Posts

Last Day of Repair What We Wear Month

Image
  During October 2025, we have focused on how to repair clothes as a way of reducing clothing waste. Look back over all the posts that have been made during the month. We have covered a wide range of topics. The items shared will include how to … ideas, links to video instructions, great online articles, case studies as well as where you can get help in Canberra with repairing clothes. We have focused on what individuals can do to reduce clothing waste. But, more needs to be done by clothing manufacturers and governments to reduce clothing waste. One scheme to watch is Seamless Australia , which aims to deliver a program to support a coordinated national clothing collection, sorting, reuse and recycling system for Australia. It is supported by the Australian Government. It is initially funded by a 4 cents per garment levy paid by clothing brands that become members of the scheme. You can check out which companies have joined Seamless Australia here . Nina Gbor from the Austral...
Post a Comment
Read more

Examples of Repaired clothes

Image
The following examples of repaired clothes have been provided by Jill Whittaker from the Hawker Community Repair Cafe. It shows what is possible with repairs. Kids are hard on their clothes but luckily this small person loves the mended look. For double clothes-saving, the yellow knee patch is from an odd sock! An expensive linen shirt somehow landed with a bleach stain. The stain was cut out and a decorative patch applied to keep the shirt wearable. Not all repairs need to be visible. This vintage wool cloak was invisibly repaired at the Hawker Community Repair Cafe. A section of the hem was removed to patch a moth hole. Delicate stitching was used to sew down the outside edges of the hole with stitches so tiny you can't see them in the outside, which is why the first picture is from the wrong side, taken part way through the process.
Post a Comment
Read more

Hawker Community Repair Cafe

Image
  When: Quarterly, 10am to 1pm (check their Facebook page for dates of next repair café) The next repair café (and last for 2025) is on Sunday 14 December 10am to 1pm. Where : Hawker Softball centre, Walhallow Street, Hawker The Hawker Men’s Shed host a repair café at the Hawker Softball Centre every 3 months. You can get a clothing item repaired at the café. In addition, volunteers can help repair small electrical items, small furniture, small household items, toys, jewellery, leather goods, bikes, lawn mowers, small motors, garden/shed tools as well as getting tools/knives sharpened. Back in September, one of the amazing volunteers did some creative upcycling by combining old frayed ski pants with a broken umbrella. Now that is creative! If you have read the other earlier posts on this website, you will notice that there are six repair cafes in Canberra and they do things slightly differently. The Hawker repair café is run in conjunction with a Made Local Market. At t...
Post a Comment
Read more

Dispose Responsibly

Image
  What happens if you have clothing that no longer fits you and fixing them still won’t make them fit? What about clothes that you simply don’t like to wear at all (and you have decide you will never wear). The first option that we think of is to donate to an op shop. Just remember that op shops don’t want rubbish – it costs them lots of money to send rubbish clothes to landfill. Also, don’t just leave clothes on the street outside an op shop – they go straight to landfill. Another option is to donate to groups and distributors which upcycle, distribute goods directly to charities such as Givit, or distribute clothes which they know will be used in our local community. Upparel.com.au   will sort through your clothes and reuse, repurpose or recycle. The recycling involves turning clothes into other products. Another option is to sell your unwanted clothes at a second-hand market or online. You can also contribute garments to a local Facebook clothes exchange. What happens...
Post a Comment
Read more

Buy Less

Image
  We are now entering the last week of Repair What We Wear month. Repairing is great and we have been celebrating ways of repairing all month. If we are serious about reducing clothing waste, then it starts by buying less. On average, every Australian buys 56 items of clothing, including socks and underwear, each year, most of which are made from non-sustainable, non-durable materials. One way to buy less is to ensure you wear your existing clothes more so you don’t need to buy clothes. The most sustainable garment is the one you already own. One s tudyhas shown that the most impactful action we can take to reduce our environmental footprint in the fashion world is to wear our clothes until they are worn out. Researchers found that an item of clothing usually lasts between 100-200 wears. However only a small amount of clothing gets that amount of use. We need to reduce our desire to spend, and try to get the most use out of the clothes we have. Studies show that 30% of the cl...
Post a Comment
Read more

Capsule Wardrobe

Image
  A capsule wardrobe is a limited selection of interchangeable clothing pieces that complement each other. These are often classic pieces that do not go out of style and are primarily composed of neutral colours. A capsule wardrobe allows you to create a variety of different outfits with a small selection of clothes. This idea is not new having been around in the 1970s. A capsule wardrobe results in less clothing waste as clothes are worn multiple times. It means that you can focus your repairing to a smaller set of clothes. It saves you money and time. There is less stress and fatigue in making a decision on what to wear. Building a capsule wardrobe starts with doing an audit of your current wardrobe (see day 2). Identify the items that you really enjoy wearing as this will be the beginning of creating a capsule wardrobe. You then need to decide on the number of clothing item you want (e.g. two dresses, three sweaters etc). The number will depend on your climate, your lifestyl...
Post a Comment
Read more

Tuggeranong Repair Cafe

Image
  When: Last Sunday of each month (Feb-Nov) 1pm to 4pm. The next repair café is on this Sunday, 26 October . Where: Impact Community Hub, 200 Clive Steele Ave, Monash The Tuggeranong Repair Café is a great place to get a clothing item repaired. The only cost would be for any parts required although donations are welcome. It is a friendly place to be with refreshments provided in the café for a small charge. Clothing is only one of the many items that can be repaired. Check their Facebook page for a full list of repairers at upcoming repair cafes. It might include repairs to electrical, jewellery, laptops, garden equipment, lawn mowers, toys and bikes. The Tuggeranong Repair Café is also the location to get and swap your Lids4Kids Swap’n Go Zero Waste Warrior tub. If you are not familiar with this Lids4Kids tub, it allows you to drop in a wide range of hard to recycle items including plastic lids, rubber bands, toothbrushes, pens, metal rung pulls, corks, aluminium, batter...
Post a Comment
Read more