Our Projects
Catchy is not content with just designing souvenirs but also needs to plan how it will generate social benefits. With this in mind, collaborating with women cooperatives is a priority for us during the production process of our products.
Zeytindalı Women's Cooperative has been one of our stakeholders since the first day. Our tote bags and zipper pouches are sewn by them one by one using 100% cotton material. By collaborating with this cooperative, Catchy not only ensured the delivery of high-quality products but also achieved its social responsibilities.
HAND MADE TOTE BAGS WITH 100% TURKISH COTTON
About ‘Zeytindalı Woman’ Cooperative - Mamak Sewing Atelier
….Using a workshop model, the cooperative supports women to earn financial freedom!
Zeytindalı (literally meaning Olive Branch in Turkish) Women’ Cooperative has the goal of being part of a fair-trade network together with their production workshop located in various parts of Turkey. Using a workshop model, the cooperative supports women to earn financial freedom with the skills that they have. The founders of Mamak Sewing Atelier provide trainings to financially dependent women where they can improve their sewing skills and gives them the opportunity to generate an income for themselves. This goal aligns fully with Catchy’s foundational values. That’s why we are so happy to work with the members of cooperative.
A message from Nurcan Yalçın, member of the cooparative
...The more cooperations we build the more income we can generate for more women!
``Our atelier supports women who are struggling with poverty and unemployment in the region that we are in. It leads the way for women to empower themselves both in their social and economical lives. Besides producing our products, it is also important for us to build cooperations to market our products. The more cooperations we build the more income we can generate for more women. Each of our partners are very valuable for us and our biggest motivation is our products being appreciated by their users. With Catchy, our goals are aligned, and we are able to work from the same ground. We wish that our collaboration will continue in the longer term. We wish that all the users of the bags will use them in happiness and in health``
The more sale we generate from our tote bags, the more support we can provide for the promotion of the women workforce and women entrepreneurs.
For more information you can visit ‘http://www.zeytindali.com.tr/’
We thank you 'Zeytindalı' women's cooperative for their meticulous and hard work on Catchy products!
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ROSES OF SAGALASSOS
Sustainable bags for summer with hand-embroidered rose patterns
“Roses of Sagalassos” is Catchy’s first social enterprise project. It is the first step towards realizing our goal of delivering social benefits. For this reason, this project has a special meaning for us. One of Catchy’s values is to collaborate with like-minded women entrepreneurs dedicated to creating and producing as we do. With this in mind, we took our first step with the ‘Roses of Sagalassos’ project.
With the help of valuable members of a women’s cooperative far away from Belgium and supported by an artist who dedicates herself to nature, we created this boutique catalogue.
Once the material was ready, the next step was to contact ‘Ağlasun Women’s Cooperative’ to choose the type of embroidery to be placed on the bags. The dyed materials were first embroidered with roses by the talented ladies of the cooperative. Afterwards the bags were sewn by hand.
Ağlasun, Sagalassos and Leuven
The ancient city of Sagalassos, located in Ağlasun, Turkey, is a name that you can come across frequently both in Turkey and in Belgium, especially in Leuven. It was a member of the KU Leuven's Sagalassos research team who gave us the inspiration for this project and helped us get in contact with the Ağlasun Women’s Cooperative.
A message from Hatice Özçelik; a member of the Ağlasun Women’s Cooperative...We add our love to our embroidery.
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It was beautiful to work together with you on this Catchy project. Everything went much more smoothly than we thought. Doing the embroidery on the bags was pleasant. We create our embroidery with great love and the results satisfy us immensely. After creating the embroidery and handing them over to you, it was also a pleasure to see that you loved them as well. We hope that the buyers will like the bags. It will make us happy to be able to work with you again. We would like to thank you for adopting handicraft and supporting a community of women who are working to contribute to their family well-being through this cooperative. We wish that all the users of the bags will use them in happiness and in health.
A message from designer Zuhal Özer...Natural Dyeing is an Adventure!
"It is an amazing feeling to be able to transfer the remarkable colours of plants that nature has gifted us with, to the material. Every natural dyeing, every eco-printing is another sensation, is another adventure! Natural dyeing needs heat. Plants are simmered in water and this way the pigments in their structure transfer into the water. When the material is simmered in the same water, colour pigments stick to the material and the dyeing process finalizes. During natural dyeing, it is also possible to use substances such as alum and iron water to ease the process of the pigments sticking to the material. Textiles dyed with plants are less resistant to light and washing. It was a pleasure to be part of this special project. Thank you very much, Catchy team!"