Why Repairing Your Clothes Matters
Fast Fashion is the #6 most polluting industry! It creates water pollution and CO2 (as much as France + Germany + the UK). It’s more sustainable to repair clothes instead of buying more.
“Clothing used to be priced per its true value. Garments were designed to last, and people took care of them. We need to bring that back! A just fashion future depends on the revival of collective practices that bring us closer to our clothes and slow down how much we consume.”
Mending Tips to Try:
Visible Mending- deliberately shows that you mended something in order to make a statement (ie: aims using brightly colored threads or added patches. Check out #visiblemending for ideas, like:
Fixing Your Clothes - Sewing or Not!
What is the most common repair in clothing? The most common mends are holes that need patching or darning, followed by seams that have come undone or split, closely followed by alterations to resize an item of clothing.
TUTORIALS
4 Ways to Fix Clothes - wikiHow
Being able to fix your own clothing is a valuable skill that will save you money over the years. Additionally, it will reduce your carbon footprint by keeping more discarded items out of landfills!
Types of Clothing Repair: A DIY Sewing Guide | AllFreeSewing.com.
Fast Fashion Therapy @fast_therapy (twitter)
Clothes mending workshops with Eleanor & Sarah Learn to repair, upcycle + alter clothes online and in person workshops #visiblemending #mendingmonday
NO-SEW PRODUCTS
Stitch Witchery Fusible Bonding Web - Create seamless hems, trims, or even belts using the stitch witchery. You can use it to easily bond two layers of fabric by simply steam ironing them together. It is washable, dry-cleanable, and easy to maintain. Available at most craft stores.
Fabric glues -
- Aleene's® No Sew Fabric Glue™ has a unique formula that provides a temporary hold while basting and stitching. It won’t gum up your sewing needle as your work, and the glue remains permanent until washed, so your textile project stays just so until fully stitched. For decorative crafting with both natural and synthetic fabrics. Great for a project that you need to put together fast to wear immediately!
- Liquid Stitch Permanent Fabric Adhesive - This liquid stitch is non-toxic permanent adhesive. Use for hems, appliques, patches, zippers, clothes and more. It is machine and dry washable. Makes for a great durable alternative to sewing and is a must have for any craft basket or sewing kit.
Books
In essays that accompany each how-to chapter, Katrina Rodabaugh explores mending as a metaphor for appreciating our own naturally flawed selves, and she examines the ways in which mending teaches us new skills, self-reliance, and confidence, all gained from making things with our own hands. Amazon.com: Mending Matters: Stitch, Patch, and Repair Your Favorite Denim & More
Measuring The Impact Of Repair - TRAID
What are Sustainable, Fast, and Upcycled Fashion or Clothing?
Fast Fashion: Over the years, retail has shifted away from higher quality “slow” fashion to a “fast” fashion model that has inexpensive, low quality, & made to be discarded in a short timeframe. Clothing is produced rapidly, often without consideration of environmental impacts, toxins, or workplace conditions. Fast fashion has changed consumer shopping habits and is negatively impacting people and the environment.
Upcycled clothes:
- Consider a Clothing Swap with friends! It's easy- everyone brings clothes that aren't exciting to them anymore. Line up all the clothes around a room and shop! The clothes that are leftover can be brought to Goodwill or a clothes recycling bin.
- Shop 2nd hand at curated consignment shops like ReCHIC in Orinda. The clothes are high quality for 1/2 the price. You can also sell your clothes on consignment to earn some cash.
- Visit thrift stores like The Way Side Inn in Lafayette at 3521 Golden Gate Way.
- Use Thredup.com to buy 2nd hand and clean out your closet for cash.
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