Thrift Thursday - Swap-O-Rama-Rama

Who needs to shop when you can swap? This Saturday, I'm going to be helping out at the Swap-O-Rama-Rama in Venice.

I'll be at a table demonstrating how to embellish your boring clothes with fun and funky appliques. I usually cut my appliques freehand, but I made these stencils tonight so people could trace them if they wanted:

That, or they could make their own and leave them for others to use. We'll be using fabric scraps, Heat 'n Bond Lite, an iron, scissors, a sewing machine, and a needle and thread for hand-sewing. If people aren't sure how to sew things to other things, I'll help them, or if they do know how, I'll just provide the materials and let them go to town. I just found out Jenny Ryan will be there with me, so together we'll help people applique their asses off. If you live close, stop by!

I've been cleaning out my closets in preparation and came up with TWO garbage bags full.

Imagine if I just sent that to the landfill instead. I love the concept of the Swap-O-Rama-Rama. My friends and I used to do this in college, only on a smaller scale. Usually it was 5-10 of us meeting at someone's house, each person bringing a bag of clothes and a drink or food to share. When everyone was there, we'd dump all our bags in the middle of the room and dive in. Then, of course, we'd end up doing an impromptu fashion show. Good times. We didn't have sewing stations on the sidelines though.

I hear the other designers are offering plushie-making, screenprinting, and altering and tailoring at their stations. Sweet! Just think, all these neglected, unloved, under-appreciated clothes are getting packed into bags right now ready to be tossed into the Swap-O-Rama-Rama. Soon, they'll be transformed into stylin' new creations, ready to hit the streets of L.A. in all their handmade glory. I promise there will be pictures.