503 project: Common Thread

Research 

I knew about the Common Thread Project through a longtime friend of mine named Eleanor. We went to school together in Sheffield and have remained friends since. Eleanor lived in a shared house with a woman called Jess, who set up and run the project.

The idea is that people donate their old clothes - donations can be dropped off at any time throughout the month - these are then sorted through by Jess and the other volunteers (such as Eleanor) into categories such as children's clothing, tops, trousers, coats etc... Common Thread is about creating a circular economy of clothing. They have about 40 volunteers, with 20 helping out on exchange days.

Before the pandemic, Common Thread used a public space once a month, most often the co-working space in the city centre ran by Eleanor’s boyfriend Matt, to run the clothing exchange. Members of the public could turn up, pay a small fee and then browse through all of the clothing on offer and take whatever they wanted / needed.  

They could also bring their old clothes to be dropped off on the day which would be sorted through by members of the team, and then added to the garments on offer. The whole project is a non-for-profit and aims to reduce waste caused by producing new clothing garments whilst providing people with an affordable way to clothe themselves and their families.

One example of how Common Thread benefits the community is parents: babies and children grow very fast, quickly outgrowing their clothes. Instead of throwing away the now too-small clothes, parent’s can donate their child's old ones and select as many new ones as they need. This will save them a lot of money, and means the old clothing is passed down to another family instead of going to landfill.

Eleanor and I have been in discussion for a while about me creating some promotional materials for Common Thread. Whilst the turnout has always been good, it has potential to reach an even bigger audience and more diverse demographics. Common Thread is planning to expand by holding multiple clothes swaps a month in different areas of Sheffield, especially the more impoverished ones, as not everyone in the city can afford to travel to the centre.

The thing that is so great about the clothing exchange is that literally anybody can find something that they even need or want there. For example if you are struggling to find winter clothing to keep you warm at an affordable price, you can come to the clothing exchange and take as many jumpers and coats as you need for you and your family.   

Or, say you are interested in fashion and love to find unique pieces but find vintage shops overpriced, you can find an abundance of items at the exchange - many of my own personal favourite garments are from there.

Currently, common thread are running a drop off service due to COVID. There are a limited number of slots each month, but the idea is you sign up via a Google survey promoted via their facebook page. You tell them your different clothing sizes and what styles you are interested in, and donate £4 online. You then receive a package to your home address later in the month of 15-20 hand picked items, delivered by one of the volunteers. They are opening for donation drop offs at set times only.

From their facebook:

        "Delivery swaps are back for 2021! Missing our January swaps so much today. It's always our busiest, craziest, and most fun swap of the year. We can't get together next week, but sign ups are open for a wardrobe refresh, straight to your door instead 🥳

That's 15-20 items, handpicked for you, and delivered. We only have space for 10 parcels, first come first serve 🏃

Check out the FAQs at the top of our page for more detail. We're asking for a payment of £4 to cover petrol and storage rent, but if you can donate more, all is a big help to sustain us over the coming months, as we're running at a loss.

If you've taken part in a swap before, please consider giving it a miss this month so we can spread the slow-fashion love 💚

You can sign up here: https://forms.gle/ZHZZ9oU1Eb25bjvq5 and send your donation here: paypal.me/CommonThreadSwap"

From their Facebook about page: 

"We aim to promote ethical fashion, creativity and co-operation in our community.

We are a voluntary community project seeking to promote ethical fashion and low impact living, and we are a welcoming and creative bunch.

We *usually* run a huge monthly clothes exchange at Union St, and smaller pop up clothes swap, repair and craft workshops at various venues across Sheffield.

*Currently we are running a monthly clothes swap delivery service instead, but due to limited stock levels and volunteer capacity, bookings are limited*

We have a clothes drop off point at Union St, there will be posts prior to the swaps when this is open.

As well as donations of clothes, we really value your time, skills and enthusiasm!

Get in touch if you have questions, would like to volunteer and/or partner with us. AC-after covid- do get in touch if you would like to book a Common Thread pop up swapshop/workshop.

PS. Non-clothes donations which are super useful to us include:

clothes rails, clothes hangers, especially for skirts/trousers, needles, threads, buttons, red ribbon, marker pens, sticky labels, tape, strong bags"

Existing promotional graphics:

Eleanor had mentioned the idea of me doing some design work for common thread a while ago - we had already discussed a few ideas in person and talked about what she wanted. At some point last year, we discussed this in an email: 

We speak quite informally as we are friends - obviously if I was emailing a client I didn't have a personal relationship with I wouldn't speak like this.

When we were given this brief, I asked her if she would still be interested via facebook messenger.

(Ignore mention of the slow fashion zine - this is a separate project)

After an in person discussion over Christmas, this is the brief we settled on.

The volunteer I am working with is a fan of my illustration style and would like me to incorporate this into the designs to create something fun and inviting.