I wanted to post a few updates this week to keep you up to speed with how things are progressing at pkt HQ towards the coming launch of the online store.
I was going to announce the launch date later this week, but the timing doesn’t seem right, in light of recent worldwide news regarding COVID-19.
These are strange times we are living through! It brings me comfort to see the many ways in which people are rallying within communities to offer mutual support, assistance and advice to those feeling the strain.
Support your small local businesses if you’re able. Since the supermarkets are being overshopped right now, maybe try your local greengrocers, deli, butchers or Asian supermarkets.
They’re likely to be grateful for your custom more than ever, and perhaps even better stocked than the bigger supermarkets. Buying giftcards from your favourite indie businesses is also a great way to support them through an uncertain time.
We all need to allow ourselves a little extra time to look after our mental health right now. Whether that's taking breaks from social media, exercising, getting outdoors or a movie binge. Whatever it is that tops your energy levels up. Do what makes you feel good and pay extra attention to what your body tells you. If you need to rest...rest. It all helps to keep feelings of overwhelm at bay and sustain us through this anxiety-inducing period.
Right, shall we talk about something completely different?!
Last week, my friend Julia (Upcycle Fashion) and I visited the Oxfam Wastesaver Warehouse in Batley to find out more about their work.
We were given a tour by the lovely Online Store Manager - another Holly! - who showed us around the sorting facility and offices where a brilliant team work on taking photos, categorising, pricing and uploading stock to the website.
When clothes don’t sell in the brick-and-mortar stores, they are sent to this sorting facility to decide where they should go next.
Wastesaver sorts through 12,000 tonnes of textiles each year!
Some go on to be sold at music festivals, on the online store, or get sent to a particular Oxfam branch to have another opportunity on the shop floor. But none goes to landfill!
Oxfam made a brilliant video which shows a bit more of this sorting process, which you can view here.
The visit was a great opportunity to look through their second-hand textiles and homeware fabrics, and I came away with a big stack of vintage quilts, bedlinen, curtains, tablecloths and tapestry pieces. This included a beautiful embroidered linen piece, pictured here freshening up in the sunshine.
These will all be repurposed into sun dresses, quilted kimonos and workwear style jackets for the upcycled range.
I’m lucky in that I can work remotely and in relative isolation at the studio, so I will be cutting and sewing away, until further notice!
Take care of yourselves, and each other, and please feel free to get in touch with me if you need a chat.
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