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News and Inspiration

Elephants Making a Difference

19/8/2019

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We receive fabulous stories on a regular basis from people who have made our 4KT Elephants and gifted them to friends and loved ones.

Those who make elephants for us to donate to local children's charities can also feel that they are making a difference now that the first collection of elephants have been recently delivered to Tedz 4 Kidz!

Here's the wonderful letter we received in response:
Thank you so much for the hard work that went into getting these elephants made.  It is appreciated by myself and the wider 4thekidz team. 

4thekidz have been supply trauma packs for the last 7 years to different areas around the country – Southland Tedz have been supplying the packs to Oamaru, Central and Southland for the last 5 years. 

These packs were predominantly designed to be given to children after they had been through specialist interviews (forensic), which we have now expanded, to cover all forms of trauma that a child may have been through, including sexual abuse, murdered family members, suicides, accidents, house fires, floods etc.  Most recently [aside from the family harm units] as a collective 4thekidz supplied 500 packs to help the Nelson team, when the fires happened in Pidgeon Valley and sent the same amount to help the Christchurch team with the attacks that happened in March.  

Our packs have been psychologically designed, to help the child, start to heal from whatever trauma they have been through.  Each item in the pack has a purpose:
  • A soft toy to cry into, to cuddle or provide comfort.  
  • A blanket to wrap around their shoulders, to hide under or to wipe away their tears. 
  • A torch, because often the dark is a scary place for a child, where bad things can happen to them, and especially because they are possibly now in an unfamiliar environment.   
  • Colouring items gives our younger children the opportunity to express their feelings through colour  
  • A notebook for our older children, allows them to write, draw or scribble any emotions they are going through at the time.

Research shows that when a child can attach to an object the healing process begins much quicker.  By making and donating these amazing elephants, you are helping a child who has been through significant trauma, smile again and start the healing process.  Recently we received an email thanking us for supplying packs when tornado’s ripped through Taranaki – a year or so later, the children are still carrying their soft toys and blankets wherever they go.

We can’t make this project happen without the amazing support we receive from our local communities, so for this we thank you and everyone who has participated.  Without you all, there is no 4thekidz.  We are always humbled and extremely grateful with any support we receive.

Thank you once again and kind regards to everyone

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We will be continuing to run workshops, and encouraging home sewists, to keep the pachyderms coming, as we head towards our goal of four thousand! It is heart warming to think of all the homes and hearts these will help to brighten. 
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Fabric Sale 2.0

10/8/2019

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We are always delighted to have people pop in to Stitch Kitchen and access our amazing 'pantry' of fabrics, notions, patterns and assorted textile-related oddments!  At our first major FABRIC SALE back in May, we realised there was fun to be had in pulling out ALL the boxes which usually get tucked away in the day-to-day running of the studio, and giving people the full Aladdin-esque experience of our own cave of wonders.
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Disney's Aladdin in the Cave of Wonders... if only we all had such self-control :)
Beside the fun had last time, we have two serious reasons to hold another Studio Sale now:

The first being the abundance of amazing donations we have been receiving; including vintage patterns, wool samplers woven at Roslyn Mill, merino wool knit fabrics, and velvet galore... all of which is taking up room where there wasn't room available to take up (fabricaholics among you will know exactly what I mean)! Plus, there's nothing like inviting people to visit to motivate spring cleaning and getting things in order.


The second reason is an invitation we received to share about our work at this year's Costume and Textile Association of New Zealand national conference,  in Nelson, and the need for funds to get there.

Last year's conference was held in Dunedin, and Fiona (Clements), Desi, and I (Fiona Jenkin) greatly enjoyed awakening our inner academics; learning about wide ranging topics of past research and future development; and most of all, meeting and sharing discussions with the other delegates and presenters.

When we learned that the theme for this year's conference was "A Common Thread", we put forward an abstract to present our work: 'Stitch Kitchen: recipe for building community', about our projects, and our vision for enhancing community, through creative textile projects that help to build resilience and reduce waste.  It was a great honor to have our abstract accepted, to add our story to the wider discussion on fashion, history, and culture.

Now we just need to book accommodation, and register for the rest of the conference, and get there. A small matter of finding $2000 ish and traveling 1400km.
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Route to be traveled via hybrid (electric) van to and from CTANZ conference.
I imagine it will take us slightly longer than 9 1/2hrs through, as the lure of galleries and op-shops diverts us. We will have to be disciplined, however, so we don't end up coming back with too much found treasure. But then again, we know some good ways to share it.
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11am - 4pm
@ Stitch Kitchen Studio
88 Vogel Street, crn Jetty Street

BYO bag/box. Eftpos will be available, but cash preferred
(technical gremlins slow things down considerably).

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Jane Milburn visit to Dunedin

7/8/2019

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One of our great inspirations, Jane Milburn, will be returning to Dunedin for a brief visit later this month!

Jane is a Sustainability Consultant, Slow Clothing pioneer, TEDx speaker, upcycler, and agricultural scientist. Many of you will remember her fabulous talk and upcycling workshop from when she was here during Fashion Revolution Week and ID Fashion Week in 2017 (see our blog post on her previous visit here).

Jane will be at Stitch Kitchen for our open afternoon on Friday 23rd August.  This will be a perfect afternoon for you to bring in your upcycling projects to get inspired.

We will also be hosting a social evening of sharing inspiration for natural fibres and upcycling at the studio, from 5-7pm
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This is a chance for everyone to discus ways to ..."slow down, take stock and consider the substance, not just the style, of the clothes you choose to wear. Become conscious of your wardrobe: buy less, choose natural fibres, mend what you have, value story, love second-hand and vintage, refuse cheap fashion, avoid toxic dyes, read labels, restyle what you have, share and swap, or buy ethical brands. If it suits you to do so, be empowered to sew, restyle and refashion clothing already in circulation. The slow clothing philosophy is summarised in a manifesto of actions and choices: think, natural, quality, local, few, care, make, revive, adapt and salvage" (from Jane's website Textile Beat)

While visiting NZ, Jane is looking forwarding to gathering a range of new material for another book and her website, including stories of favorite upcycling techniques and what inspires you, particularly around wellbeing and sustainability. 

For those who haven't yet read her wonderful first book, 'Slow Clothing: Finding meaning in what we wear', you're welcome to pop in and read our copy, or you can now purchase a copy of your own from us!
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