A clothes mending day will run at Frome Town Hall this month offering residents practical help to repair and reuse worn garments.
The Mammoth Mending Day, taking place on Saturday 31st January from 10am to 4pm, is organised by the Everyone Needs Pockets Textile Network, a group devoted to cutting waste, saving money and encouraging sustainable fashion at a local level.
“Come with all your piles of clothes that need a fix,” said the organisers. “It’s a new year, so it’s a great time to get things sorted. Do you have clothes that just need a bit of repair – a hole, a button, a tear? Or maybe you need advice on an alteration, or whether a bit of clothing can be salvaged?
“Volunteers from the Everyone Needs Pockets Textile Network will be there throughout the day. The stitchers and fixers will be working through their own pile of mends, but they can help you with yours too.
“The Mammoth Mend is aiming to fix over 100 items in a day, so come along and help make it happen, learn new skills, get that feel-good satisfaction of fixing something yourself and enjoy the warm, friendly welcome. There are free hot drinks too.
“If you’re new to mending, don’t worry – from learning to thread a needle and making a simple patch to learning some visible mending techniques, the volunteers will do their best to support you with advice and skill sharing.
“If you are struggling to mend your clothes yourself – maybe your eyesight or hands make it hard – no problem, come along and we will do our best to help. And if you don’t have anything to mend yourself, come along and help someone else.”
Threads, needles, cloth for patches and a sewing machine will be available but if there is a specific colour of thread or patch you want, please bring it with you.
One resident who attended a recent session, Ben, said, “That was great. I’m going home to finish it off. Now I know how to fix my pile of jeans at home.”
The Pockets Network aims to make loved clothes last longer and keep them out of landfill – helping to ease the problem of the huge amount of textile waste created every year from throw-away fashion. The network is supported by Edventure Frome’s Future Shed – a place for community-led action supported by the Lottery’s Climate Action Fund.
To book your place at the event, visit https://bit.ly/4pCy0l2
Pictured: A recent Mammoth Mending Day with Everyone Needs Pockets
