SAVE OUR STUDIO: KEEP FABRICWORKS OPEN

Aim

Help us keep FabricWorks open, protecting jobs, skills and pathways into work for women while keeping ethical production alive in London.

KEEP OUR SOCIAL ENTERPRISE 

AND PRODUCTION STUDIO OPEN

We need your help to keep FabricWorks open.

We've recently lost £65,000 of vital funding.

At the same time, the independent fashion businesses we work with are under enormous pressure. 

Brands are cutting back, some are closing altogether, and less production work is coming through our doors.

We've been hit from both sides: less funding and less production work but no less need for what we do.

Without new support, we risk losing FabricWorks.

And if FabricWorks closes, we lose much more than a production studio.

Women lose a place to train, gain real work experience and build pathways towards employment and sustainable livelihoods.

Our existing team faces the loss of jobs and opportunities to earn.

Years of specialist sewing and production skills could be lost.

London loses another piece of its local, ethical and regenerative production infrastructure.

And brands lose another place where they can choose to make differently.

That's why we're asking for your help to raise £15,000 to keep our doors open while we fight to secure our future.

Who are we?

We are Stitches in Time, an East London community arts and education charity, and home to FabricWorks, our social enterprise and sustainable fashion production studio.

For over 30 years, Stitches in Time has worked with women facing poverty, isolation and barriers to education and employment.

At FabricWorks, that support becomes a pathway towards work.

We train women from beginner sewing onwards, alongside mentoring, Information, Advice and Guidance, work experience and employment support.

But we don't only focus on what women need to learn.

We value what they already bring their skills, craft, knowledge and textile traditions  and help them build on those strengths to create new opportunities.

FabricWorks provides the bridge between learning a skill and having somewhere real to use it.

Women train inside a working production studio. They develop practical skills, gain industry experience, understand the workplace and have opportunities to progress towards employment, self-employment and sustainable livelihoods.

For the women we work with, it's a place to learn, work, grow and belong.

If the studio disappears, that pathway disappears with it.

Why does the production studio matter?

Because FabricWorks isn't simply a social enterprise or training project.

We produce high quality products and textile pieces. 

We work with fashion brands, designers and organisations that want to produce differently ethically, locally, sustainably and collaboratively.

And that's where our model is powerful.

Commercial production creates social impact.

The work that comes through our doors keeps skills in use and creates training, work experience and employment.

When a brand chooses FabricWorks, it isn't only choosing where its products are made.

Its production can help create work and opportunity and better livelihood for women. 

We champion repair and reuse. We work with surplus and existing materials through upcycling and circular production. We reduce waste wherever we can. We produce locally. And we help keep specialist sewing and sustainable textile skills alive here in the UK.

We're small. We're niche. But we're special and we believe we're needed.

Why does losing a small studio like ours matter?

Because something bigger is happening.

Small independent, ethical and sustainable fashion businesses are struggling. Costs have risen, brands are cutting back and production is increasingly difficult to sustain.

If small businesses and social enterprises like ours disappear, we don't just lose individual organisations.

Women who already face barriers to education, training and employment lose accessible places where they can build confidence, develop skills and find a route into work.

They lose opportunities to gain real experience, earn and progress and without those opportunities, the barriers they already face can become even harder to overcome.

We lose skilled makers.

We lose jobs and opportunities to earn.

We lose training, work experience and routes into the industry.

We lose repair, reuse and circular production skills.

We lose local manufacturing capacity.

And emerging brands have fewer places where they can choose to produce responsibly.

The impact is both human and industrial.

We lose opportunities for people who are already too often excluded from them, while also losing the skills, people and infrastructure needed to build a fairer, more sustainable fashion industry.

Once those people, skills and spaces disappear, they are incredibly difficult to rebuild.

Fashion needs practical alternatives  places where products can be made well, people are valued, skills are passed on and materials are treated with care.

That's the alternative we're trying to keep alive.

Why £15,000?

£15,000 buys us time.

We are asking for replacement funding, building new partnerships and actively looking for new production clients.

We're doing everything we can to create a sustainable future for FabricWorks.

But those things take time.

Your support will help us keep the studio open while we do that.

It means more time to keep supporting and training women.

More time to keep our skilled team together.

More time to rebuild our production pipeline.

More time to secure replacement funding and partnerships.

And more time to make sure this small but important piece of London's ethical fashion infrastructure isn't lost.

Crowdfunding isn't the future we're aiming for. A busy studio is.

This campaign is the bridge that could help us get there.

So, what will your money actually do?

We estimate that £30 helps fund one hour of impact.

That could be practical sewing and production training, mentoring and confidence-building, Information, Advice and Guidance, employment support or supported work experience within a real production environment.

Those hours also depend on the infrastructure behind them skilled staff, our studio and the essential costs of keeping our doors open.

£30 = 1 hour
£60 = 2 hours
£150 = 5 hours
£300 = 10 hours
£600 = 20 hours

Our £15,000 target is the equivalent of 500 hours of impact and vital studio support.

But you don't have to give £30.

£5, £10 or £15 ,whatever you can give gets us closer to keeping those doors open.

Donate or choose a reward

You don't need to buy anything to support us. A simple donation makes a real difference.

We've also created a small number of rewards that reflect what we believe in: making, mending, reusing and keeping things in circulation.

£15  Scraps to Scrunchie
An oversized scrunchie made from surplus and offcut fabrics from our studio. Each one will be a little different. UK postage included.

£30  Scraps to Something
A reusable tote made from surplus studio fabrics, giving existing materials another life. UK postage included.

£40  Love It For Longer
Send us a much-loved garment with a straightforward tear, hole or seam repair and we'll help keep it in your wardrobe for longer. You post it to us; UK return postage is included.

£50  Sew, Mend & Make
Join us for a relaxed group sewing and mending social in our East London studio on the 4th November 2026.  Limited places.

£80 Sewing SOS
A private two-hour 1:1 sewing or mending session in our East London studio.  Limited availability. Book with us directly.

£150 Sew Together
A private two-hour sewing or mending session for two people in our East London studio. Book with us directly. Limited availability.

We've deliberately kept our rewards small and limited so that as much of the money raised as possible can support FabricWorks.

There's another way you can help us survive.

Choose to work or partner with us - 

If you're a fashion brand, designer, business or organisation looking for an ethical production partner in London, we want to hear from you.

Make with us.

Commission us.

Ask us to run a sewing or making workshop.

We want our machines running. We want our team making. We want more women training, gaining experience and moving towards employment.

Our long-term future isn't dependent on crowdfunding.

It's a thriving social enterprise where commercial production creates social impact.

So if you're a brand, your support doesn't have to be a donation.

Your production work can create work for someone else.

And everyone can help.

Donate if you can.

Choose a reward.

Share our story.

Tell a brand about us.

Give us work.

Help us keep the machines running, the skills alive, and our doors open.

Funding method

Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made by 1st November 2026 at 8:16pm