A charity connecting women purposefully through craft
Reclaiming resources for
the maker community
An invested community that supports a vibrant circular economy
With a mutual love of making and boundless knowledge of craft, our community has always valued textiles and established our social enterprise; The Nest Haberdashery, as a resource recovery centre for the maker community.
Our volunteers make the haberdashery more than just a shop. It’s a vibrant circular economy where volunteers reclaim precious resources and encourage customers to reuse, upcycle, make and get creative.
The impact of our social enterprise
The Nest Haberdashery is a recycling solution that diverts preloved textiles and craft supplies from landfills and ensures that Brisbane’s makers, artisans, and emerging designers have access to low-cost, quality resources.
Each week our venue hosts between 500 – 600 people, either as volunteers, customers, workshops, or program participants.
We currently process around 5000 litres of materials per week and estimate that we resell around 60% of all donations.
An important part of our resource recovery is preserving Australian craft history. As donations are received our volunteers identify significant artifacts and curate our heritage collections that is displayed in the Gladys Mary Studio.
When you shop with us you support our programs
Our free skill sharing program, the Exchange Project, was launched in 2021 amidst the uncertainty of the COVID pandemic. The program was inspired by The Craft Nest Project – the genesis of our organisation and partners with local high schools to teach vulnerable teenage girls hand making skills.
Working with our experienced mentors the student’s confidence and resilience blossom, but most importantly there is an intergenerational connection – an exchange that benefits both mentors and mentees.
Creative workshops using reclaimed resources
Our workshop suppliers share our vision for creating a more sustainable future and offer a range of workshops that make the most of our preloved textile resources.
All workshops are held at The Nest Community, in the Gladys Mary Studio.