The Birmingham Scrapstore Morsbag Group was invited to take part in the Jewellery Quarter Festival on 29th and 30th July 2017.
A talking point: Antique sewing machines
We had a great spot for our workshops, in the foyer of the Big Peg, and had a wonderful display of our newly acquired antique sewing machines, which were a great talking point for many people who were reminiscing about watching grannies and parents who used to use the wonderful old machines.
Korbond, the UK’s leading brand for haberdashery, crafting and clothes care supplies resources for the Festival.
We intended to run a workshop to demonstrate the making of Morsbags and talk about why we are involved in this great movement, however, adults and children were so interested in the workshop that they asked if they could make a bag too, providing an opportunity for most to use a sewing machines for the first time. All the fabric used was from The Scrapstore Birmingham or the Group’s own resources, these had been cut into kits by our super volunteers and staff.
Attendees at the event included children as young as seven having a go and making their own bag, and both male and female adults were sewing for the first time.
High profile visitors
We also had a visit from Jenny Taylor, star from The Great British Sewing Bee television programme, who supported visitors in making their bags.
In addition, Rosie Eley, who has been responsible for the production of over 50,000 Morsbags, also visited us at the Festival.
Put to good use
We gave away 249 Morsbags in total, 87 of which were made over the weekend, which proved to be a great success.
The bags that were left over from the weekend are going to The Real Junk Food Project in Birmingham, which will mean that individuals won’t need to ask people to use plastic carrier bags to take away the food on offer.