In Edmonton, Canada, a community event centered on mending old clothes has been running for years. The "Human Ecology Clothing Repair Café" at the University of Alberta opens regularly every month during the academic year, inviting local residents to bring in old clothes with holes, misshapen seams, or alterations in mind.

Samantha Barrios Mendoza, a psychology student and event coordinator, said the event has persisted for five years, and participation has clearly increased over the past year or so. She believes this is related to cost-of-living pressures: "Everyone is strapped for cash right now, so naturally more people are learning to sew. Rather than spending hard-earned money on new clothes, it's better to repair the things you love."

On site, needles, thread, fabric, ribbons, as well as drinks and snacks are provided, and sometimes professionals are invited to teach new repair techniques. Most of the work is patching holes, but some people come to alter sizes—letting out or taking in skirts or shirts, or turning fabric into bags.

Participant Pearce Carpenter was stitching up two holes in the crotch of a pair of black bloomers bought from an Edmonton thrift store. They first shortened the hem, attached blue fabric with yellow checks, and re-serged the edge to lengthen the pants. "There's so much textile waste in the world. Repairing old clothes, even just patching a crotch, is a quiet little act of resistance," Carpenter said. "Crotches wear out especially fast because of thigh friction."

Multiple participants said mending clothes is also a way to reduce the environmental impact of fast fashion. The UN Environment Programme estimates that the amount of textile waste generated globally each year is equivalent to one full garbage truck of clothing being landfilled or incinerated every second. Barrios Mendoza said: "The fashion industry launches new products and new fabrics every day. Not buying new clothes and mending by hand is taking action for sustainability." She also acknowledged that repair cannot reverse the climate crisis, but it means a great deal to those who do it. She remembers someone adding floral embellishments to their wedding dress, and a mother making an apron from fabric saved from her child's infancy to give to her child who had grown up and moved away. "People preserve memories through mending."

Another participant, Tacjana Maj-Pfleger, was sewing fabric onto the back of an old denim jacket for extra thickness. "I have a belief: good clothes don't have to be new clothes," she paused, "Honestly, I'm pretty poor, and fast fashion itself is terrible."

Barrios Mendoza herself has been mending since her teens. A bag she has used for fifteen years—its strap broke, holes appeared one after another—was all sewn back by her. Now covered in patches and stitches, she sees in it her own journey from beginner to gradually neat stitching. "This bag has become a part of me now."

Source: 'Stitched it back': Edmonton sewing event where locals mend clothes promotes sustainability · Originally published 2026-09-21