I’m in a phase of Extinction Rebellion crafting. Folks have begun to ask me to make/repair/amend things, and I keep thinking up projects, too. It seems a good application of my skills. This banner went along to an event where it was confiscated by the police outside SANTOS. If you’re interested, you can see it in use here. It was torn so thoroughly and in so many places it seemed like there must have been a tug of war–but I was there and saw no such thing happen. On closer inspection, metal eyelets had been set into what looks like an old bed sheet. That was never going to end well!
I added massive patches onto the back in (relatively) sympathetic colours (more fabric saved from landfill); pinned and then machine stitched them into place, and then machine stitched the casing at the bottom in place so that the chain that has been threaded through it to hold the banner down a bit in wind, will stay put. Just as well I warmed up on making a quilt recently! This banner is absolutely huge.
Having mended it, I made it a nice sturdy bag from my stash of unloved upholstery fabrics.
I followed up this mending with some amending–adding these rather beautifully painted words onto three banners with flames painted on them, so that they can be put to future good use.
And… some more patches, referring to the recent statement by Antonio Guterres, Head of the UN, that the most recent IPCC report is ‘Code Red for Humanity’. Deep breath. I’m focusing on all we can save.
Local & Bespoke 