Guerilla Craft Movements – how to earn a living without clocking in and out of a factory or mill...

I have been in touch with some local British Pakistani ladies in Manchester who prefer not to be named. They are from the areas of Longsight and Rusholme and have told me how in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s they used to bring in some extra money in order to pay their bills by sewing parts of garments in their own homes instead of through factories. It was a very positive venture to start with as the women were able to become more independent as they were able to continue to fulfil their responsibilities by running their family home as well as earn a few bob in the evenings by sewing into the early hours of the morning.  The garments they produced were mainly nightwear and ladies underwear and they would return them to the factory. They usually were paid 10p per bag of items and this really helped their families to make ends meet. Unfortunately, they were given an order of garments to sew which did not meet health and safety standards and illegal substances were used in the production of the fabrics. This caused some of the women to become seriously ill and the women collectively decided to stop sewing garments in their own homes for factories. However, these sorts of occurrences have not stopped and unfortunately people in Manchester are still being exploited to produce garments cheaply and illegally.