A huge thank you to everyone who has supported our community clothes mending workshops this year. All of the mending techniques and tips that we share mean nothing without the people who come to our workshops or connect with us online. Getting together as a group and seeing how many people really are engaged with sustainability is inspiring. It seems like we are all keen to find practical solutions to the problems surrounding us and these collective community experiences are more important than ever!
Thank you to St Margaret’s house, The Create Place and The Remakery for the use of your warm and welcoming venues and for sharing the news to a wider group of people. Our workshops at The Create Place are free to attend thanks to Tower Hamlets Small Grants Fund.
Our online mend-a-long is free to join thanks to a grant from Localgiving and Postcode Society Trust, a grant-giving charity funded by players of People’s Postcode Lottery. Want to join us next year? We are taking bookings for our 2023 workshops on Eventbrite or send us an email. More details on the calendar section of our website.
Wishing you all a happy holidays and a healthy 2023. Sarah & Eleanor x
Selection of Christmas jumpers on offer at SCT charity shop on Roman Road, London
Christmas jumper day is on 8 December 2022, wear a festive jumper and donate money to Save the Children. If you are taking part, please wear your Christmas jumper more than once. It was estimated that 12 million Christmas jumpers were bought in 2019 despite 65 million lurking in the back of the wardrobe according to charity Hubbub. Speaking in The Daily Telegraph, the Charity’s project co-ordinator Sarah Divall suggests customers:
‘Swap, buy second-hand or re-wear and remember a jumper is for life not, just for Christmas.’
Sarah Divall, Hubub
Previously, we have written about the ‘30 wear rule‘ when buying a new item of clothing. Why should a Christmas jumper be any different? Here are our top tips on how to get the most out of your Christmas jumper and prevent it from becoming textile waste.
1. Start wearing your jumper early
Libby started wearing her Christmas jumper at Halloween
I visited my family in Scotland in October, where they have more reason to wear jumpers for longer. It was Halloween but my niece Libby was wearing the above red sweatshirt adorned with snowflakes and an image of a cute black cat and the words ‘Meowy Christmas’. Do you know what, it looked fantastic! The black cat ticked the Halloween box and it was genuinely a warm and item of clothing that she loves and will wear throughout the winter.
2. Worn it before? So What?
My husband went out this evening for his annual Christmas curry club wearing a Christmas Jumper he has owned for 7 years and it is still going. Do you think anyone really remembers if you have worn it before? And if they do, then explain it is your favourite and you are saving another piece of clothing from reaching landfill.
3. Upcycle your Christmas jumper
If tip 2 isn’t quite for you and you want to update your Christmas jumper each year, then add a few embellishments. We love this tip from our friends at the Ealing Repair Cafe. Maria added a Christmas hat to her daughter’s non-Christmas jumper. Add some pompoms, ribbon, sequins. Any small change will make your jumper feel like it is all new again. Of course you can create a Christmas jumper from a plain jumper. As we did at our workshop with The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine back in 2019.
4. Take the Christmas out of your jumper
I’ve seen some really over the top Christmas jumpers, which might be difficult to update to an all-season jumper. In this case, I refer you to points 1 and 2. If your jumper is a bit more subtle, then hide the Christmas references. Eleanor updated this semi-plain sweatshirt by cutting strips of a lightweight fabric. Thread a needle with a double a length of sewing thread approximately 45cm. Knot the end. Fold over the fabric at approximately 5cm folds. Sew through the centre of all the layers. Continue with more lengths of fabric, changing the colours if you wish. Pull together and secure with a couple of back stitches and a knot. Repeat until you have enough ruching to cover the message on your jumper. Alternatively, use the Boro and Sashiko technique to patch over the festivity on your jumper.
5. Swap with a friend
OK, you’ve worn your jumper for 7 years and fancy a change. Find a friend the same clothes size as you and swap your jumpers. Host a Christmas jumper swap with a group of friends or colleagues. Best to do it soon whilst everyone remembers where their jumper is and can wear it over the holidays.
Maybe you haven’t bought a Christmas jumper yet and still thinking about getting into the popular tradition. I spotted the jumpers at the top of this post in the window of my local charity shop and they had lots more inside. Buy from a charity shop-wear-donate-repeat. Use it like a form of rental and the money all goes to charity.
We never give up on an item of clothing but some repairs are more difficult than others. This jacket has a cigarette burn on the sleeve, which seems simple enough to repair. However, it is a waterproof jacket so we wanted to ensure the mend was also waterproof. It also belongs to someone who would like the mend to be as invisible as possible. Where do we find a fabric that matches close enough to make an invisible mend?
Where to find a suitable fabric for patching
Jackets, coats and shirts already have spare pieces of fabric for us to use as patches. Look on the inside of these garments and many pieces have been doubled. For example, a classic style shirt will have a yoke. The top part at the back underneath the collar. This is usually a double layer of fabric. Cuffs and collars on shirts, jackets and coats also have a double layer. This jacket has large welts for the pocket openings, which we were able to utilise.
Start with a tape measure or ruler
Draw a square or rectangle that is approximately 1cm larger around the area that needs patching. Using a sharp pair of scissors, cut into one layer of the pocket flap (or which ever area of the garment you are using to make a patch). The photo shows that we have only cut through one layer so there is no hole on the right side of the pocket or garment.
Repair the hole created by the patch
The hole that has been created inside the garment also needs repairing. It could be secured with an overstitch around the edge so that the fabric doesn’t fray. For this jacket we have created another patch so rain doesn’t get into the pocket. We used a scrap of polyester ripstop fabric that has been coated with plastic to make it shower proof. A piece of old shower curtain would do the trick. Keep a box of scrap fabrics left over from alternations and old clothing to use for patching other garments.
We used the patch we have cut to cut another patch from the ripstop fabric. We secured it with an overstitch. This fabric doesn’t fray, same as the original jacket fabric. This is because they are plastic coated. If you are patching a garment where the fabric frays you might want to press over the edges of the patch first. Press with a hot iron to create a fray free edged.
We then turned our attention to the original hole on the front of the jacket. We used invisible nylon thread to secure the patch. Nylon thread has waterproof properties, it is strong and glossy, which helps it glide through these thicker plastic coated fabrics. Jacket is now repaired, ready for another Winter.
During one of our online mend-a-longs, we talked about repairing waterproof jackets. One of our American friends on the call recommended a product called Spinnaker tape. A Googled search describes it as ripstop tape and sail repair tape. eBay had many options, I’ve included the search link here but if it doesn’t work search for ‘sail repair tape’. There were some second hand options.
Thanks to everyone who has joined us so far this Autumn. It is great to be back at the in person and online workshops, sharing ideas on how to mend our clothes after a summer break.
Our online sessions was particularly busy have been particularly busy and we have a few regulars joining our session from the other side of the Atlantic. We enjoyed fascinating discussions on clothes mending and we promised to share the links for all the recommendations.
It was Zero Waste Week at the beginning of September and we chatted about how to use up the small pieces of fabric left over from altering and upcycling clothes. Making twine or cord from scrap fabrics is time consuming but satisfying. Elizabeth is crocheting with hers. Wendy Ward creates new clothes from old clothes and fabric by patching it together. Such as the sweatshirt above worn by Barley from Fabrications. Listen to Barley and Wendy on the Check Your Thread podcast which shares ideas on sewing sustainably. Karen recommended following The Thrifty Stitcher who mostly teaches dressmaking but many are also relevant for clothes repair such as this video on how to hem stretch fabrics. Diane was mending a hole in her T-shirt during our online chat. We shared our video on how to darn as this technique is useful for mending any stretch fabrics as well as jumpers and socks.
Join us on the first Monday of the month via Zoom. 7:30 to 8:30pm. Next session is 7th November. We chat and share clothes mending ideas as we sew. It is an informal teaching workshop but feel free to ask us and any of the friendly group repair questions. Sign up to our newsletter to automatically receive joining details. Or book via Eventbrite.
The Create Place, Bethnal Green At our first October session at The Create Place the sewing machines were redundant. Everyone opted for hand sewing to mend their clothes. It resulted in a calm relaxed workshop. Everyone chatted about the places they were from and how they ended up in East London. We are back on Monday for more clothes mending fun. We are at The Create Place at St. Margaret’s House on the 2nd and 4th Monday of the month. The next couple of sessions are full but we have space on the 28 November. Please send us an email if you would like us to book you in.
The second session of the month was super busy with lots of new attendees and regulars. The sewing machines were back with a hive of mending activity along with plenty of hand sewing and darning.
We were back at The Remakery in Brixton on Monday. Thanks to everyone who came along making it a busy and fun evening. We fixed our clothes with jeans patching, pocket fixing, replacing elastic in waistbands, altering the fit on a dress, turning up the cuffs on a jacket, patching pyjamas, darning mittens, repairing a hole in a T-shirt and fixing the straps on a bag. Phew, all of that in 90 minutes! We are back at The Remakery on the 21st November. Book via Eventbrite. The event says 14th November at the moment but it will be updated soon. We are at The Remakery every third Monday of the month.
BIG GREEN WEEK: Thanks to everyone who came along to our T-shirt upcycling workshop in September for Big Green Week – we had loads of fun chopping and changing T-shirts, adding stitching and embellishments. Or making them into something completely different! Thanks @st.margarets.house and @thecreateplace for inviting us to take part
Our community clothes mending workshops at The Create Place are free thanks to Tower Hamlets Small Grants Fund. The workshops get busy so please book your place in advance via Eventbrite or send us an email. Click on the workshop button above for more details.
Our online mend-a-long is free to join thanks to a grant from Localgiving and Postcode Society Trust, a grant-giving charity funded by players of People’s Postcode Lottery.
Textile waste creates an estimated 92 tonnes globally each year according to this BBC article, Why clothes are so hard to recycle. For this week’s Zero Waste Week we are focusing on reusing one item of clothing in our wardrobes, the T-shirt. On average we own 22 T-shirts and tops. 24% of these are unworn, this is the top of all items of clothing and only second to footwear.
The above stats are part of a wardrobe survey undertaken by Ecowise who surveyed 709 people in March 2022 for Project BLUEPRINT. The project was commissioned by Essex County Council to create the first cross-border delivery model for Local Authorities to transition to a Circular Economy.
The results were fairly positive in terms of the respondents taking responsibility for their unworn clothes. 61% donated clothes to charity shops, 52% gave them away to friends whilst 49% re-purposed their clothes. So nearly half the respondents are mending and upcycling their clothes, great news! Sadly 38% are throwing them away in their recycling bins, which contaminates the rest of the recycling.
Five ways to save a T-shirt from landfill
1. Mend holes, cover stains, repair rips
Holes can easily appear in T-shirts. I find the area around my jeans button creates a hole as the metal pulls on the fabric. T-shirts are usually made from jersey fabric, which has a knitted construction, like a jumper. A hole can easily be repaired using either darning or patching. Regular sewing thread works well for darning T-shirts as the fabric is finer than a jumper. The technique is the same and instructions can be found on our how to darn video.
If the hole is larger then you may prefer to patch it. Eleanor patched a hole in her leggings, the technique is the same for T-shirts. Found out how to patch your T-shirt (or leggings) on our blog.
If you are struggling to get a stain out of a T-shirt then cover it with decorative patches or a pocket (see the end of the skirt instructions).
2. Alterations
Sometimes T-shirts just need a bit of adjusting to create a top that you will love wearing. The knit construction means you don’t always have to sew, just cut a few bits off! The fabric rolls in on itself rather than fraying. I’ve rolled up the sleeves off this T-shirt and added elastic to the shoulder seams to make the sleeves shorter and a ruched effect. Follow my how to shorten the sleeves on a jumper video. The technique is the same but add the elastic to the shoulder seam. Find more detail on how I altered the T-shirt on this separate blog post.
More T-shirt alteration ideas:
Trim the sleeves to create a cap sleeve.
Cut off the sleeves for a sleeveless top
Cut off the neck edging and reshape the neckline to a slash neck or V-neck
Shorten to a waist length or crop top
Shorten the hem by adding a length of elastic to the side seams, the same technique I mentioned above.
keep all the scrap pieces of T-shirt left over to use for patches or see tip 5
3. Upcycle into a skirt or pair of shorts
This works well with T-shirts that are damaged in the arm pit area as this part is cut off. Find more detailed instructions on our separate How To blog post. For shorts we recommend finding a sewing pattern that you like. Cutting up two T-shirts for the fabric then following the pattern. Charity shops have lots of sewing patterns often for a couple of pounds. If you pick up a vintage one, measure the flat paper pattern and compare it to your body measurements. Vintage patterns are often much smaller than our modern sizing.
4. Turn into a drawstring bag
This T-shirt is my husband’s favourite but he couldn’t remove the sweat smell after wearing it to the gym many times. I turned it into a bag for him to carry his boxing gloves, so I kept the Boxing Cat motif.
Cut the top off the T-shirt in a straight line, keeping the motif if it has one.
Cut off the sleeves. Cut off the hem as close to the line of stitching as possible.
Turn the T-shirt inside out, pin together where the arm holes have created a gap
Stitch where you have pinned using a sewing machine or backstitch by hand.
Repeat on the other side.
With an iron press a 2cm hem on the top of the T-shirt, right side to wrong side
Stitch around the hem, close to the raw edge, creating a 2cm ‘channel’.
Using the cut off hem as a drawstring, add into the channel with a safety pin.
5. Cut into patches and rags
If you have exhausted steps 1 to 4 and your T-shirt is beyond repair or upcycling it can still be of use. Cut along the side seams and shoulder seams to create two big pieces of fabric. Cut off the collar too. Cut the fabric of the T-shirt into squares in various sizes, save some in your mending box to repair other knit (stretchy) clothes such as T-shirts, sweatshirts and leggings.
With the remainder squares, edge them with an overstitch. Use the large squares as dusters, they work really well on glass and mirrors to get a lovely shine. Cut smaller squares and use them as face cloths instead of disposable wipes and cotton wool. I backed mine with the towelling from an old dressing gown and created a small drawstring bag to match (a smaller version of number 4.) I used an overlocker to finish the edges. A zig zag on a regular machine works just as well. If you are sewing by hand with an overstitch, use a thicker thread around the edges.
Below we have listed some basic items that are useful to build a repair sewing kit. If you are looking for more ideas, techniques or inspiration then please join our workshops on Monday evening. Three a month in person in London and one online. More details on the calendar section of our website.
Top tips for ticking clothes mending off your to do list
Since I’ve been teaching people to mend their clothes the more of my own clothes I have to mend. Karen, a regular workshop attendee, asked if we ever give up on an item of clothing. No is the answer and I think that is why my mending pile seems to be larger than ever. I did mend my clothes before I taught the workshops but I might give up more quickly on an item that wasn’t a quick fix. We have been running the workshops for four years and I rarely give up on an item of clothing. Choosing darning, patching, altering or upcycling the clothes so they feel new again! Here are my top tips on how to find time to mend your clothes.
1. Keep the clothes visible
Where do you keep your clothes that need to be repaired? I find if I put them in the wardrobe or drawers they never seemed to get fixed. I place mine in a small basket close to my wardrobe reminding me to mend them.
2. Mending kit
Keep a small sewing or mending kit to hand. You don’t need much equipment, a variety of needles, a few threads, yarns and patches of fabric. The most important thing is a sharp pair of scissors that you only use for fabrics and threads. Read our blog on how to build a repair kit.
3. Our free ‘How To’ video library
We have a range of how to videos to help with clothes mending. Whether that is darning a jumper or a pair of socks, patching for denim repair or any woven garments. Taking up a hem and upcycling clothes. Our most recent addition to the video library is how to replace a zip in a pair of denim shorts or jeans. Any garment with a fly front.
4. Our free online mend-a-long
Time is definitely an issue when it comes to clothes mending. We’ve been running a monthly mend-a-long online for the past couple of years to encourage people to mend their clothes. An hour once a month when a group of us get together to chat as we mend. It isn’t a formal teaching session but all clothes mending and upcycling questions are welcome. We learn of techniques we might not have thought of from people who join us from all over the UK and sometimes the US. Sign up to our newsletter for joining details.
I understand that it isn’t always quick and easy to fit clothes mending into your week. But sometimes it can be the smallest mends that prevent us from wearing our clothes. Whether that is a lost button or a small hole. Join us for a collective mending session and be amazed how much you can get repaired in an hour.
We are thrilled to announce that we have received £500 of funding for our online mend-a-long project through Localgiving Magic Little Grants Fund which is supported by Players of People’s Postcode Lottery – It means we are able to keep running this online-mend-along for free for a year, thank you to everyone who plays the People’s Postcode Lottery! We meet on the first Monday of the month (unless there is a bank holiday and we are taking a break in August).
Fast Fashion Therapy is four years old this August! We both applied to The Create Place to run clothes mending workshops separately. The Create Place suggested we work together and we haven’t looked back! All of the workshops mean nothing without you. Getting together as a group and seeing how many people really are engaged with sustainability is inspiring. We are all keen to find practical solutions to the problems surrounding us and these collective community experiences are more important than ever! We are thrilled that our Create Place workshops continue to be free for another year thanks to funding from Tower Hamlets and the East End Community Foundation. Thanks to St Margaret’s House and The Create Place for their continued support.
July was another busy clothes mending month, both in person and online. Thanks so much to everyone who has attended one of our sessions.
The Create Place, Bethnal Green
We are taking a break from workshops during August. We will still be adding ‘how to’ videos and blog posts to our website and social media pages if you need some clothes mending inspiration over the summer. We are back in September but are not taking bookings at the moment. We will be back in touch towards the end of August with more details.
Sometimes it is only something very small that stops us from wearing our clothes. I was given this vintage dress last summer. It is too small for me so I am going to sell it on Vinted. I’d kept putting off listing the dress as it has a button is missing in a prominent place.
I hunted through my collection of buttons but I couldn’t find a good match. I’ve had a look in charity shops when passing but no luck for a match. If I was keeping the dress I would have mismatched the buttons and made a feature of the mend. But as I am selling this dress on, I want it to be in good condition for the next owner.
The dress nagged me every time I went into my wardrobe. I hung it on the front of my wardrobe to remind me to do something about it. A few days later it struck me that I could reposition the buttons. The buttons are only a feature and not functional. It wouldn’t notice if the top button wasn’t there.
Five minutes later, I had removed the top button and stitched it to the place where the missing button had been. Luckily the thread was still hanging in position marking the spot. I went over the other buttons with a couple of stitches to ensure they also didn’t get lost. A quick press and it is ready to list on Vinted.
Another good place to find a button is on the cuffs of shirts and jackets. Use the matching buttons for the more prominent place. Replace the button on the cuff with a different button. If the button holes are functioning then select a button that fits through the button hole. Especially a cuff where you need to unbutton to get your arm in and out.
50g of vintage buttons (mixed) available on our Etsy shop.
Or create a new look by choosing mix-matched buttons! Watch our video to learn how to sew on a button.
Whether you love it or hate it, Love Island has been back on our screens for just over a month. With the first episode having around 2.4 million viewers, the effect of its new partnership with second hand retailer, eBay, can’t be ignored. After years of sponsorship by fast fashion brands like Pretty Little Thing and I Saw it First, Love Island is finally recognising its impact on fashion consumption.
Early reports have already suggested the push towards eBay is changing behaviour. Searches for reversible dresses on the site up by 200% and for cut-out dresses up 79% in the first week.
Second hand retailer ThredUp reported on the emergence of new technologies in the resale market. Online market places like Ebay or Depop has meant that 70% of consumers find it easier to shop second hand than they did five years ago. ThredUp claim that second hand clothing sales replaced just under 1 billion items of new clothing sales in 2021.
Graphic credit: ThredUp
With features like the ‘Love Island Edit’ on eBay’s homepage, resale retailers are now seeing the importance of making their goods easier to find and quicker to purchase when competing with fast fashion brands. This is positive news to counteract the unsustainable effects of fast fashion.
At Fast Fashion Therapy we encourage people to repair their clothes. It might be something you have owned for a long time or perhaps you bought it second hand. Something you found or brought brand new. There are no judgements on where you buy your clothes, we are just happy to help you repair it. Repairing clothes prevents them from reaching landfill and replacing the item with something new.
Courtest of Trade.org.UK
Jose baladron from Trade shared some interesting facts about at a webinar hosted by Essex County Council:
Total greenhouse gas emissions form textile production are 1.2 billion tonnes annually, more than those of all international flights and maritime shipping combined.
In the UK, we send over 300,000 tonnes of clothes to landfill every year, much of it wearable, worth £140m.
Extending product’s lifetimes are the first preference when it comes to actions to improve clothing’s sustainability. Extending the life of a garment by just 9 months reduces the carbon, water and waste footprints by 20-30% each
Speaking at the same webinar, Ecowise had conducted research on the wardrobe habits of 709 people living in the UK. They stated that the average respondent acquires between 4 to 10 items of clothing and gets rid of 3 to 8 items of clothing every three months.
In summary, buying your clothes second hand and repairing what you already have goes a long way to combat the negative effects of the fashion industry. Join us for a workshop this Autumn. We are taking a break from workshops during August but will be back in September on Monday evenings. Three a month in person and one a month online. Sign up to our newsletter for more details. Or keep your eye on the Calendar page of our website.
Today is World Ocean Day, the day where people around the world celebrate the oceans and seas that connects us all. As humans we have over polluted and over heated our seas for the past 100 years, if not more. At Fast Fashion Therapy, we have chosen to focus on the microplastic fibres that shred from our clothes into the ocean, causing damaging effects.
The main textile fibre to create micro plastics is Polyester. It might be known by other names in your clothes label. These are brand names from textile companies who have adapted the basic fibre. The general term is Polyester, which is a man-made synthetic Polymer.
Polyester is in 60% of our clothes in the UK and makes up 51% of all the fibres produced globally. It doesn’t require as much water to produce as Cotton but overall it has a more negative effect on our planet.
A polyester shirt has more than double the carbon footprint of a cotton shirt
Plastic fibres have been in mass production since the middle of the 20th Century and increasing in use ever since. During 2019’s Fashion Question Time, Laura Balmond, Project Manager for Make Fashion Circular (Ellen MacArthur Foundation) stated ‘[In 2018] there were 100m tonnes of fibres that were produced for all textiles. Over 60% of those are plastic based so it is difficult to swap out like for like. Where would we find 60 billion tonnes of natural fibres from as soon as you needed them?’. It isn’t as simple as immediately swapping the global fibre production to a more sustainable source.
UK charity, WRAP, are funding projects to find new innovations in plastics recycling, including Polyester textiles. They are looking for a ‘state of the art’ solution to this growing problem. Currently, only 1% of textiles are recycled into new clothing, mostly because there isn’t the technology or the logistics to manage this. There is also the problem that once plastic (inc Polyester) has been recycled it is difficult to recycle it again as it becomes a much weaker substrate.
How to reduce Microplastic fibre waste
We don’t have to wait for this new technology, we can make a change now:
Buy less new products, swapping to second hand clothes. Microplastic fibre waste will still be excreted from our clothes when we wash them but virgin materials are not required to create new clothes. Producing new clothes from Polyester causes negative environmental factors such as heat, chemicals and the use of non-replaceable fossil fuels.
When washing fabrics that contain Polyester or other forms of plastic fibres use a Guppy Friend Bag. Or a similar brand. It helps prevent microplastics from reaching our oceans.
Reduce the number of times clothes are washed. It isn’t necessary to wash clothes after every wear. Air the clothes by an open window or outside. Spot clean any stains.
Repair damaged clothes rather than buying new. Need help? We host weekly workshops in London or join us for an online mend-a-long once a month. We have lots of ‘how to videos’ to help you too.
