Upcycling and creativity: a sewing workshop for young people from the USA
- Spazio 3R
- 3 days ago
- 3 min read
Through our collaboration with CIEE Milan, young Americans have the opportunity to discover the joy of making things by hand and exploring their creativity…
A hands-on experience of sewing and craftsmanship…
Last year, we began collaborating with CIEE Milan, an organization that creates study and international mobility programs for young Americans. Once in Italy, alongside their language courses, students take part in a range of activities designed to help them connect with Italian culture. One of these is a sewing workshop in our spaces, where they have the chance to learn alongside our seamstresses.
“Spazio 3R offers a unique perspective on sustainability, recycling, and upcycling. Many of our students come from communities in the United States where these values may not be emphasized to the same extent. The workshop is therefore a valuable cultural learning experience, with a particular focus on environmental awareness,” explain the CIEE organizers.
CIEE offers different types of programs for young people of different ages. Each workshop experience is tailored to the group, but the goal remains the same: to create something with their own hands using leftover fabrics, bringing creativity and sustainability together.
From fabric scraps to a sustainable bag…
One of the workshops we have offered several times throughout the year is a two-hour session where participants create a bag using leftover fabric and ribbons, as part of the CIEE Italian Language and Culture program.
Each participant creates a completely personalized bag: after choosing their fabric, they can make it their own with needles, thread, colorful ribbons, buttons, and plenty of creativity. Some participants have had sewing experience in the past, while for others, it is their very first time holding a needle.
All the effort is worth it when they see the finished result — and that was certainly the case during the workshop in mid-June.
“The feedback was extremely positive. The workshop was a memorable experience that brought together creativity, cultural learning, and sustainability.”
This year’s new addition: the Fashion Design and Culture program…
A three-week program focused on fashion for high school students — this is the new addition to our collaboration with CIEE this year!
Alongside the theoretical sessions led by fashion designer Giulia Zurlo, the group is taking part in three practical sessions at our Ascanio Sforza space.
“The aim of the program is to give the American participants a new experience and offer them a fresh perspective,” explains Giulia.
The practical sessions at Spazio 3R are led by Ilaria, a tailor and teacher, with the goal of creating a made-to-measure kimono while exploring every step of the process: from drafting the pattern and choosing the fabric from the workshop’s leftover materials, all the way to sewing and personalizing the finished garment.
“During the first session, the students were a little overwhelmed by all the new things around them. They had only been in Italy for four days and were surrounded by people they didn’t know. Then they found themselves in the Spazio 3R workshop, learning a craft they had never tried before — one that requires time, patience, and precision,” Ilaria explains.
“Only one of the girls studies fashion and was already more familiar with the tools and the steps involved in making the kimono. For everyone else, it was a completely new experience! During the second session, they began to see their work taking shape: they cut the fabric according to the pattern and started sewing with the machines.”
Summer with CIEE is shaping up to be full of exciting moments. At the end of June, we’ll say goodbye to the Fashion Design and Culture group with a final gathering, before getting ready to welcome a new class in July.
But that’s not all! Our two-hour workshops will continue as well. We can’t wait to welcome more young people and share new experiences with them — all through creativity, making things by hand, and the joy of sewing.
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