12/06/2026
For Youth Week 2026, Weave’s Youth Advocates group brought creativity, storytelling and sustainability together through a special tapestry project called Sew-Wot. The project gave young people the chance to learn new practical skills while also sharing parts of their own lived experiences in a creative and meaningful way. Through sewing, mending, tailoring and upcycling workshops led by skilled seamstresses, the group explored hand-sewing techniques, principles of design, ways to recycle and repair clothing, and learned how to transform old fabrics into something entirely new.
Using recycled fabrics — including materials that held personal meaning for some participants — the group co-created three large tapestry artworks. As the pieces developed, so did the stories woven into them. The tapestries became a reflection of the group’s experiences, creativity, humour, resilience and individuality.
A particularly meaningful part of the project was deciding where the finished works would go. The Youth Advocates chose to gift each tapestry to a service that had impacted their lives in some way — places they had accessed, relied on, felt supported by or connected to in the past. This made the artworks not only creative pieces, but also acts of gratitude, recognition and community connection.
The project was launched on the rooftop at Weave Waterloo and representatives from each service attended to receive their artworks. The Youth Advocates spoke about the process of making each piece, and expressed their gratitude to the services for the impact they have had in their lives.
The care, patience and teamwork shown throughout Sew-Wot highlights the strength and importance of spaces for young people to connect, learn, lead and express themselves. Watching young people who had never sewn before confidently contribute to large collaborative artworks is a powerful reminder of what’s possible when creativity, storytelling and lived experience come together.
Read more here: https://www.weave.org.au/tapestry-project-sew-wot/
📷️ Jules Sarantis
