Textile artist Allan Brown spends seven years making a dress by hand, using only the fibre of locally foraged stinging nettles. This is ‘hedgerow couture’, the greenest of slow fashion and also his medicine. It’s how he survives the death of his wife Alex and how he finds a beautiful way to honour her.
'Grasping the Nettle' is at the heart of this story. The challenge of making zero carbon clothing means relearning ancient crafts: foraging, processing, spinning, weaving, cutting and sewing. Making a dress this way becomes devotional and healing.
"While making the dress over all these years, I felt like I was being transformed by the nettles rather than the other way around," says Allan. "When Alex was ill and going through chemotherapy, as soon as I began spinning yarn, I felt calmer. It became much more than just a piece of cloth; it's been woven with the stories of people who know and love you."
The dress is made up of 14,400 feet of thread, each one representing hours of loving attention. In the film the dress is finally worn in the woods where the nettles were picked, by Oonagh, one of Allan's daughters.
Director Dylan Howitt says: "This is a story about the deep value of creativity and imagination, and a slow, mindful craft that is more in tune with the natural world."
WHAT TO EXPECT
We’re not a cinema! We’ll be watching the film on a large digital screen. We’ll get settled in with popcorn and wintery drinks (small donations welcome). Then we’ll watch the film, which is one and half hours long. After a short break we’ll have a discussion about the film, for around half an hour.
This film has been selected by a group of local people involved in climate action work through Dudley People’s School for Climate Justice. It is also part of a programme of Urban Room Unbound activities organised by CoLab Dudley.
Deb McDonald from Ekho Collective CIC will be hosting this screening. She said: “This is a film about the restorative power of working in and with nature, honouring human kin with plant kin.” Ekho Collective are leading work around Growing Land Connections. This film resonates with connections they have cultivated between local people, place and plants.
HOW YOU CAN JOIN IN
Book free tickets on Eventbrite
ACCESSIBILITY LIMITATIONS
Dudley Creates activities are hosted in numerous indoor and outdoor spaces across Dudley Borough. This activity is taking place in the CoLab Dudley space on Dudley High Street, which is a rented unit in the Trident Shopping Centre. While the main space is at street level and fully accessible, the toilet is on the first floor up steep stairs. Sadly, there has been no way to adapt the space for accessible toilets. Which means this particular activity isn’t fully accessible for people with mobility impairments. Please contact Lorna Prescott (Lorna@dudleycvs.org.uk) if you would like us to repeat this activity in a fully accessible space on another date. We’d be very happy to.