Sewing Café Lancaster

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Sewing Café Lancaster

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Sewing Café Lancaster promotes wellbeing and advocates sustainability. Check out our website, join our events or send us a message!

We believe in connecting with people across the community, to share skills, to reuse, repair and reduce. Youtube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuD3QMmPqjsEZkYpRGHz8rA

29/10/2026

A fortnight ago SCL was invited to run an afternoon with 2nd Year Design BA students in the LICA building at Lancaster University.
We'd met lecturer David Perez Ojeda at the Morecambe Bay Curriculum conference in July where we had a stand focused on Natural Dyes.

David said to us: ’What I want students to get out of this session is to be more intrigued / curious about how they see the world. I picture your activity as a way to reflect on your perspective on current clothes manufacturing processes, the harms of them and also how re-connecting with nature can offer more sustainable answers'.

We split the session in two, with half spent on a short presentation on SCL plus a discussion in small groups where the 40 students explored prompts and questions we gave them and shared their own feedback. Fascinating!

The second half was hands-on. Katrina introduced plant inks she had made from sloe, walnut, alder, avocado and weld and the students created potato-print bookmarks...with a lot of energy and buzz.
The workshop went really well, with some great comments made by the students at the end - speaking personally and as budding design specialists.
Thanks to everyone who made it work!

12/10/2026

We're sharing info on THREE Sewing Café workshops this week in Lancaster - all welcome & all free.

NB STOP PRESS! Mike Thorne's Rag-Writing workshop is being postponed from this week to Thursday November 12th. Ticketholders are being notified and we'll share a new booking link for remaining places on the workshop. Thanks!

Tuesday 13th 6:30-8:30pm it's the monthly community Repair-a-thon. We'll help you mend your clothing & textiles and other partners will be assisting you with any household electricals and other repairs. Hosted at LAMM in Harper House, White Cross. Materials available & no need to book.

On Wednesday it's Marsh Mending from 4:00-6pm at Marsh Community Centre. Please join us - bring your mending and any other stitching projects you'd like to work on or ask for advice about. Materials available, no need to book.

Thirdly, on Thursday 15th at Judges' Lodgings from 1:00-3:30, storyteller Michael Forde will be leading 'Rag-Writing'.
Bring your worn, torn or rejected clothing and we'll explore the stories you've worn and do some reflective creative writing together.
Free, & please book here: https://www6.apps.lancashire.gov.uk/w/webpage/event-details?eventid=4355173

Thanks to all the partners and co-facilitators who generously create, offer and host these community events!
Plus: if you would like to help out with sewing & mending or other activities at any of our events, please message us - thanks!

09/10/2026

The fab and free 'Rise Up! Lock Down!' exhibition is on until Friday 16th Oct in Lancaster Castle, commemorating the 1826 Lancashire Weavers Uprising.
Photos don't do this justice: the show is in the cold and claustrophobic cells of C Wing, the Women's Prison tower built in the 1820s.
Textiles, sculpture, audio, video, linocuts and posters exploring many dimensions of the Uprising.
Unmissable creativity and history, congratulations to all the contributors! Do make time to experience it in a busy weekend and week in Lancaster.

07/10/2026

B**r & Yarn part 2:
Here's a delightful example of visible mending that was begun last evening at our drop-in session on the first Tuesday of each month.

The maker has created subtle mends that are complementary to the existing garment - beautiful and delicate. Thanks for sharing.

A valuable feature of B**r & Yarn is that participants - experts and beginners - can bring their own projects along and get some tips and also inspire others....or both.

We advertise B**r & Yarn and all our activities here: all welcome!

07/10/2026

What's going on..?
Social stitching in action!
At our monthly B**r & Yarn meeting last evening we were rag-rug stitching a new banner on hessian.

It's for Food Futures to use in Lancaster, and spells out the word COMPOSTING in a mix of three earth colours.
Tackling it brings out differences in sewing approach: do you keep changing colours to fill in the edge of a letter or a solid area of stitches, or do you visualise where one colour should go and boldly do dispersed stitches with spaces inbetween...?

All methods work fine. There's still plenty to do and there'll be popup opportunities to join in.

All welcome to B**r & Yarn on the first Tuesday of each month...and plenty more happening this autumn, all free.

05/10/2026

We're looking forward to October's monthly Sewing Café Lancaster catch up on Tuesday 6th.
All welcome: first-time participants and current friends.
Join in anytime between 6:00 and 10:00 pm.
Stonewell Tap, 8-10 Church St, Lancaster LA1 1NP.

Hoping for fun collaboration on our rag rugging banner we are making for .northlancashire.
It’s a really effective and beautiful way to use scraps of cloth. It’s 3 metres long so there's lots of scope to learn or refresh this useful technique.

As always, bring your own making project if you wish or simply join the chat.
😀🧶🍺

30/09/2026

Two photos from Sunday's Sewing Café workshop.
Corinne Young led a hands-on workshop about embroidery in the style of the 11th-century Bayeux Tapestry. Participants loved it!
Many thanks to Corinne and to the Judges' Lodgings Museum in Lancaster who hosted the event.

30/09/2026

Our busy autumn of diverse free Sewing Café events in Lancaster - all welcome!
You may need a magnifying glass to read the two photos here - please use this link at https://tinyurl.com/3edbkkwc to a pdf of the big list.

We'll continue to share separate posts about each workshop.
You'll find a handful of the 20+ events we are offering with partners are fully booked - please check the booking links as that can change at any time.
We look forward to seeing you, and please contact us with any queries.
Cheers!

24/09/2026

Hi all - I just had a look at the bookings for our 4 workshops at Judges' Lodgings in Lancaster (Corinne's pair of stitching sessions and Michael's workshops exploring the stories behind our clothes.)

Three of these workshops are full as of today.
Michael's 'Rag-Writing' workshop on 15th October from 1:00 to 3:00pm has two places available.
Details and booking at https://www6.apps.lancashire.gov.uk/w/webpage/event-details?eventid=4355173

Outline: ‘Rag-Writing’ Workshop. Ripped jeans, dirty laundry and laddered tights: what can they mean to you? Join local myth-maker, Michael Forde, for a creative writing workshop inspired by rags and stains. Bring your most tattered clothes or find the stories in our rag-pile.

Our Big List of SCL autumn activities is pinned here on Facebook.

Friends of the Judges' Lodgings, Lancaster Lancashire County Council Good Things Collective FoodFutures: North Lancashire

21/09/2026

We have an amazing list to share of our varied events and workshops from the end of September to December '26: all free and all welcome - there's lots of choice.

You can read and download all the info at the 'Big List' link here https://tinyurl.com/3mweav3p

These 20+ events can have very diverse and rewarding legacies, as well as fun and pure pleasure. For example: learning and practicing skills in a friendly, social and supportive setting, asking and giving advice on making, growing local dye plants, creating and mending garments and textiles, meeting others who are also exploring community sustainability, trying out new links to textiles locally and globally through writing and our imaginations.

Some sessions are ticketed; we'll share on socials if availability changes when the workshops are full.
A handful of the events are private to the partner organisations hosting them - get in contact with us if you wish to ask about volunteering to co-facilitate.

Please get in contact if you have any queries.
We look forward to seeing you!

The Gregson Centre Friends of the Judges' Lodgings, Lancaster Global Link Northern Yarn Friends of Lancaster Library Friends of the Storey Gardens, Lancaster Hester's Haberdashery LAMM BayShare Good Things Collective Farfield Mill, Sedbergh LUSU Green Lancaster Institute for the Contemporary Arts Lancaster District CVS Lancaster University Chaplaincy Q***r By Gum CIC

Address

Market Square
Lancaster
LA1 1HT

Website

https://sewingcafelancaster.com/

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