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In the late 1890s, women embraced cycling & transformed their clothing to be able to ride safely in shorter skirts or bloomers, & breathe more easily without corsets. This was a revolutionary transformation sparking a significant backlash, that also helped fuel the suffrage movement.
As part of Sussex Blazing Saddles’ exploration of the pioneering heritage of women & cycling, we were thinking about how perceptions of cycling clothing today – lycra, helmet hair etc – discourage women & girls from riding bicycles. We invited local women & girls to join the conversation.
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SBS ran a series of free sewing workshops, in each of our partner locations, to Re-Imagine, Re-Frame & Re-Make women’s clothing for cycling, or any time. Participants also found out about the heritage of women cycling & how this related to our sewing workshops. They developed new ideas for revitalising & remaking old clothes, learned new sewing techniques or tried out sewing for the first time.
This element of SBS started with a series of creative conversations in Worthing & Bexhill. Local people & organisations came to learn about the project, help us develop ideas & frame how we might work together:
- Worthing – Saturday 24 February 1.30-3pm at the Stitch It Don’t Ditch It session at CREW, Climate Resilience Centre, on South Street, &
- Bexhill – Monday 26 February 1.30-3pm at Bexhill Museum
We evolved an initial plan to create a dressing up box of bloomers upcycled from men’s shirts, for the Sussex Blazing Saddles exhibition & ran sessions in:
- WORTHING – 13 April, an all day or drop in workshop at CREW (Climate Resilience Centre Worthing) in South St 11am-4pm
- BEXHILL – 10 June, two drop in sessions iwith Community Supporters at the Eco Hub on Western Road, on: 10 May & 1 June – 10.30am-12.30pm & 1pm-3pm
In Newhaven, we also ran an initial, though unsuccessful, session on a very wet & stormy night in Hillcrest Centre on 22 May 6pm-8pm. We were advised to present specific ideas & people would come.
So, we evolved our theme to remake modern day bloomers by upcycling old leggings. We re-imagined cycle clips (unchanged since the 1800s), & made bumbags from pre-loved materials & invited local & budding seamstresses to sessions:
BRIGHTON – 13 July, Sew Fabulous, The Open Market 12.45pm-2.45pm & 3pm-5pm
NEWHAVEN – 31 August, Hillcrest Community Centre, Newhaven 12noon-6pm
BRIGHTON – 12 September, Found Cafe, Preston Drove, Brighton, BN1 6LD, 12-2pm & 6pm-9pm
NEWHAVEN – 25 September, Youth Club at Newhaven Youth Centre, 6-7.30pm
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Click on the images below to see what happened:
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Huge thanks for all the wonderful seamstresses who led workshop sessions & everyone who participated, & special thanks to Re-Imagining Re-Making Project Manager, Kate Laird.
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