The Silver Spring Civic Building was buzzing with activity this past Sunday. On the second level, the faces of the Silver Spring Timebank volunteers greeted visitors.
The hallway was crowded with people sitting patiently as they waited for the doors to open. Doors to what you ask? Great question! The SSTB team hosted a Craft and Sewing Swap.
The community brought their supplies in droves that ranged from fabrics, yarn, scrapbooking paper and more. The SSTB volunteers then arranged the items and displayed them in sections that enabled visitors to find what they were looking for effectively or browse through items as they engaged in conversation with one another.
The event was broken into 10-minute “shopping” sessions that moved the traffic around effectively and allowed attendees to get the most out of the experience. There was something for everyone and the energy was running high.
The first swap was introduced by SSTB in the fall of 2015, which highlighted a clothing exchange. Since then, there have been other swaps with different themes ranging from books to kitchen equipment. The events occur on a regular basis throughout the year.
Visitors had the opportunity to meet their neighbors, get some tips on crafts, sewing and many other skills. The event took spring cleaning to a whole new level. While many attendees had participated in similar ones previously, there were some newbies that were delighted by the variety of goods.
Towards the end of the afternoon, the crowds got smaller and the SSTB volunteers packed up the remaining items to donate them to the CREATE Arts Center. All in all, this was a successful venture and we hope you can join us for the next one!
What did attendees have to say about the swap?
“I love finding half-done projects, and I love bringing mine. It’s exciting to know that someone else will finish the project and get to wear the dress.”—Tanya
“The fun of this starts when I go through everything at home to decide what to bring. I hope to find materials for card-making which helps me feel creative even though I’m not artistic.”—Kendra
“I came because I was the mule to carry my wife’s silk screening and reupholstery materials she was donating. But I found the one thing I wanted—this small palette knife for doing my oil painting.”—Joe
Interested readers can learn more about SSTB here.
Guest post by Anisa Yusuf. Top photo, participants at the swap. Below, some of the available items on display. Photos courtesy Silver Spring Timebank.
