Keep an eye on this page for updates on Sustainable Fashion events at The Old Print Works. Follow us @sustainablefashionbrum / @oldprintworksbrum

COMING UP NEXT

Sustainable Fashion Socials & Clothes Swap
Thursday 3 December, 6-8.30pm

Tickets £4 / £3 concessions Get tickets here.
Tickets also available on the door

PAST EVENTS

Sustainable Fashion Week 2026 runs 26 September - 4 October.
The theme is Threads of Resistance and The Old Print Works is the Birmingham hub.

Sustainable Fashion Showcase
Saturday 3 October, 1-5pm

Tickets cost £5 / £3 early bird / £4 concessions (students, Seniors, those on a low income and B12 residents). Book here

Organised in partnership with I’d Peel A Pomegranate, this is an opportunity to meet designers and makers from the West Midlands and discuss the future of Sustainable Fashion in the region and how the community and space at The Old Print Works could help local designers on their journey.

The event includes: showcasing local designers including Gursimran and Taradhin Clothing; styling outfits with pre-loved clothes; a panel discussion debating Sustainable Fashion in the city with Hannah Andrews, Grace Lambert and Zoe Powell Best; keffiyeh styling; spoken word performances by Sofia Broadmeadow; access to Daily Thread, our community textile space; networking and an opportunity to contribute creative ideas and suggestions.

Sustainable Fashion Forum
Sunday 27 September, 1-5pm

Join us for an afternoon of shared ideas and community conversations about sustainable style.

Tickets cost £5 / £3 early bird / £4 concessions (students, Seniors, those on a low income and B12 residents). Book here
Tickets also available on the door

Presentations include:

• Carly Kelleher, Programme Lead, A Single Thread CIC, is a sustainable fashion advocate, practitioner, and lecturer committed to transforming the industry through community building and education. Here she gives an introduction to the Sustainable Fashion Week campaign and highlights future initiatives and priorities.

• Aimee is an artist and sustainability crafter who uses pre-loved and foraged items to redesign and reimagine into wearable pieces or homeware. She shares ideas and leads a practical session on how to give valuable materials a second lease of life - think curtain hoops turning into earrings or your old dress transforming into a handbag!

• Join the team from Reloved Brum (Birmingham Hospice) to hear about the journey they've taken to their newly opened charity shop located at Grand Central, just above New Street Station. The store's boutique feel challenges preconceived ideas around charity shops and offers customers a carefully curated collection of pre-loved clothes and accessories. Every purchase supports Birmingham Hospice's vital care.

• Join multidisciplinary artist Tammy Woodrow and her friends for a short subversive performance lecture on how to - with simple, low-budget interactions - transform clothes into dissident feminist objects.

• Zoe is a Materials Researcher, maker and mentor who has been working with wasted resources and natural materials for 20 years. Her projects and research have led her from creative textile design to material science, and she supports mending and second-hand usage as more than a lifestyle choice.

• Emily, a volunteer with Birmingham Friends of the Earth, shares information about a national campaign titled Planet over Profit and its relation to fast fashion. She also discusses how a free clothes swap can provide a useful and comfortable space for conversations surrounding fast fashion. 

• Earlier in September, Bristol became the first UK city to impose a ban on fast fashion advertising, alongside bans on SUV and Airlines advertisements on Council-owned billboards. David Evans, a researcher with Climate Citizens and a local authority climate officer, shares examples of how and why councils across the UK have banned such adverts and talk a little bit about the case for change in Birmingham.

• Alina and Zain, co-founders of I’d Peel A Pomegranate Magazine, give a short presentation on the polyester pandemic, discussing the environmental, social and ethical consequences of one of the most popularly used fabrics in fashion. IPAP Magazine explores the intersections of fashion with philosophy and politics, and the presentation is followed by a short Q and A on everything you need to know about upcoming articles and future issues.

Sustainable Fashion Skillshare
Saturday 26 September, 1-5pm

Tickets cost £8 / £6 early bird / £5 concessions (students, Seniors, those on a low income and B12 residents). Book here
Tickets also available on the door

An afternoon of textiles and sustainable fashion skills sharing.

Join our friendly and creative community to share skills, stories and sustainable making and experiment with shared techniques and new materials. Aimed at adults and children aged 12+

Skills and sharers include:

• Join Jutta from Daily Thread for things to do with your old t-shirt, including making t-shirt bags and t-shirt yarn for knits, crochet and rug-making. Please bring your old t-shirts (some also available at the event).

• Textile artist Helen from The Natural Dye Shed will share how to use plant pigments and recycled materials to print patches for decorating or repairing clothing and household textiles. Helen works in painting, printing and dyeing theatre costumes, and for the last 6 years has been growing plants to use for dyeing and printing.

• Try swiss darning with Umamah - a clever technique that mimics knitted stitches to make holes and thin patches disappear. You will learn how to repair your knits like an expert, giving you the skills to fight fast fashion by making your clothes last longer.

• Join textile artist Jane to create your very own bespoke fabric medal to celebrate your personal achievements. Using repurposed and upcycled materials, this drop-in session gives you the time to relax and give yourself the award you so clearly deserve! Skills include couching, sashiko and seed stitching.  

• Make a drawstring bottle or pouch bag with Bernadette in our Daily Thread space (only accessible via stairs). Using the sewing machines and overlocker, attendees can choose from pre-cut pieces of cloth to make their own unique bag.

• Enjoy an embellishment and mending workshop with Claire, including embroidery and patching - with threads of resistance!

• Join Hel and Gemma from the Birmingham & District Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers to make cord and bracelets from yarn scraps and have a go at weaving simple squares.

• Birmingham creative activist Louise introduces block-printing using the iconic Extinction Rebellion motifs. 

• Nettle cordage and spinning on a drop spindle, with Amina. Amina is a local multi-crafter, teacher of crafts and owner of Artisan 7obby, where she sells tools for crafters. She is a member of the local guild of weavers, spinners and dyers, and the Birmingham Nettle Project.

• As part of this event we are screening a related film: The Nettle Dress (2023). Textile artist Allan Brown spends seven years making a dress by hand, just from the fibre of locally foraged stinging nettles. A modern-day fairytale and hymn to the healing power of nature and slow craft.