News

So last week I headed off to the Big Smoke by invitation to meet the creative and talented associates of Design and Alter; an inspiring day all round – meeting entrepreneurs, visionaries and watching master tailors at their work. D & A’s workshops and studios were a reminder of the architectural adage of “whatever good things we build, build us.’  Creating a working environment in the back streets of Victorian London in the present day with the future in mind is no mean feat. It is a well-researched fact that our environment (including our work environment) affects our motivation, our...

HELLO, HELLO…Calling all Eyemouth folk past and present – our new line at ReTweed is “Quote Totes” for our Berwickshire villages and neighbouring toons. First off the line has to be Eyemouth, since it is where our project is based and our Eyemouth Quote Tote is the well kent line used by onyone who is totally scunnered with something…. So if you’ve burnt the dinner – or in our case messed up your sewing project – the standard retort (with much emphasis on the last word!) is “Am gonna chuck it in the herbur” Not for the first time, all-round good...

Something a little different on the website today. The women of ReTweed have galvanised with the leadership of our student Erin Inglis and put together a range of ‘Welcome Bags’ for Refuweegee, a project set up to ensure that all refugees arriving in Glasgow are welcomed to the city in true Glaswegian style. Refuweegee aims to provide all Refugees who arrive with a welcome pack.  Each pack contains a range of essentials including toiletries, hat and gloves, something particularly Scottish and a personalised welcome letter and as a result each pack will be completely individual. We have 9 Welcome Packs for refugee children...

How Mahagga! (translates to hello friends!) And we’re back with number three in our line – the BERWICKERS Quote Tote! Trying to engage Berwickers on the subject of their own ‘folk speech’ turns into a long and humorous convo. You’d need a dedicated social historian to trace the origins of the ‘Coosty Barrie’ chat – indeed there’s a dictionary of the same name which is entirely devoted to colloquial Berwick speak. ReTweed Trainer, Jacqueline Thompson and one of our students Celine Stewart – both born in Castle Hills – have introduced us to some of the best over the last few weeks and...

Positively Scottish are a not-for-profit online magazine dedicated to telling positive stories about ordinary Scots, at home and abroad, and how they’re tackling the many issues of a fast-changing world. Following on from our recent graduation, the fab folks over at Positively Scottish have run a story on ReTweed this week, on how we’re helping women get creative with traditional textile skills, that we’d like to share with you. Read the full article here.   This blog post was written by Hazel Smith – ReTweed Founding Director