Twenty Women, Five Weeks, Zero New Fabric: Why Sewing Circles Is Heading to Manchester

Give people five weeks, a room, and a pile of surplus fabric that would otherwise go to waste, and you would be amazed what happens. That is Sewing Circles, and it is one of my favourite projects to talk about, because it actually works.

Sewing Circles is a five week skills programme delivered through local colleges and community spaces first done with Berni Yates and CSM in London.

Each cycle works with up to 20 participants, covering sewing and garment making, pattern cutting, screen printing and natural dyeing, plus basic entrepreneurship and income generation.

Every scrap of material is surplus or recycled. Everything made belongs to the person who made it.

What happened in London

The first pilot ran at Calthorpe Community Garden between 2024 and 2025, working with 20 women from Chinese, South American and mixed diaspora communities. All the materials used were reused.

The programme ended with a market stall at Camden Market, where participants generated direct income from what they had made.

Local college students joined the sessions too, which opened up routes into further education and creative industry work for people who might never have considered it.

Why it is coming to Manchester

I am a Northern voice in sustainability by choice, not by accident, and Sewing Circles moving into Manchester matters to me for exactly that reason.

Conversations are underway with Manchester Fashion Week and CTEM about bringing the model north, alongside academic partners. Funding conversations are ongoing and we are planning to launch in Q1 2027.

If you're interested in becoming a partner and can support with funding email me at rodica@rodicamurphy.com

Why this model is worth redoing

• It turns textile waste that would otherwise be landfilled or incinerated into training material at zero cost to participants

• It reaches people who face real barriers to the labour market: refugee and migrant women, single parents, and people with limited English who learn best hands on

• It is designed to be low cost and repeatable, borough by borough, rather than a one off pilot that never scales

Winning North West Green Startup of the Year was a nice validation that this kind of grassroots, practical circular fashion work gets noticed beyond the postcode it happens in.

If you want to get involved, whether that is materials, venue, funding or just spreading the word, email or DM me and I will keep you posted.