5 reasons to mend your clothes

In a world full of fast fashion where clothes have become disposable products, we tend to forget that you can also repair a torn piece of clothing, instead of quickly buying something new (online). Nevertheless, it's worth it to invest some time in mending your ripped clothes. With or without visible mending. Read on to discover 5 very valuable reasons to start right away.

1. You save money

The more often you mend holes in your clothes or camouflage stains, the less often you need to buy new clothes. This allows you to save some money in the short run, allowing you to invest in more sustainable alternatives in the long run.

2. You reduce the amount of textile waste

Every year, more than 80 million tons of textile end up in the landfill. Every time you repair a piece of clothing, that's 1 less item that disappears into this gigantic heap. That doesn't really seem much, at first, that's true. But if each Belgian saves 1 piece of clothes each year, that already amounts to 11 million socks, t-shirts, pairs of trousers and sweaters that are saved from this faith. And that does amount to something already, doesn't it?

3. You create your own unique style

Mending your clothes doesn't have to be boring, you can make it as visible and as outstanding as you like. If you opt for visible mending, you can even turn your old garments into true pieces of art, that look better than they ever did before.

4. You appreciate the clothes you already have much better

With the rise of fast fashion, we have started to view our clothes as disposable products, without stopping to think how much effort actually goes into making them. Because believe you me: clothes are still sewn by people, not machines. If you spend time and effort to mend your own clothes, you start to look at them in a different way, as something to cherish. So that, in the end, you don't even want to get rid of them anymore.

5. You learn a new, handsy skill, and that leads to mental peace

Naaien, borduren, oplappen… Het zijn allemaal ‘trage’ vaardigheden, waarbij je even gaat zitten, en je je concentreert op een creatief proces met je handen. Hierdoor vertraag je ook zelf, wat dan weer bijdraagt tot je mentale rust. En laat dat in een maatschappij waarin alles snel moet gaan net iets zijn waar we met z’n allen op regelmatige basis nood aan hebben.

Convinced that you want to start mending, but not sure where to start? get inspired , learn how to get started with these tutorials, or come join a workshop. But careful, though, mending can become addictive.