Ethically Produced Sewing Projects
We are VERY excited to announce a new partnership with the Amani Women Center Atlanta (AWC). The AWC provides skills, training, and support to local refugee families and the AWC Sewing Academy teaches refugee women to sew. Since we wanted to find a way to ethically produce sewing projects for our online store (and keep the production in the United States), this partnership checks all the boxes.
Local volunteers provide their time and expertise to help the refugees on building their skills. Between the team at AWC and volunteers, the refugee women are empowered to take their skills to either start their own business or to work part-time at the AWC production facility. Working at the AWC production facility provides more real-life experience by working on projects like ours. They cut, sew, and complete all of the Sought + Found Mercantile brand pillows, placemats, and dinner napkins.
Ethically Produced Sewing Projects
Paying a fair wage while continuing to improve their skills is important to us to also support their mission. Also, we provide all the materials/notions needed to create the sewing projects. A portion of the profit from each pillow is donated back to the AWC. Allowing them to continue their important work and expand their operations to offer their services to more and more families in need.
Each pillow cover goes through a rigorous review before they send the final product over to us. Surging all fabric edges to reduce likelihood of any unraveling of the fabric after a few wash cycles.
Our design team works closely with the staff at AWC to bring you colorful, seasonal, and beautiful products that are nothing short of stunning additions to your home décor.
We source all we can from vendors in the United States - the fabric is printed here in the United States, most of the fabric designers are from the US, cording is made here in the US, and the pillow forms we offer are Made in the USA. It is important to us to also support other small businesses in the development of these products. Yes, we could reduce our costs that goes into making each pillow by sourcing outside the US; but we truly believe it is critical to support other small manufacturers creating jobs here in the US.
We hope to be introducing placemats and dinner napkins, all pieced together and sewed at the AWC Sewing Academy. Depending on how well the pillows go, we are targeting Summer 2022 to introduce more sewed products made here in Atlanta.
Where to buy the ethically produced sewing projects?
We have finally been able to release our initial offerings of the pillow covers to our online store! We are working to get more pillow cover designs available on our site...and they are coming soon! Check back frequently to see new designs coming online.
Some of the pillow covers are made from fabrics that we have limited quantities - mostly in the 18"x18" size. If the fabric is limited quantity, we will indicate that in the pillow cover description.
A line of outdoor pillow covers is coming soon!
Where to get more information on the AWC?
For more information about the AWC, click here.
The AWC also has an online store where you can help support their mission. The AWC works with artisans in Africa (along with work done here in Atlanta) to provide ethically produced items. Their online store is called Johari Africa and is available by clicking here.
