Crafting Clubs Make More Than Art – They Build Environmentally and Socially Conscious Communities
- Lola Olvera
- 3 days ago
- 8 min read
In the era of fast fashion and political turmoil, communities are turning to crafting, upcycling and handmade skills to assert their artistry, autonomy and advocacy.
At any of the Spirit Halloween stores that invade strip malls every autumn, you are bound to find a plethora of single-use, poorly-constructed costumes referencing cultural moments that will only be relevant for a season – and stitching that will barely hold up that long.
This year, Radical Sewing Club OC chose to ring in the holiday with Trick or Chic, a Halloween costume runway show showcasing “homemade, modified, upcycled, snazzified, bejeweled, DIY, knit, crocheted or dyed” costumes, as well as other designs featuring at least 60% thrifted or upcycled materials. A Wallace and Gromit character with a hand-sewn chicken comb, a Hawkgirl in vibrant thrifted and handmade pieces and a clown in a pastel-colored crochet ensemble all strutted down the runway.
Courtney Cook founded Radical Sewing Club OC less than a year ago, modeling it after its Los Angeles counterpart, and envisioning a space to “reimagine craft outside capitalism.” Club members meet regularly to share and learn sewing skills, mend their clothing to extend its life and work on personal projects in a supportive environment. Cook says that uplifting handmade garment creation as an alternative to mass-produced clothing was “really key to what the club is about.”
The event took place at La Colmena, a dynamic community-owned and operated Santa Ana space that is home to a small urban farm tended by Santa Ana Locally Supported Agriculture (S.A.L.S.A.), local businesses like La Milpa Cafe and Duugich Art, and community events like Mercadito Monarca. Radical Sewing Club OC co-hosted Trick or Chic with community organization ICE Out of Garden Grove and embroidery artist Jillon Dames Designs.
PHOTO 1: A thrifted and customized Hawkgirl costume was showcased during the Trick or Chic fashion show. PHOTO 2: Rebecca Pasillas walked the runway in a darkly glamorous sequin dress, sheer cape and Catrina makeup. Photos by Lola Olvera, Culture OC
Dillon Atkins, known artistically as Jillon Dames Designs, had two of his customized garments showcased on the runway: thrifted jackets updated with bright embroidery, vintage pins and an eye-catching arrangement of clothing patches. As a vendor, he also presented samples of his embroidery work, customized clothing and collection of patches, a way to spark inspiration for those interested in a custom piece.
“It might be how a mechanic sees a car,” he said about his process. “Where all of us are like, ‘Nah, that's not worth fixing,’ but then a mechanic will be like, ‘No, this will be perfect after you fix it.’ And then it ends up being like a brand new car. So I like to think that sometimes, in the way that I will personalize clothes, people will have a newfound appreciation for a piece of clothing that they had because they're like, ‘Oh, now I have my favorite band patch on it. Clothing is very personal.”
Jillon Dames also teaches sewing and embroidery classes with Nacho Ann’s Fabrics, a primarily online fabric, thrift and creative reuse store that was also a vendor, with a table full of fabric, sewing patterns, threads and a Mighty Steam Iron. Owner Teresa Buelna launched the shop, named as a play on “Not JoAnns,” about five years ago.
“I didn't realize when starting the business that I'd be sucked into the world of slow-fashion and upcycling but I fell in love with it,” she said. “The community, the style, the non-corporate feel of running a business based upon compassion, all of it just started falling in line.”
Nacho Ann’s Fabrics’ Dirty Art Brigade Workshops allow people to learn sewing machine basics, as well as hand sewing, embroidery, sock darning, lino cut carving/stamping and crochet, often utilizing existing textiles. Eventually Buelna would like to have a physical space with access to sewing machines, equipment rentals, low-cost thrifted garments and showcases of local artists.
“I've definitely been bitten by the sustainability bug and it's easy to get me pumped up about using sewing as a way to teach sustainability by example,” she said. “I didn't know that textile waste was a top five contributor to global warming. When I found that out I knew I had to keep this going.”
Fast fashion, a clothing business model that prioritizes churning out low-quality, inexpensive garments destined for landfills, has gained a notorious reputation for its enormous impacts on the environment and its exploitative production practices. According to Earth.org, 85% of all textiles are ending up in landfills and emissions from textile manufacturing are projected to grow by 60% in the next five years.
Sewing beginner Beca Gutierrez stopped by for the runway show to score some inspiration as she finished putting together her two thrifted and DIY’ed Halloween costumes this year: Thorn from The Hex Girls in “Scooby-Doo” and Freddy Fazbear from “Five Nights at Freddy's.”
“I'm a fast fashion hater at my core,” she said. “I hate fast fashion. I just needed, like, to find a community that also felt that way, because I feel like it's something really rare to find … A lot of people, they just buy from Shein … and I just wanted to move away from that and be more intentional in the way that I see my clothes.”
At the Trick or Chic event. PHOTO 1: Nacho Ann’s Fabrics, a primarily online fabric, thrift and creative reuse store, is led by Teresa Buelna. PHOTO 2: Dillon Atkins, known artistically as Jillon Dames Designs, had two of his customized garments showcased in the runway show. PHOTO 3: ICE Out of Garden Grove offered prints, stickers, patches and buttons with anti-ICE messaging. PHOTO 4: Rachel Stickles of The Chronically Illest. Through her brand, she fights stigma around chronic illness and disabilities with cheeky keychains, stickers and buttons. Photo by Lola Olvera, Culture OC
Fast-fashion giant Shein has the highest emissions in the fashion industry, pumping out an astounding amount of garments at breakneck speed and rock-bottom prices. Ironically, it’s often these same garments, worn once and with stitches already unraveling, that end up flooding local thrift stores, frustrating those looking for higher-quality pieces. For those empowered by even the most basic of sewing skills, however, it becomes just another creative challenge.
“You can see people donating things because like a button got ripped off,” Gutierrez said. “And then I just, like, take it, and then I mend it, and then it's fine.”
Seeing the potential in discarded items is at the heart of creative reuse centers, and soon Orange County may be able to enjoy its own, thanks to Anaheim resident Kimmy Phi, who has managed to secure fiscal sponsorship from Remainders, a well-known creative reuse center in Pasadena. Creative reuse centers collect anything and everything that can be used for arts and crafts, from donated paintbrushes to stickers to toilet paper rolls, so that they can be recycled and sold to the community at affordable prices.
Phi has been operating out of her garage in West Anaheim for three months, hosting small pop-ups and vending at local markets to spread the word and fundraise for a permanent location, which she hopes will be open by next summer. In the meantime, she encourages community members, such as teachers and hobbyists with excess or unused supplies, to donate materials through the portal on the OC Creative Reuse website.
“The creative reuse center allows (people) to donate their scraps or give them to someone who can use them who might be a new maker, a new artist who is just exploring, who might not be able to afford the new stuff,” she said. “In a way, it also helps people to feel free to create because they don't feel like they're spending a ton of money on something that they don't even know if they'll like, so it is just a nice ecosystem in terms of people wanting to get rid of stuff and people wanting to learn new things.”
Centering community members is at the core of many crafting groups, whether it’s honoring people’s unique experiences or advocating for larger causes.
The Trick or Chic event was co-hosted by ICE out of Garden Grove, one of the flurry of mutual aid groups that sprouted in response to the avalanche of immigration raids earlier this summer. ICE Out of Garden Grove works with the Orange County Rapid Response Network to receive training and respond to calls for assistance, which can involve anything from documenting encounters with ICE, helping contact family members, providing emotional support and distributing groceries to vulnerable community members sheltering at home. The organization also takes part in Laborers United In Community Healing and Action (L.U.C.H.A.), community-created hubs stationed at local Home Depots that support day laborers, shares resources, beverages and snacks and helps protect them from ICE intimidation.
Rachel Stickles, another of the event’s vendors, launched her online store The Chronically Illest two years ago as a way to fight stigma and promote education, awareness and advocacy surrounding Type 1 Diabetes, which she was diagnosed with at 12 years old. Her stickers, pins, keychains and candles reference pop culture, politics and disability and chronic illness awareness and pride.
“Instead of viewing (disabilities) as something weak, I’m trying to reframe that as something badass and cool and ‘sick,’” she said. She came dressed as “Diabetic Dorothy,” wearing a gingham dress she already owned and red shoes she recently thrifted, telling people she was “asking The Wizard for a pancreas.”
“There are so many niche experiences that each of us have as individuals that big stores like Walmart and Target are never going to understand because they are just marketing to the mass population,” she said. “That's where my artistic perspective comes out … a lot of people say that to me all the time, your booth makes me feel seen.”
DIY Craft Club holds workshops including junk journaling, ceramic painting, frame painting, tote bag painting and bring-your-own-crafts sessions. Photo courtesy of Adanari Santiago
Making sure that her community feels seen is also important to Gloria Peñaloza, who founded and runs the DIY Craft Club in Orange County. Her workshops include junk journaling, ceramic painting, frame painting, tote bag painting and bring-your-own-crafts sessions. She prioritizes keeping workshops accessible – $30 and under, and often free – as well as fostering spaces that are supportive to the broad range of crafters that attend her events.
“If you’re going to build a business around community, then you gotta be authentic about it,” she said. “It takes a lot to be really authentic because you're gonna disappoint a lot of people with money – and that's hard. A lot of people won't work with you if you speak on being against ICE or supporting Palestine; they'll say it's not good for business. But the people that I want are the people that aren't scared to speak up.”
Get Involved
Join OC Creative Reuse for its November pop-up shop
When: 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 15
Where: Check out this Google Maps link in West Anaheim for the location
Cost: Free
Information: @occreativereuse on Instagram
Join ICE Out of Garden Grove for an ICE Verification Training hosted by Orange County Rapid Response Network and Non-Violence Workshop hosted by Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice
When: 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 26
Where: Newsong Church 1010 W. 17th St., Santa Ana
Cost: Free
Information: Visit @ice_out_of_gg on Instagram for more information.
Follow on Instagram
Radical Sewing Club: @radicalsewingclub_oc
Jillon Dames Design: @jillondamesdesigns
Nacho Ann’s Fabrics: @nachoannsfabrics
The Chronically Illest: @thechronicallyillest
DIY Craft Club: @diy_craftclub
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