Clothes-Wise
Our Clothes-Wise project inspires more sustainable choices about how we buy, care for and dispose of clothing and textiles; sharing skills such as making, mending, altering and up-cycling to make the clothes we love last for longer.
What We Do
Clothes-Wise started with a Sustainable Clothing event and has grown from there, shaped by what our community told us they wanted. Since then, our volunteers have brought a shared “wish-list” to life through hands-on skill-share workshops, inspiring talks, and events like the Derbyshire Makes festival. At one sewing machine workshop, two participants—both nervous after bad school experiences—found the confidence to try again. With a little support and encouragement, they were soon sewing with pride, amazed by how much they achieved in just one session.
How to get involved
Learn and share skills
Join our workshops to learn or pass on traditional sewing, altering and mending techniques—helping the clothes we love last longer.
Get creative
Explore fun and practical ways to upcycle or re-purpose clothing. Share your own projects, or take on one of our upcycling challenges—like turning a duvet cover into something fabulous or transforming curtains into couture.
Support and spread the word
Look out for Clothes-Wise events in the Transition Chesterfield newsletter, especially during Sustainable Fashion Week. Come along, bring a friend, and help us grow the movement!
“We need to move from a ‘take-make-dispose’ model of fashion and textiles, to a circular living model of ‘design-make-reuse’”.
For more information
The WRAP website offers a wealth of information on how textiles can be bought, made, and used sustainably. You can explore this resource here.
You can read the WRAP report on the life expectancy of different clothing items in UK wardrobes and the demand for new models of acquiring clothes here.
Transition Chesterfield’s Green Map features several of our Clothes-Wise case studies. To find them, navigate to the Clothes-Wise section of the map, then click on ‘Additional Data’ here.
Get in touch
Contact Andie at:
network@transitionchesterfield.org.uk