NOVEMBER 28, 2017 #GIVINGTUESDAY 28 REASONS TO GIVE TO BIB & TUCKER SEW-OP
28. ...because (starting off easy) Bib & Tucker's mission is to cultivate skills for those who sew or want to sew (ages 9-99) where everyone can be both a teacher and a student.
27. ...because The March Quilts is a community art project that sheds light on a new theme of human or civil rights each year and we've just started YEAR FOUR with the theme of Environmental Justice!
26. ...because we aspire to be a notions store in the heart of Crestwood. What if you could drive to the Sew-Op to pick up last-minute project staples such as thread, machine needles, straight pins, fabric and more?
25. ...because whenever you take a picture of Ms. Annie, she always says, "MONEEEY". She wants to make sure the lights stay on, the heat never quits and that the roof over our heads is paid for.
24. ...because Ms. Annie never meets a stranger and Mama Glo will ply you with banana nut muffins and together they run a fun yet orderly ship during the weekly Tuesday session. 23. ...because summer of 2018, we will offer our third year of summer camp to young people who represent the next generation of artists and makers. We will introduce them to techniques that take resource use into consideration.
22. ...because we've been at the corner of 5th Ave S and 49th Place for 2.5 yrs now and still don't have a sign! In 2018, we're gonna make it difficult to miss the Sew-Op no matter how fast you drive!
21. ...because we had a great run of fee-based classes this year and it's just the beginning! We can't wait to teach pattern reading and shoulder bags and zippered pouches and pillows with cording and quilt techniques and circle skirts and more!
20. ...because sewing works up a serious appetite (is it the sewing or the chatting?) and we provide snacks to all of our attendees.
19. ...because we've got a team developing products for our Woodlawn Sewing Trainees to manufacture for wholesale to retail shops around the country. We continue to hone the process (so many moving parts!), always with fair pay in mind.
18. ...because our friends at Redemptive Cycles are feeding us busted inner tubes and we're gonna turn them into something incredible: repurposing + partnership with a local non-profit = xo!
17. ...because Woodlawn High School and Jones Valley Teaching Farm want to put up a Barn Quilt and they've asked the Sew-Op for guidance.
16. ...because our partnership with McWane Science Center has evolved since the completion of our fabric flash cards for the early literacy program, Words Are Our World. Now we stitch up the "wounded" (stuffed) animals from the Itty Bitty City's Animal Hospital and the children LOVE taking care of the dogs, cats and roosters (!!) with their bandages and stitches!
15. ...because in 2017, summer camp leader, Stephanie Sullivan George and assistant, Mariam Jalloh worked with over 100 students at five facilities around the city: facilitating our QUARKs (Quilting Activity Resource Kits) as part of SAIL (Summer Adventures In Learning) and we want to be able to offer this enrichment in 2018, too.
14. ...because...because...because
13. ...because we want to show our supporters: EBSCO Industries, Inc., Alabama State Council on the Arts, Alabama Power, Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham, that the community supports us too!
12. ...because travel and cross-pollination is the stuff of inspiration. This year the Tuesday members drove to Gee's Bend, AL to visit our sisters in stitches, and we almost missed the ferry because we were in so much awe of their mastery and easy way around the quilt frame. Their homemade cake and fried chicken made it hard to leave, too. Not gonna lie.
11. ...because we're looking forward to collaborating with other awesome non-profits such as Wisconsin's The Sewing Machine Project to spread this love of sewing all over Birmingham and hopefully the entire state of Alabama and on, and on, and on...
10. ...because our beautiful QUARKs need more work so that we can put them out into the world. We believe that hand sewing has a focusing effect on young minds and we believe that one of the best ways to learn math is through applied understanding, which is what QUARK is all about! And you get to learn some art standards to boot!
9. ...because we're still dreaming and while we do have a lot going on, there's more to be done and that means having helpers and hopefully those helpers get paid for their amazing contributions and dedication to the cause.
8. ...because Bib & Tucker aims to be a hub for sewing activities that promote empowerment, education and economic opportunity. One of the spokes off of this hub is incubation of entrepreneurship. From time to time, we encounter people who are excited to put their new skills to use creating a business and we want to support these dreams.
7. ...because Ms. Annie will never stop believing in Bib & Tucker and neither should you!
6. ...because we strive to be a neutral zone where modern innovation (i.e. short-arm quilting frames) and traditional techniques (i.e. hand-quilting on a wooden frame) are equally valued and where the two can co-mingle and thrive.
5. ...because at the end-of-summer-camp sleepover, our campers had a three hour sew-in (two campers made red suede tuxedo pants with pleather inserts), a pizza party, and told ghost stories on air mattresses in the Sew-Op after watching "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" projected onto the back of a quilt. And the next morning, no one wanted to leave so we started the Jr Membership.
4. ...because Jr Membership continued: since becoming Jr members, our young sewing enthusiasts have co-facilitated a sewing session with the young residents of Grace House, a foster home for girls in Fairfield. They have also been making baby quilts for new mothers of Woodlawn, and will be working with girl scouts in the new year.
3. ...because Thrift Store Runway. Thanks to Max Rykov, this will be an annual event! In 2017, we brought together an awesome community of seamstresses, models, designers, stylists, judges, shoppers and beer enthusiasts to put on a heck of a show. The Sew-Op loves fashion but loves to remind folks of the unbelievable amount of waste and resource consumption that goes into our fast-fashion society. Can't wait to do it all over again in 2018!
2. ...because Tuesday sessions. Co-founders Ms. Annie Bryant and Lillis Taylor started sewing together on a Tuesday morning eight years ago and they've been swapping skills and stories ever since.
1. The Sew-Op is home to a fantastic and varied group of seamstresses and seamsters. We cultivate skills and we cultivate friendship and fellowship. We nurture ideas and encourage all levels of making. We truly believe that we can heal the world one stitch at a time. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation today!
All charitable donations made to Bib & Tucker Sew-Op are tax-deductible. Simply click on the link below and choose the amount you would like to contribute. Want to know how your money is being used? Once you've made a contribution, you will receive a donation receipt for your tax records and a budget update from the Sew-Op.