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> and to learn how to repair clothing This isn't easy and to be done well, involves a sewing machine. But there is another way: have someone repair your clothe
by bambax 5y ago
> and to learn how to repair clothing
This isn't easy and to be done well, involves a sewing machine. But there is another way: have someone repair your clothes for you! It's usually quite cheap and very effective.
I have very few items of clothing and usually wear them for 5-10 years, sometimes longer for things I don't use often (like a winter coat).
- andi999 5y agoWhere is having somebody repairing your clothing cheap? Mending a pair of jeans here costs almost as much as a new pair.
- maccard 5y agoI live in the UK, you can have a patch repair done to jeans, or a small alteration done for ~£10-15
- andi999 5y agoIsnt that the price of an unbranded jeans?
- rascul 5y agoIn the US I pay about $15 to $25 for jeans. No idea how much it would cost to have someone repair them.
- paulryanrogers 5y agoDepending on whom you hire repairs can be more than that. Still, paying someone to repair is more money supporting a local family and less waste.
- gkop 5y agoParent commenter’s point is you have options. Have you considered the wages and working conditions of the humans that manufactured that cheap new pair of jeans? We’re not talking about saving you money, we’re talking about you accepting certain trade offs (inconvenience, possibly increased cost or needing to learn a new skill), so that you can feel better about avoiding contributing to human suffering in sweat shops. Another perspective is, if you are buying jeans that are not economical to repair - considering buying better quality jeans! With some research, you might even find high quality jeans made by people earning a living wage under healthy working conditions. Jeans you might love for a decade or more (good for the planet too!). If you’re not open to these trade offs, I totally get it, most people aren’t - but this thread is not for you.
- Icathian 5y agoI grabbed an old, used sewing machine in grad school to repair some things. Sewing is one of the simplest "practical" skills, I'd encourage more people to learn the basics. I have taught a bunch of people in about a day, at least enough to make very simple garments and patch more complicated ones. The real downside of it, now that I'm older, is that it's very time consuming, especially for larger projects. Sinking a couple hours into getting set up, measuring, cutting, sewing, etc is just hard to fit in. Clicking a couple buttons on Amazon and getting it off my to do list is often a lore more important.
- paulryanrogers 5y agoBeing older I feel myself drawn to the shortcut of buy something and throw out/donate the old. Time is precious. Yet I try to remind myself of the growing mountain of landfill that I've been building with every trip to the garbage can. (Typing this from a thrift store parking lot where I'm trying to avoid buying more new clothes.)
- gkop 5y agoThis resonates. It’s kind of like a carbon footprint lifestyle inflation. For me, I’m using more paper towels around the house than what I allowed myself to use when I was younger. Honest question to the environmental experts here: what’s the best way for me to throw money at this personal problem? Carbon credits? Donations to particular nonprofits? Other ideas?
- rascul 5y ago> This isn't easy and to be done well, involves a sewing machine My mom taught me to sew when I was young. I find it generally easy, no sewing machine required. I repair most of my clothing with a $10 sewing kit from Walmart. Every couple years or so I go and buy some more thread and maybe needles. Any clothes that get too far gone to repair go to the scrap pile, which I'll use for patches, or maybe rags in the garage. T-shirts generally aren't worth the effort, but just about anything else I can usually sew up in about 30 minutes or so by hand. Might not look great but these clothes turn into work clothes after I repair them.
- nanomonkey 5y agoSewing machines are often free on Craigslist, or at least cheap. If you're living frugally you should join a Hacker group or tech shop as these will almost always have an industrial sewing machine and free laptops/electronics/parts. My buddy does maintenance-meditation (Maintetation?) where he hand repairs an article of clothing every morning. There is a zen to repairing your bike and clothes with minimal tools.