Sometimes it's easy to forget that long before your favorite dress got you noticed at the bar or those Diesel jeans made your ass look great, they were both just piles of random fabric from which some creative designer derived a fashion statement.

What is significantly (and unfortunately) less easy these days is finding a nearby fabric store, rendering making your own clothing -- which is highly rewarding and usually fabulously cost effective compared to boutique or mall shopping -- not as convenient as some might like.

With this idea in mind -- that having access to the perfect fabric, whether crisp and new or vintage and used, is crucial for creative and environmentally conscious clothing design -- Future Green hosts Swap-O-Rama-Rama, a clothing swap and series of D.I.Y workshops, this Saturday, Oct. 6, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Even if you're not into the idea of sewing your own garb, this is still a nice opportunity to give your closets a bit of a once-over and finally get rid of all that crap you know you don't wear. All you have to do it show up at Future Green, 2352 S. Kinnickinnic Ave., with a bag of your unwearables, which are then saved from landfill and made new as they become redistributed and then transformed by each participant through artist-taught how-to workshops and thematic workstations.

Not design savvy? Don't worry, skilled local re-use designers, artists and do-it-yourselfers from Milwaukee Sewing Machines, Fasten Co-op and other places will be there to share their knowledge. Also, on site silk-screening and stenciling is offered by local screen artists.