Join us this March for some slow-fashion and eco-friendly clothes fixes as part of this month’s #StressLess and the Eco-Hope programming in collaboration with The Academy for Sustainable Futures.

We’ve been inspired by the street stitchers and craftivists using visible mending (you can read more about them in this essay by Alyce McGovern) who are challenging the high consumption rates of the fashion industry, and repairing items instead of throwing them away. Street Stitching is a gentle form of activism, where people sit in the streets and offer to teach you how to mend clothes instead of throwing them away. We’ve adapted their slogan #StitchItDontDitchIt for the title of this blog, and you can find their QR codes and resources on the Street Stitching website.

The Workshop

This #StressLess event we will be slowly and mindfully mending any light repairs to clothes you might bring with you and sharing some basic sewing skills to upcycle clothes. We have rips to fix, an ongoing rucksack to decorate and simple ways to embroider your own patches.

There’s no previous sewing experience necessary (although we’re more than happy to learn new tricks if you’ve got skills to share!). We’ll be learning to sew together, with simple steps and a collaborative approach to eco-friendly slow fashion and recycling. As a starting point, we’ll be using some of the simple to follow techniques outlined in this video, ‘Learn The Basics of Visible Mending’ from Better Homes and Gardens:

So if you have any items of clothing that you don’t mind experimenting with, that could do with some visible mending, bring them along. Likewise bring any scraps of fabric that could be repurposed into patches, otherwise we have our own selection of fabrics to make patches, a rainbow selection of embroidery threads and some basic sewing skills to swap. No experience necessary! Try out some of these straightforward techniques in a stress free environment.

The ‘Slow fashion fixes and patches workshop‘ takes place on 12^th March 2024 from 3 – 5pm at the StressLess Zone, 2.16, Second Floor Augustine House (and on 20th March 2024, 12 – 2pm at The Students’ Union Hub). We will also run the workshop on a stall as part of the Bee Moo Sustainable Festival on 19th March at the Touchdown Cafe from 11 – 1:30pm