Shwe To Go
Community Sewing Project
St John’s has recently established Shwe To Go – a group of seamstresses creating and selling hand sewn curios from brightly coloured African Shweshwe fabrics and recycled materials.
The group meets on Tuesdays and Fridays at the Farmers’ Hall for sewing training with Carol Van Der Merwe or business workshops with Izzy Warren Smith and others. The items that they make are sold through the company, and the designers take 60% of the income leaving 40% for materials and company development.
So far the company profit has been used to purchase fabrics, sewing machines and other needle work equipment. So any donations of materials or sewing equipment that can be recycled are welcome
The project is being used to create employment and teach entrepreneurship skills, subjects like wholesale and retail pricing strategies, marketing, quality control, basic bookkeeping etc are all being taught through this enterprise.
Some of the products currently available for sale are coasters, Christmas tree decorations, table mats gift bags and hair bands.