Par
Anne-Sophie Hourdeaux
Published on
Dec 17 2024 at 4:31 p.m.
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There are puns that make you smile. Crazy for Sewing is one of them. This is a Lille association created in 2017. Its goal: to welcome in insertion people far from employment, around the eco-responsible sewing. The Foundation Adecco gave him a check. The opportunity to take stock of the evolution of the association 7 years after its creation.
Each year, the Adecco Foundation of Northern France donates €15,000 to employment-related projects. For 2024, 3 associations received €5,000 each: Within their reach, URAPEDA and Fou de Coudre.
€5,000 donated
The presentation of the check was the occasion for a small ceremony within the Fou de Coudre manufacturing workshop in Lille, based near Loos.
Audrey Dillies, delegate of the Adecco Foundation for the North zone, explains: “Each delegate chooses associations and defends their file. The projects must have a link with employment or training. I discovered Fou de Coudre and its founder who has crazy energy! The association helps people who are having great difficulties and unearths hidden talents, because these people have real skills. »
A tailoring workshop and 3 shops
Nadjah Ouali is the founder of Fou de couture in Lille. “We work with people in integration. We have a tailoring workshop, recovering new unsold clothes or end of line brands. We also do upcycling, transforming clothes. »
Fou de Coudre above all responds “90%” to orders from brands, which, for example, ask him to make shopping bags from tarpaulins, or to create a special collection by upcycling clothes from his old collections. “Look, here, we transform a jacket into a fanny pack, or we make a jacket from two items of clothing…”
Recently, Promod Calais asked the workshop to co-create a capsule collection! “We co-signed the clothes and we made them in our Lille workshop! »
Fou de Coudre also works for start-ups or smaller companies, which need to produce mini-series, “like this collection in adapted fashion, for people in wheelchairs or in hospital”.
Today, Fou de Coudre sees further, “it also has 3 stores in Lille: 2 solidarity-based for a low-income public and one open to the general public in the city center”. First located in the center of Tanneurs, it is now located on rue du Molinel.
Since 2023, the repair workshop which exists within the rue du Molinel boutique has even received “Refashion” approval.
Socio-professional support
The clothing workshop currently accommodates 25 people, plus 15 in the shops and for sorting. “In 7 years, Fou de Coudre has supported at least 100 people! » said Nadjah Ouali.
88% return to employment or qualifying training, this is the great result of the association, “we are proud!” “. Because Fou de Coudre is a springboard, people stay from 6 months to 2 years. Many are people with immigrant backgrounds, including Ukrainians.
We do not only provide professional integration, but socio-professional support. That is to say, we remove peripheral obstacles to employment: childcare, mobility, housing, residence permit, driving license, domestic violence, etc.
A new sought-after location
The association has a new project to develop: it is looking for additional premises. “We need a storage location because we are collecting more and more clothes and accessories, this would allow us to better train in sorting. » The call is launched!
To find out more about Fou de Coudre, go to his website.
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