Light-bulb Moment!

I found this image today and feel like it pretty sums up our feelings about our group meeting this afternoon!!

After a positive response from Julie Maude about us completing some workshops with the Live at Home group we have arranged a meeting with her on Thursday 13th March. We decided to meet after our session with Claire today to really try to bash out some ideas so we could have a clear plan for what we'll be planning to do at the sessions in order to gain feedback from her as to whether she thinks they will engage with our concept.

We recapped our idea for a reminiscence workshop. This would involve the participants bringing in fabrics, embellishments and unfinished samples which had some sentimental value to them which they would explain to the group and then donate for us to upcycle and create new objects embedded with the individual stories ready for the Home Starter Packs. However we were concerned about how this would actually work. Items which have strong sentimental value are often treasured and kept for a reason (personally I would be unwilling to let go of a item of such value to me) and so we think we will struggle to get a volume of donations with a actual story this way. There would be no coherency with our concept if the items being donated had no emotional value which is really the whole point. 

We then went back to the drawing board considering other options of how we could work with the group. We had already considered working with the After School Club, getting the children to work on drawings which we could turn into fabrics using sublimation printing for the production of the end items. Why couldn't we do something similar with the Live at Home group which involved engaging them directly with the production of samples which could be transformed into objects for the packs? We looked at our individual specialisms and with two embroiderers and a weaver in our group we decided the most straight forward option would be to run embroidery workshops with the group. Ben had said in our first meeting with Inn Churches that it was 'the time and care taken by someone to create a item' that really had a positive impact on those receiving it. By working with the Live at Home group to create embroidered samples each individual stitch would be embedded with time and care. Labels would be attached to each sample allowing the creator to add their name, information about the stitches they had added and a kind message for the receiver. We discussed how the samples could be combined together or worked on by multiple participants in order to really build up the time invested in the objects.

I then thought about the 'Stitch and Bitch' society which is run at the University and mentioned about how we could engage other communities such as students at the University. The more communities we got involved the stronger the emotion embedded within the products would be. Each object would be made by a group of people, all from various communities and all engaged with creating something special for someone moving into their first home. How special could this item be?

The idea of involving other communities really got us excited. We thought of how we could do this effectively knowing that we have a limited time to generate the samples (it's 3 weeks until the last possible date for any workshops!) and baring in mind our commitments to other projects and work etc. Then it hit us, couldn't we create packs which would include everything the user would need to create a embroidered sample? These could be given out to students, friends and family for them to complete and return by a set date. The samples could be returned either to us or to one of our drawers in the Textiles department. This would allow us to generate samples without expecting anyone to donate anything but a little bit of their time and care without requiring us being their to monitor progress as the workshops will.

So, the new plan:

- Organise workshops with the Live at Home group where we will explain our project and how their contribution will mean so much. We will take fabric swatches, needles, threads etc. and engage directly with the group as we all create samples. The social engagement involved works in partnership with the organisations aims to reduce the feeling of isolation elderly people living independently can experience. This will be run by Julie on Thursday to see if she thinks it's appropriate and wants to give us the OK to go ahead!

- Create envelopes to be given out to friends, family and in University. These will contain everything needed to create a beautiful sample for our project such as a fabric swatch, needle, threads, embellishments such as buttons and beads and information explaining the project.

- Each fabric swatch (both for use in the workshops and the envelopes) will have a label attached to it which will be filled in by the participant saying their name, what stitches they have added and a kind message. These labels will provide the information for us to put on the gift tags included with the end object, translating the unique story. We are hoping the tags will offer reassurance, showing the amount of people who care about the individual receiving the item, as they go through what can be a very lonely process of moving into a house on their own.

As the Live at Home group is made up of individuals who can feel isolated at home it feels fitting that they will potentially be involved in a social project which is creating a object to reassure another individual who may be going through the same emotions. It feels like a very natural connection that will positively affect only those receiving the items but those contributing to the project too.

We recapped how we could get the After School club involved by doing a drawing workshop to create samples through sublimation printing. It would be good if we could do this as it would involve another completely different community (the children are aged 5-11, a complete contrast to the Live at Home community!) in the project, however I have concerns about the amount of time we have left to run workshops and whether we would be able to achieve this logistically.

I honestly can't wait for our meeting with Julie on Thursday now! I'm really keen to get the ball rolling with generating samples and products as I'm finding this concept really inspiring. Hopefully Julie will like our concept and think it will work well with the members of the Live at Home group!