can't exactly teach people how to use sewing machines from home, and stuff like that. So, a lot of challenges there, but I think during that time it really gave us a chance to understand a bit more about what we wanted to do as a community organisation and how we could support people.

We did a lot of things by going online in some sense, which was some of our funded projects, so like delivering craft packs and then running social meetups online and stuff like that. So it was still very much just trying to get the message out there about Stitched Up as well as be involved with the community that we're in and stuff like that.

So l, what I mean by that is getting the message out about sustainability. A lot of the social groups that we run still have that idea of, well, how do we want to mend things or how do we want to keep recreating stuff, especially if that's within our wardrobe. Its not limited to, but that's very much what we strive for.

So we very much say things like the most sustainable thing is already in your wardrobe. So teaching, carrying on teaching, is really important to us. And then I guess some of the challenges that we find as an organisation is because we work with so many people, we work with volunteers all the time. In our textile shop, we sell reclaimed materials. It's hearing what they want to learn and their capabilities of learning that and trying to work with them to work on their level but still making everything accessible. Again, from the lockdown, it's because sewing has become a very expensive hobby, and we want to make sure that people can still learn all that stuff.

Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Thank you for sharing that. And I really liked what you said about the most sustainable piece of fashion is actually already in your wardrobe and it's just a question of repurposing and freshening it and giving it a whole new look, I guess. And that's what they did in the old days. They just added a few trims and accessories and made that gown something to use again.

What impact would you say you've made through Stitched Up?

Sarah Revington: So I actually had some thoughts on this one. So I suppose the impact we've made as an organisation has been on quantifying this. So we take in a lot of reclaimed materials and resell them in our shop in Stratford.

So we get donations from businesses that have at the end of the road, have fabrics no longer in use, fabrics as well as sample clothing. And then we also get people's donations from their personal projects. So that could be someone who used to be a sewer but is retired or just slowing down a bit with that one.

So we get like all the materials and resell them in the shop. But the thing we do to measure the impact is that we received all those materials and all those donations. We weigh them to measure the impact of what’s been diverted from the landfill. So this year alone, we've managed to divert three tons of fabric waste.

So that's kind of like some of the impact that we've had, and we resell that out to the public with our yard sales and just general shop days. And other impact that I feel like we've made is, like I say, we've worked with volunteers. So they sometimes. work in the shop, but they can also help us with some of our workshops, whether that's preparing for it or even sometimes help facilitating it.

So like I've been working with a volunteer running a social meetup group in Longsight, teaching women how to sew and things like that. And it's been able to give work experience for them, but also to continue meeting people and working within their community because they live in that area.

And things like that. And we get lots of lovely feedback from our customers who book onto our public program. So, I feel like we have made an impact.

Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Definitely. It sounds like it, both on an individual level and as well as that three-ton figure, it's definitely staying with me.

How can people reach out to you and learn more about Stitched Up? How can they reach out to you -your social media, websites, and workshops?

Sarah Revington: Yeah, definitely. We have all those things so you can find our workshops and information about the work that we've done on our blog on our website. So our website is www.stitchedup.coop. And then the same for all our Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook is @stitchedupUK, and you can see all the things that we do along with some helpful videos of how you could upcycle, and mend some stuff as well on our website.

Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Thanks for sharing that.

And what advice would you have for people looking to start something similar in another part of the world? Because sustainable fashion is required everywhere. So maybe some tips?

Sarah Revington: Yeah, because our dream is never to be a chain, but we definitely want to help people to start these organisations in different areas.

I think what really helped Stitched Up grow at the beginning is they looked more into a co-op working structure. So that's working basically on a set of principles, like there's no hierarchy, there's no managerial side. Everyone has an equal investment in the organisation and they can be anything from workers' cooperatives to community benefits society. So there's quite a few different ones, but there's just a lot of support there because it’s seen as shared working values.

And I think if you're really thinking about getting serious, I mean, there are lots of people you can talk to, but I think starting with your own manifesto for your organisation and understanding what it is that you want to do, whether that's working with community or reselling reclaimed materials or things like that, just really put it down what, what you want this organisation to do. And from there, you probably will start to find more like-minded people, so you can definitely come together and start something.

Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Sounds great. This is an opportunity now for you to talk about anything I haven't asked you about. Anything coming up in the next few months you want to talk about?

Sarah Revington: Yeah, I suppose we are currently working along with community groups and organisations that we work with, just teaching with our courses over, over several weeks and things like that. We also very much work on campaigning and the impact that the fashion industry has had, whether that's from current times or going to further back.

So we actually have a project on at the moment - a heritage-funded project called the Kathleen Project.

Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Oh, I remember you telling me about that.

Sarah Revington: Yeah. So it's kind of where we're hopefully starting our own podcast with this. But basically, the Kathleen project is a research and history project.

So a fair few years ago, someone donated on the doorstep, a really old industrial treadle sewing machine, which is a foot-powered sewing machine. So you've got to basically rock on the pedal. It's got no electricity. But they still work. They cleaned it up.

But when they opened the drawer, they found a name badge and a picture in it. And the name said Mrs. Kathleen…, they couldn't work out the last name and it must have been a picture of them and the actual machine dated back to the 1920s. So we just started to build a project from there of learning about how the garment industry worked in Manchester and, and what impact it's had throughout the years on both personal lives, working lives, and especially since like everything started to get, I don't want to say cheapened as in the work's not there, but worked on a larger scale…

Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: machine made…

Sarah Revington: …. Yeah, definitely. So we basically are interviewing people who may have experience of this, not necessarily to always date back to the 1920s, but throughout the years if they have worked in the garment industry or had family members that did, and the impact that it had, we'd love to hear from them.

So, if any of your listeners have some stories to tell, they can get in touch at hello@stitchedup.coop. So we'd love to hear stories.

Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Yeah, I hope listeners do respond. That sounds like such an interesting project. And I definitely want to check out your podcast when it comes up, as well as of course follow that project on social media.

I'm now going to move to the signature questions that I ask all my guests. And the first one is, could you describe the Mancunian spirit in a word or a phrase?

Sarah Revington: The Mancunian spirit, I mean, we're very friendly. We are very loyal. And, and we're also very stuck in our own ways at times as well.

Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Okay, that's three words, but I like it.

Sarah Revington: I mean, you've got a proper Mancunian here, I have to say it this way.

Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Can you share a Mancunian who inspires you and why? And that could be somebody now living or somebody in the past as well.

Sarah Revington: I mean, I feel like it's an obvious one to go for, but I'm very impressed by Maxine Peak. If you think about starting, well, she'd definitely done things before, but my first knowledge of her was with Shameless and all the things that she's done since then.

Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: I don’t know about her, so you have to tell me because I'm a new Mancunian and I'm sure many of my listeners don't either.

Sarah Revington: Oh, Maxine Peak. No, they'll recognise her for sure. Yeah, so she started off in Shameless, or at least, as I say, that's very much my knowledge of her.

But I just think, I'm just so impressed with her. It seems like where she wants to work is kind of like the jobs that she does is campaigning as well. So the link for me is that we used to have, it sounds very fancy, radio plays filmed at my house because apparently, it had the right acoustics when I was little.

And they did one about Arthur Scargill's wife who was the mining [trade unionist]. And they, all the wives of the minors fetched up in a mine and didn't move, and that was their own strike. Maxine Peak came to my house and was part of it, and that was really fun.

Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Okay. Thank you for sharing that. I'm going to have to look her up because as I said, there are listeners around the world and I definitely wasn't familiar, but thank you. [Note to listeners: Maxine Peak is an actor, writer, and political activist from Greater Manchester https://www.greatermancunians.blog/maxine-peake-actor-activist]

It's great to know and a little bit of history for me to look into there.

What's the most important life lesson you've learned?

Sarah Revington: I think not to over anticipate the what ifs. So this may happen because of this and all that kind of stuff. This can be really debilitating when you get really into it and, and fall into those feelings of this is what could happen because this is what could happen and you can prepare for it. However, you don't know until it's happened. And it's kind of like you've just sometimes just got to go for it.

Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Love the philosophy. It's a really good one because, sometimes it's better to plunge right in than to keep hesitating and thinking ahead There's a good part of thinking ahead, which is planning, but there's also the thinking of all of the reasons not to do it. So get it. Thanks, Sarah.

If you have one superpower, what would it be?

Sarah Revington: I feel like I hesitate so much with these.

Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: They're meant to be spontaneous. So just go with what you feel like. They're the lighter ones, aren't they?

Sarah Revington: Yeah. I feel like sewing is my superpower. I quite like my superpower of sewing. It means I can fix things. I can get creative without having to be able to draw and stuff like that. I quite like my superpower of sewing.

Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: Okay. It's a great one. And you're obviously living it every day, so that's really nice.

Is there a funny story you'd like to share with listeners? Maybe something from work, something from Manchester?

Sarah Revington: Yeah. I mean, with the work that I do, I meet a lot of people. And it's great to hear all the different stories and things like that. So before the lockdown, we were running what was called our ‘Be Well Craft Afternoons’, which was a social meetup group that met at Gorton Monastery, which is in East Manchester.

And we got about halfway through it, I think, and then the lockdown hit so everyone couldn't meet up again. And it was very much a well-being thing, so we didn't want to just stop the groups off flat so that nobody can socialise. So started delivering craft packs. So we took it all online.

So I always cycling around Gorton every two weeks delivering some craft packs and it was when, do you remember? At the beginning of the lockdown. And everyone had beautiful weather, so it was like cycling around. It was really nice. And there were no cars on the road, so it was really fun to cycle fast.

And basically, I'd gone to, and I would go and drop off the craft packs, but we'd obviously stop and have a chat on the doorstep as well. And one of the houses, I think it was the last house that I went to, and I'd started to chat with one of the participants who lived with her brother, so I was chatting with him as well.

And it was just such a nice thing that we were all just chatting away and looking at what we'd been creating. But he'd also made a cheesecake the day before. So basically I got sent away with a Tupperware of cheesecake, and I was just cycling through a really nice day and I was just like, I think I love my job.

Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: This is good. These are those little moments right which make you really happy. That sounds like a lovely memory, a very pleasant day. So thanks for sharing that.

Incidentally, that's when I moved here, I think April 2020 when I actually moved to the UK for the first time, so it was already locked down.

And yeah, we came into Heathrow, which was like a ghost town, and yeah, it was really hard to get here. In fact, getting to Manchester took us until the next day. I think we had to wait a day for the flight and it was quite, quite a difficult time to move countries…

Sarah Revington: I'd say. Yeah, I bet, I bet. Had it been planned for a while?

Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: No, it had been planned, but we thought it would be about five, six months later. But when the lockdown hit, they shut down the visa department in Saudi Arabia and they had said, okay, the last plane out. If you don't get out now, and they gave us 24 hours' notice to leave because otherwise we would've been stuck for some months, like, everybody was in different parts of the world.

So yeah, in a way it was good. It happened, but it was a scary time to be traveling and to be coming to a new country.

Sarah Revington: Yeah, I bet.

Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe: So that's all I have time for today, Sarah. It was great to talk to you and thanks so much for sharing about sustainable fashion and also your take on being a Mancunian. I always enjoy that.

Thank you. It's been great.

Outro

Sarah, I really enjoyed learning about supporting sustainable fashion today.

Dear listener, thank you so much for listening to the eighth episode of the Meet the Mancunian podcast, Season Four. I hope this episode of the podcast itself encourages you to follow your passions inspired by the amazing Mancunian guest who feature here.

Tune in every Tuesday for a new episode or log on to www.meetthemancunian.co.uk to listen to all the episodes and learn more about my podcasting story.

Next week on Tuesday, 17 January 2023, the Meet the Mancunian podcast talks to Charles Kwaku-Odoi about supporting the Caribbean and African communities’ health.

Please do leave a review or a voice message on my website, www.meetthemancunion.co.uk. It takes only a few minutes. Thank you.