Des Moines, IA – August 1st (11am-3pm) Swap-O-Rama-Rama (SORR) makes it’s first appearance in Des Moines, Iowa with a massive clothing swap and series of DIY (do-it-yourself) workshops. Hosted at the Des Moines Social Club in the heart of Des Moines, SORR will bring the community together with a message that encourages creativity and resistance to consumerism. With an admission of $10, swappers need only bring along one bag of unwanted clothing. SORR events recycle tens of thousands of pounds of clothing each year by teaching creative reuse through clothing alteration.

At SORR, do-it-yourself workshops, artist-run demos, and recycled fashion shows gather people together for the purpose of transforming unwanted clothing into a celebration of community creativity. Artist-taught workshops and thematic workstations such as silk screening, stenciling, or hand & machine sewing offer inspiration. Traditional crafts such as embroidery, knitting, beading and appliqué can also be found. If guests want to be hands-on they can slide over to any number of do-it-yourself workstations and get started. As well, skilled local re-use designers, artists and do-it-yourselfers are there to share their knowledge. Each swap also hosts a fashion show that features the recycled designs of local designers who are exploring re-use, as well as a fashion show for attendees of the event in which they are invited to show off the modified wearables that they made earlier in the day. All of the materials for creativity are free once inside the event. All left over clothing is donated to local charities.

Swap-O-Rama-Rama was created by artist Wendy Tremayne as a response to her feelings about consumerism and waste in our culture. Swap-O-Rama-Rama offers a way to obtain new/used clothing, to learn and create without the use of non-sustainable resources. The SORR community has rapidly grown through a Creative Commons license that assists sister events inspired by the original. SORR events can now be found in over 50 cities covering 6 countries.

Swap-O-Rama-Rama is fiscally sponsored by New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA).

Des Moines SORR Website: http://dsmswap@gmail.com

Official Swap-O-Rama-Rama Website: http://www.swaporamarama.org

Seems like the pockets are always getting torn off Jason’s jeans. Extensive mending and patching was executed.

See the darned spot? nope, me neither! And that’s the point. 3 pairs of socks now ready for feet!

usually it’s the dog carrying around the toy that looks like a cat, well, in this case it’s sarah’s cat that carries around a little dog – a proceeds to claw it’s guts out. Favorite cat toy now ready to be re-gutted all over again!

I brought a whole slew of books to look through and browse and chat about. zines brought back from San Francisco, collected over the years, and newly acquired.

Ames c.art fliers at the ames progressive. You can download fliers to print out and distribute here. More fliers coming soon! I just printed these off on graph paper, cut them down a bit, and then fixed them to 1/4 page pieces of card stock to hand out – print on anything you want and give them to friends – make them your own by jazzing them up, or get them out there on some white printer paper – main thing is to just have fun, spread the word, and help make ames c.art a success. Thank you for spreading the word!

And it was so great to meet/remeet/collaorate/chat with all of you! Look to the calendar and the news blog for more information on upcoming ames c.art events!