Swap-O-Rama-Rama Missoula Was a Huge Success!

Hey everyone!

Thanks to you, Swap-O-Rama-Rama was a huge success. Over 100 people came out to swap clothes and remake them using our sewing machines donated by Singer and the silk screening machine donated by Yudu. Thanks are also due to Selvedge Studio, Blackfoot Trading Post, and Timeless Quilts and Friends who donated fabric scraps, thread, tools and implements. Also, thank you to our wonderful volunteers who helped run the event!

Thanks to your generous clothing donations, we donated 29 bags of clothes to the Salvation Army and the Poverello Center in Missoula. Wow!

We've posted all the pictures online - click here to see them.

Also, if you didn't get a chance to fill out an evaluation on Sunday or you have more comments for us, please fill out this short survey online.

Once again, thank you so much for making Swap-O-Rama-Rama Missoula such a success!

- SORR Missoula (Alyssa, Hannah, Will, Ryan, Kyle, Margi, Maria & Christina)

Thank You!

Thank you to everyone who made Swap-O-Rama-Rama a huge success! Pictures and a recap will be posted soon.

Clean out your closets!

Before you attend the swap, clean out your closets! Here's a few tips on what to look for:

• clothes you bought and never wore
• clothes you've been hanging on to because you think you'll fit in them someday
• tragic shopping mistakes
• well worn and loved items that you're ready to let move on
• unloved gifts you held onto out of obligation

Rule of thumb: If you can wear it, you can swap it! This includes jackets, hats, shirts, pants, shoes, skirts, belts, accessories, jewelry, sunglasses, bags, costumes, dresses, etc...

Quantity isn't important - come with a little or a lot, whatever you've got.

Swap-O-Rama-Rama Missoula is this Sunday, November 8, 2009 from 1p.m. to 5p.m. at the North Ballroom at the University Center on the University of Montana Campus. Bring a bag of clean, unwanted clothes to swap. A $5 suggested donation is encouraged.

Volunteer Meeting Tonight

Calling all volunteers!

Come to our volunteer meeting this evening from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Zootown Arts Community Center. Here's a map:

View Larger Map

See you there!

Why Swap?

"There is no beauty in the finest cloth if it makes hunger and unhappiness." - Gandhi

Five reasons to attend Swap-O-Rama-Rama Missoula:

1. Fun!

Help your friends pick out something new to them, then repurpose it at one of our sewing stations. Turn a t-shirt into a cardigan or a pair of jeans into a hip new skirt - the possibilities are endless, as boundless as your creativity. When you're done, show off your new duds at the photo booth.

2. Prevent Textile Waste

In an endless search for the latest style and fashion, Americans consume enormous amounts of resources, despite the surplus of clothing that exists. Textile waste in the United States amounts to about 4.7 percent of created residential waste each year. Textile recycling saves about 2.5 billion pounds of textiles from landfills each year, but 8.75 billion pounds of textile waste enters landfills each year - that's about 37 pounds for each person in the U.S.! Fifty percent of the textiles consumed and discarded are made from synthetic fibers that are produced from oil.

3. Take Control of Your Fashion!

The cycle of continually looking for the next big thing every season is perpetuated by the fashion industry. Through advertising, we're asked to view shopping as a creative endeavor, when really only the designers play a creative role in the process. The consumers' creativity is simply in the selection. Find your own creativity at Swap-O-Rama-Rama! Reinvent an item of clothing and be a creator yourself!

4. Contribute to Charity

Help our your community! Leftover adult clothing will be donated to the Poverello Center. Leftover kids clothing will be donated to the Salvation Army. All profits will be donated to the Zootown Arts Community Center, Missoula's Do-It-Yourself Art Center.

5. Help Create a Sustainable Community

Swap-O-Rama-Rama is about creating something new and exciting from what already exists, finding inspiration in yourself and your community, and building skills that lead to self-reliance and sustainability.

20 Days Until SORR Missoula!

The countdown is on!

In 20 days, Missoula's first Swap-O-Rama-Rama hits the UM Campus, North University Center Ballroom! Get ready for a giant community clothing swap elevated to another level by sewing and silk screen stations, local artisans and designers, and by a room full of creative minds exploring reuse!

Want to help out? We're still looking for volunteers to staff sewing stations, silk screen stations and lead workshops. Help your community explore sustainability! If you're interested in helping out please email us and attend our Volunteer Meeting October 28th, 2009 from 6-7 P.M. at the Zootown Arts Community Center.

We also need help with materials! If you can donate unused spools of thread, boxes of pins, bead, sequins, jewels, buttons, lace, embroidery floss, glue guns and sticks, fabric paint, fabric glue, fabric scissors, rotary cutters, feathers, hangers, trim, fabric, iron-ons, patches, sewing patterns, zippers or anything else needed to remake/reuse/recycle clothing, please let us know by emailing us!

Who are we?

Who is bringing Swap-O-Rama-Rama to Missoula?

We're a group of University of Montana students enrolled in a Recreation Programming class taught by Donna Gaukler, Director of Missoula Parks & Recreation. Part of the class is putting on a program, which we were able to choose. Options included outdoor recreation activities, food festivals or competitions, trail building, kid's activities, and many more.

We chose Swap-O-Rama-Rama!