The Inspiration:
Welcome to The Shirt Off Your Back! My name is Sussy Flanigan. This
project is a division of Sew Sweet-N- Simple, LLC. The idea for this
project came to me while I was doing one of my favorite things; SEWING! I have always loved to recycle clothing using vintage embellishments and incorporating my own personal style and taste. Several years ago, I began collecting Men's shirts and cutting them up to
make beautiful Women's aprons. I started selling them to friends and giving them away as gifts and I could not make them fast enough. I couldn't help but think that there must
be some other way I could share this creative little niche. I am inspired
by the creative aspect of turning something 'male' into 'female'; a
transgendered shirt if you will. Actually, the sky is the limit with
regard to creating things from a shirt.
You’d be surprised what you can do with a pile of scrap fabric.
The Plan:
The plan is to get as many local merchants as possible to participate in this project. By local I mean any town in the United States. For now, we have launched the project in Santa Cruz, CA. The first participant is Fins Coffee on Ocean Blvd. Thanks Brian, for giving me a chance.
Here is how it works: We provide a tastefully decorated donation basket at participating businesses for customers to donate 'The Shirt off Their Back'. The shirts are picked up by our representatives and delivered to our studios to be transformed into beautiful aprons that are then sold at that business. These businesses are typically coffee shops, restaurants and grocery stores but, who knows where this will go? The aprons retail for $25.00 plus tax. For every apron sold, $2.00 is donated to a local charity. In addition, the shirt also yields, a Tote Bag for grocery shopping as well as a coffee sleeve. (Instead of double cupping hot coffee or using paper sleeves)
The Goals:
The main goals are to create local jobs, recycle clothing and donate to local charities. In these tough economic times, we have to think collaboration. Not many things in business are as easy as 1,2,3 but THIS is. Outsourcing doesn't have to be out of the country; it can be just down the street. There are many talented and willing people that want to share their creative skills.
If you are reading this, you've either just stumbled upon the site, you bought an apron, donated a shirt or just heard about us and are curious. I don't spend a lot of money on fancy websites. I would rather spend my money on buttons and lace.
Join us by spreading the word so that we can get this project off the ground and get people back to work! If you are interested in starting 'The Shirt off Your Back' in your town please e-mail me at sussyflanigan@gmail.com and I will help you. I will keep you posted on new all the new merchants that join in on our project.
Sussy Flanigan
