This week is Fashion Revolution Week
Keeping your clothes in circulation for longer is one of the best ways to be part of the sustainable fashion movement. Join in Fashion Revolution’s ‘Mend in Public Day‘ this Saturday to celebrate the charity’s 10 year anniversary.
This week we have hosted two of our regular clothing repair workshops. Not so much mend in public, more of a community mending session. Attendees bring along one or two items to our free workshop to repair, refresh or alter their clothes.
Saturday’s workshop at The Create Place in Bethnal Green included David patching holes in his jeans, Kate unpicking the hem of her jeans to make them longer. Sophia patched a delicate lace top that used to belong to her Grandma.
Shilpa had bought an oversized shirt in a charity shop and shortened it to give it a boxy shape. Chau repaired the lining of her skirt that had ripped. Karen darned her socks and Fay refashioned a dress that didn’t fit very well. She chopped off the sleeves, added some elastic to create a bandeaux instead. We were joined by three students from the University of East London who are working on a sustainable fashion project as part of their hospitality degree. They had undertaken some research of their fellow students and inspired us with their enthusiasm.
The clothes at Monday’s workshop at The Remakery in Brixton also enjoyed an eclectic mix of repair. Marie took in a jersey skirt and finished the seams with a zig zag on the sewing machine. Jemima had bought a cool pair of check trousers from a thrift store in Germany. They were too big so she took them in by unpicking the waistband and darts and making the darts bigger. Annie’s stripe skirt had tiny holes on some of the black stripes. She hid these by creating invisible seams along the black stripes so the holes could no longer be seen and wouldn’t get any bigger. Julie brought in her favourite hoodie that had shrunk over the years. She had a remnant piece of jersey fabric in a bright print and created panels to extend the length of the sleeves and make the hood bigger. Julie pinned everything together and will be taking it along to hand stitch at Saturday’s mend in public event.
Last year Fashion Revolution asked us to sign their 10 point manifesto for a fairer fashion industry, treating textile workers with respect and being paid a living wage. Additionally, treating our clothes with respect. Understanding the work and resources that goes into our clothes before they end up in our wardrobes. The people who attend our workshops experience this first hand when they repair their favourite clothes. Unpicking seams and restitching them gives us an understanding of how clothes are made and skilled work that goes into them.
We focused on point 7 of the 10 point manifesto, which encourages the longer life of the clothes that are already in our wardrobe. Reducing the need to buy new, using up the Earth’s valuable resources and preventing clothes from reaching landfill. At Fast Fashion Therapy we teach and encourage people to repair their clothes at our regular workshops. We are able to keep these free thanks to funding from The National Lottery Community Fund. Thanks to all players of the National Lottery for making our project possible.
We are going to the Mend in Public Day on Saturday. If you are going, share your photos on Instagram with the hashtag #mendinpublicday – see you there!
