A stitch in time

Tay Stevens-Henderson, Jordan Miners and Zoe Hunter model Sew Retro creations. Photo: Tracy Hardy.

Retro, adjective, an imitative of a style or fashion from the recent past.

But we don't need Merriam-Webster to set the evocative juices flowing in Tauranga.

Because we have Sew Retro – it's that time of year when yesteryear is very today.

And all year, every year for five or six years, the Turning Point Trust has been collecting clothes. Anything retro they set aside, clean it up a bit, price it and then present it for sale at Sew Retro.

Vintage fabric, doilies, tablecloths, clothing, scarves, ties and aprons – all olde world and dripping with nostalgia and for sale at very affordable prices.

'You wouldn't believe the beautiful stuff we see come in,” says Turning Point Trust's Rose Webber. 'Aprons that your mum or nanna have worn. Scarves, ties and fabrics, of course.”

Even Rose, who helps bring stitch Sew Retro together is an inveterate buyer.

'I grab retro fabrics for a handpieced quilt I have been making for five years.”

Rose says Sew Retro is a load of fun. 'You want to see the passion. People know what they like, what they are after and there is light in their eyes. They keep coming back year after year.”

'There's usually a reasonable amount. It's all stuff that would go to the landfill and we give it another chance, another life.”

Turning Point Trust is a mental health recovery service. It provides structured workshops (art, computers, textiles, woodwork, horticulture and career support) and a whole lot of other services that people who at some stage have encountered mental unwellness can tap into during their recovery.

Clients come from all walks of life – from the unemployed to the professionals who are coping with everything from anxiety to schizophrenia.

The Trust's clients get to pick over the clothing first. 'Many are on low incomes,” explains Rose.

She's observed two distinct demographics at Sew Retro.

'There are the more mature women who lived through the styles and are dabbling with them again. And there are the young ones, 20-35 years old. It's all new to them and they are excited by the styles, colours and fabrics.”

And they want to put their own twist on them.

'You can afford to buy and adapt – cut it up and play with it, and it's not going to bankrupt you.”

Sew Retro is fun work and good too because it's the Trust's chief source of untagged funding – money which comes from Government funders and is for a specific purpose.

'Sew Retro generates about $7000 each year and it helps to have this discretionary pot when expenses pop up during the year.”

You can help the Turning Point Trust help them. Sew Retro is on Saturday, October 10 at the Historic Village, 17th Avenue from 9am-3pm.

You may also like....