Coffee and clothes

FRANCE: Do you think sewing is boring and old-fashioned? Think again! Two women in Paris have opened a cafe where you can repair your old clothes or make new ones — and enjoy coffee and cake at the same time.

“I think it’s time for people to start making [clothes] for themselves,” Sissi Holleis, one of the founders of the new cafe Sweat Shop, told The New York Times. Holleis and her friend Martena Duss had noticed that many of their friends were keen to sew. The problem was that most of them did not have a sewing machine.

The two women came up with the idea of the Sweat Shop cafe: instead of renting a computer by the hour, as in internet cafes, you can rent a sewing machine. They presented their plan to Singer, an American sewing-machine company. Singer was keen to support them, and provided ten machines.

Instead of renting a computer, as in internet cafes, you rent a sewing machine.

What about people who don’t know how to sew? Fortunately, the Sweat Shop also offers sewing workshops. At the moment, there are five workshops to choose from, including one for children. Holleis and Duss either hold the workshops themselves, or invite fashion designers to hold them.

Since the Sweat Shop opened, it has gained a lot of attention in the media and in fashion blogs. If the business proves successful, you may soon find one near you. The two founders have already received requests from people who would like to set up franchises in Brussels and New York.