12 Days of Giveaways: Sew Local

Happy December 5th! We are very excited that the holidays are right around the corner and we are EXTRA excited for the 12 Days of Giveaways! We partnered with 14 local businesses to bring you some pretty amazing prizes. Today we are giving away a Sew Local tote bag! We’ll be announcing all of the winners each day on our Facebook page and through our email newsletter. If you  haven’t signed up for the newsletter yet, you can do that here: http://eepurl.com/cqrZdX 

What is Sew Local? 

Sew Local is a small business in Sudbury, Ontario, the joint creation of Marja Reimer and April Allard. We are life-long makers, and partners in life as well as business. We are passionate about reusing, upcyling, feminism, social justice, slowing down and using our hands for creative expression. We consider what we do to be a form of craftivism and an alternative to fast fashion.

We make adorable rag dolls, bags with unicorns, whimsical pennant banners, head wraps, beanies, pin cushions, cloth pads, and pencil cases that used to be vintage ties. We make gorgeous tote bags and hand towels, hand-stamped with awesome quotes about self love, inclusiveness, feminism, and other good stuff. We have comfort creatures that we make out of felted sweaters that are filled with rice ready to be warmed up and snuggled with. We make super-comfy skirts that are upcycled from sweaters, and messenger bags from vintage suit jackets. We try to repurpose fabric as much as possible; we use old tablecloths, leftover fabric scraps, and vintage or second hand clothes that are beyond repair. Besides our sewing based projects, we have hand painted cards and beautiful water colour earrings. Alongside our original hand made items and up cycled clothing, we offer a selection of curated vintage and preloved clothing. Our list of products is constantly growing and evolving as we follow our creativity and curiosity, and are inspired by the materials that we find.

We are incredibly excited to announce that we are expanding into Sew Local Stitch Lounge, a socially conscious sewing lounge where the emphasis is on community, creativity and self expression with a strong DIY ethos. Whatever your age or gender, whether you’re an experienced sewist or have never stitched a seam, you are welcome here! Join us for workshops, one on one sewing lessons, intimate social gatherings and equipment rental by the hour in our warm, friendly and inspiring space including sewing machines, a coverstitch machine, sergers, dress forms in a variety of sizes, spacious cutting tables, button/pin presses, and a selection of magazines and books. You will find our unique handmade creations, gorgeous fabric, and indie, body positive patterns with a full range of sizes. This is the perfect place for makers and those looking for a creative community. Grab a coffee, tell us about your project; welcome to Sew Local Stitch Lounge!

Many of your products are made with recycled fabrics, where do you come up with all these interesting upcycling ideas? 

We talk a lot! We bounce ideas off each other, often at the Fromagerie, and they grow and morph into new things all the time! April is often inspired by the materials at hand, the color and texture and the feelings she gets when looking at the fabric or old worn sweater, etc… playing around and creating something and then finding ways to use the scraps and make something else. She often doesn’t have a clear picture of the finished project until well into it! She loves to come up with new ideas, and doesn’t like to make the same thing twice. Marja is often inspired by a strong desire to figure out the construction and piecing things together, she loves to hone her skills by making the same thing again and again, improving the quality and concept each time. We’re a creative dynamic duo and we have way more ideas than we have time to create them!

Where can our readers find Sew Local products? 

You can find our handmade goodness at the Maker’s Market on Sunday Dec. 4, 11-4pm, 111 Larch St. We’re super excited to be a part of this amazing indie craft show!
Follow us on Facebook and Instagram to stay current, we will be doing weekly meet ups to deliver our goodies leading up to the holidays.
We plan to be moving into our new space in the new year and opening our store in New Sudbury in March!

What is your favourite holiday song? 

Ha Ha, the last few years we’ve listened to Bad Religion’s rendition of some holiday classics, the harmonies are awesome!

What is your favourite thing about celebrating the holidays in Sudbury? 

We celebrate the winter solstice at our place! Our 4 kids each have a special handmade advent calendar that we made a few years back, they are super fun for us to get ready, finding little treasures and their favourite treats to fill them with! We are a family of makers and all love to make lots of handmade gifts. We have a family tradition of driving around Sudbury every solstice eve to look at everyone’s beautiful light displays. This tradition also involves candy cane flavoured Oreos and yummy hot drinks! Last year, last minute hand-stitching of gifts while we drove around admiring the lights happened and some glow in the dark bowling to finish the evening!

You can check out  Sew Local on Facebook and Instagram!