How many of you collected soft plastics for recycling when the big supermarkets were trying to ‘do their bit’ for the environment?
I was devastated when the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) confirmed in February 2023 that in fact 11,000 tonnes of the collected plastics were just being stockpiled and hadn’t even been recycled. What a waste of effort.
When I consider the money that was behind that soft plastics recycling program, I feel incredibly proud of what we do as a tiny, women-run charity. We receive around 5000 litres of textile resources each week and we process it so that at least 60% is diverted from landfill and put back into circulation through The Nest Haberdashery.
I’m incredibly proud of how our free community service positively impacts the environment, but it is the experience you get when you recycle with us that is our greatest achievement.
When you walk into The Nest Haberdashery your senses will be overloaded with the colour coordinated displays, multitude of textures, cabinets and boxes to explore
A friendly volunteer in a home made, recycled apron will greet you and chatmaybe asking about items you’re donating and where they came from.
Instantly you’ll see that the donations you’ve bothered to sort, bag and deliver are truly valued, appreciated and above all will be treated with respect. It’s an enjoyable experience and something you’d do again
In size, there’s no comparison between us and the supermarket chains. But in terms of offering the community a viable recycling service, we are streets ahead because we not only reclaim resources from landfill, but we also build community.
In this month’s issue you can learn more about our sustainability ethos Initiatives like re-circulating sewing patterns, using reclaimed resources to power our craft stall fundraising activities and sharing skills in our free mentoring program that teaches a new generation to be more environmentally aware and resilient
The Butterfly Project
It is said that when a butterfly crosses your path your life is going to change. It may be the simplest change or a monumental change. But it is there to let you know that you are transitioning.
In the July issue of ZIGZAG we featured an article about the genesis of our organisation, The Craft Nest. Roz Holt (current CEO of The Nest Community) and Jodie Behn were regularly running craft workshops for girls out of Fallon Cottage in Everton Park.
As demand for classes grew, Roz could see the opportunity to empower girls with leadership roles and divided them into two age groups, with younger girls in
< Photograph (from left to right): Bella, Edde-Rose, Clair, Charlie and Rachel
Bluebirds and older girls in Red Robins.
As the girls blossomed, they were keen for new opportunities and quickly embraced the idea to be involved in the 2013 Children's Week event.
Since 1971, Children’s Week has been an annual event in Australia. Celebrated in October, the Children’s Week Council encourages diverse events and activities Australia-wide with a focus on children’s achievements and right to enjoy childhood.
The two day event was held in the Brisbane City Botanic Gardens and The Craft Nest Project provided a work station alongside 20 other organisations and event providers Thousands of children, parents and teachers attended
The theme of the Craft Nest workstation was Sustainability, Reuse and Recycle.
Situated under a magnificent ancient fig tree, right in the centre of all the activity, families could stop by the Craft Nest workstation and fold butterflies from old magazine pages. Roz and Jodie hosted the activity, accompanied by Junior Facilitators Rachel (16 years), Edde-Rose (14 years), Bella (14 years), and Bluebirds Claire (11 years) and Charlie (10 years).
By the end of the event the tree was alive with over 350 colourful paper butterflies
Over the 2 days with a shared purpose friendship blossomed between the girls, despite their ages. The younger girls felt a sense of pride to be involved and the older girls felt like big sister mentors
The dedication these girls displayed during the event was phenomenal and it demonstrated to Roz that by sharing a purpose, not only can you achieve great things, but by volunteering your time to give unconditionally, you can also gain great rewards
Shared purpose was one of the values that underpinned our organisation when it was incorporated in 2014 and it gave Roz great pleasure to invite Claire, Rachel, Charlie and her daughter Edde-Rose to be amongst the first 12 founding members of The Nest Community
by Barbara Landels
KEEPING OLD SKILLS ALIVE
It was after attending a Mexican Embroidery workshop at The Nest in October 2018 that Gill decided to start volunteering with us in March 2018
But it wasn’t just a love of crafting that prompted the decision.
“I like crafting and have always been a bit of a hoarder of wool, fabric and other craft stuff. But I also like the social side of volunteering and the camaraderie. [At The Nest] There’s a big range of personalities and age groups.”
During the COVID pandemic The Nest launched the Exchange Project, a free mentoring program that partners with local high schools to teach vulnerable girls craft skills With more than 30 years experience as a Brownie Leader, Gill had a great affinity with the concept and was one of our first volunteer mentors, a role she continues today.
Not only does she love to see the girls come out of their shells, develop confidence and self-esteem, but they are not the only ones to learn new skills.
“It keeps my skills going and I learn new ones. All the different mentors have their own way of doing things so I learn new things too.”
Taking the time to pass on skills can also be a test of patience and Gill’s advice is that you just have to ‘go with the flow’
“One of the girls already had a project on-the-go but came in saying her sock had a hole in it. We talked about it and she was keen to learn how to darn the hole. We taught her to use a darning mushroom [from the Heritage Collection] and she was thrilled to fix her sock. She was so excited to go home and tell her mum that she’d learnt a skill so that if she saw a small hole in her sock she could fix it before it became bigger.”
Mentors working in the program need to often take a lead from the girls At times participants work independently or could require assistance from more than one mentor at a time - it’s a flexible support program
“All of the Exchange girls are special because they’re all different and have their own ways of doing things. One is very ambitious and has to be gently reined in – always wants to go the extra step with a project You’ve got to bring it back to the basics ”
When volunteering in the Textile Recovery Centre, Gill particularly likes sorting donations, interested to see what older items might come through and how some things never change During The Nest’s move from Everton Park to Brendale, Gill helped catalogue the sewing pattern collection with some dating as far back as the 1920s Gill says, “I found them fascinating Fashion is so cyclical that some of them could still be made today.”
Not being a person who can just sit around, Gill likes to have something in her hands to do and regularly takes knitting or crochet with her, even when she travels. She also enjoys the feeling of completing a task – all traits she shares with other volunteers we suspect
“When I finished my shift yesterday there was another volunteer sorting a donation of crochet cottons and sticky taping all the ends She was determined to finish them all before she went home.”
small group experience for just $66pp
LEARNING NEW SKILLS
"I had a really great time. The facilitator was really helpful and was very generous with her advice. I learnt so much on the machine provided. I really enjoyed having something to take away and apply what I'm learning right then and there. I had a wonderful time."
- Learn 2 Sew Participant
Our class-to-shop experience is proving popular with some of our Learn 2 classes booked out until October! With all equipment and materials provided thanks to our Textile Recovery Centre, all you need to bring is curiosity about embarking on your crafting journey.
Limited to just 4 participants, you can be sure to come away with confidence about your new skills
To ensure you feel empowered to keep learning and exploring, after each class participants are offered a guided tour of The Nest Haberdashery by our wonderful knowledgeable volunteers.
You don’t need to spend a fortune to make something fabulous. During the Haberdashery tour you might find the sewing machine of your dreams for half the price of what you’d pay in retail stores For those learning knitting or crochet, there is yarn galore, with every size hook and needle you could possibly need
MEDIA UPDATE
When The Nest Community was incorporated in 2014 we had 12 founding members ranging from 12 - 80 years of age.
Intergenerational connection has always been at the core of our success and today our volunteers range in age from 15 to 85
Recently our work was recognised by Nine News reporter Bruce Paige for his popular segment ‘Seniors Report’.
A veteran of Queensland media, with a career that spans more than 30 years, Bruce and his team spent a couple of hours filming and chatting to volunteers and customers alike He really took the time to get a sense of what makes us special and we are very grateful for the exposure.
Since going to air, we’ve received lots of enquiries about what textile resources can be donated Full details are available on our website, with donations accepted during opening hours, Monday to Friday 10am to 2pm and Saturday 10am to 4pm.
WATCH NOW
DONATIONS
PATTERN-TOPIA
‘You have a bigger range of patterns than Spotlight’
‘I’ve been searching online everywhere for these two retro Vogue patterns V7937 and 2634. I can’t believe I found them both at The Nest’
These are snippets of what we hear almost daily at The Nest Haberdashery It’s true, we have a serious amount of patterns Recent estimates are over 3000 unique patterns on the shop floor.
You will find big brands like Vogue, McCalls, Butterick, Simplicity, Burda, Style, New Look, KwikSew and Knitwit alongside various boutique independent brands. You might call us the Utopia of patterns or as we like to say, Pattern-topia
How did this happen? Over 10 years of receiving textile donations, patterns quickly took over. To deal with the deluge, we had to develop a cataloguing and sorting system that would put this valuable resource back into circulation
We now have a comprehensive database of patterns dating from pre-1940 through to current independent brands.
Currently, we have a couple of very dedicated volunteers who sort through the steady stream of patterns that are donated through our Textile Recovery Centre It’s an unrelenting job that requires a detailed, trained eye
If you’re a crafter, for as little as $1 you can find patterns for quilting, embroidery, appliqué, toys, dolls, bears and bags in baskets around the store
Yet dress patterns is where we have our largest range of stock. To give an idea of volume, we have 8 filing cabinets filled to the brim on the shop floor with an equal quantity in various stages of sorting out the back
The first stage of sorting requires volunteers to wade through tubs of patterns to categorise them into Vintage 1950s - 1960s, Retro 1970s - 1990s, Contemporary 2000s onwards, Vogue and Indie (smaller boutique brands).
In our donation guide we ask that only uncut or complete patterns are donated, however guidelines are not always followed.
To ensure quality control our volunteers open and check all viable patterns to check that they’re complete, and if unused, add an ‘uncut’ sticker.
Prior to sale, many of the vetted patterns are put into a new protective sleeve and then colour coded to indicate the price, with a 50c surcharge for 'uncut'.
From donation to restocking the cabinets, there are countless woman-hours that go into maintaining and presenting this cornucopia of possibilities. How do our prices compare?
Contemporary $3.50 (retail $20)
Retro $4.50 (retail $25)
Vintage $6.50 (retail $25)
Vogue $5.50 (retail $35)
Indie $6.50 (retail $35)
So next time you’re looking for inspiration - without breaking the bank, don’t just look for recent designs, take a stroll through pattern history and explore fashion through the ages in The Nest Haberdashery pattern display
All patterns have been checked by our volunteers. From new un-opened contemporary to classic vintage, there’s something for everyone. Priced from $3.50 unless otherwise marked with a colour coded sticker.
Sleepwear
Homewares Bridal Evening
Costumes
Maternity
Dresses
RED ROBINS COME HOME TO THE NEST
Since our early days as a grassroots organisation, The Nest Craft Stall has been integral to our fundraising activities. Using our reclaimed resources, volunteers made items to sell at pop-up stalls in local shopping centres Today our organising committee, the Red Robins, continue the tradition.
For the first time, from 3-6 July this year, we welcomed the craft stall home and hosted it in our own space, in the Gladys Mary Studio.
The response from customers and volunteers was overwhelmingly positive The range of items showcased the fantastic skills of women in our community, and provided a living demonstration of how craft skills are being kept alive Having these handcrafted items displayed with our Heritage Collection as a backdrop and raw materials next door, brought a lovely sense of connection, continuity and how things come full circle
People who'd previously attended our stalls in shopping centres stressed how much nicer it was to see the items in this more compatible, homely context
The stall attracted new customers to The Nest and they made the most of the experience by browsing in the Haberdashery or visiting the café or brewery next door
In shopping centres, the public only had the opportunity to connect with the two volunteers rostered to run the stall. With The Nest Haberdashery next door, craft stall visitors could also wander in and connect with our Haberdashery volunteers to see where the resources for the craft stall came from.
There was so much talking amongst customers, the whole place was really buzzing for 3 days.
Being hosted at home also meant that the Red Robins were more supported and included with many of our regular Haberdashery volunteers dropping by and appreciating their work.
Overall, the stall brought the whole community a lot of connection, pride and encouragement and better still it raised funds for the Exchange Project, our free mentoring program.
NESTFABRIC$15
Part of her collection Uniformity
Redefined, Ruby (@clothesbyrubes) created this incredible jacket from upholstery fabric and buckles she found at The Nest Haberdashery. The design ‘celebrates the beauty of structure and the power of individuality’.
Arya (@bypaary) found this stunning piece of magenta batik at The Nest Haberdashery and was inspired to make a dress fit for a princess celebrating her seventh birthday,
NESTFABRIC
$5
NESTFABRIC$2
Adhering to a zerowaste philosophy, Alice (@alice x wang) accepted the challenge and made this super cool boxy blouse out of a linen remnant that was less than a metre.
NESTFABRIC$8
Looking for versatile #memade pieces during pregnancy, Zoe (@sew.zoh) fell in love with the colour of this ribbed knit. The design was challenging with various pieces placed on alternate grains, but the result speaks for itself.
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www.nestcommunity.org.au
In sewing, zig zag is used when a straight stitch won’t suffice. It reinforces edges and joins two working pieces together Being able to step sideways and still move ahead is symbolic of how our organisation has evolved. We’ve side stepped challenges but continued to do the things we love.
The zig zag pattern is symbolic of new potential and growth and we’ve always drawn on collective wisdom to create ideas to avoid repeating mistakes, firm in the knowledge that eventually we will be in the right place at the right time to make a positive difference to society
