Each year the United States sends 12.8 million tons of textile waste to landfill. As style turnover has accelerated, so has our appetite for new, trendy clothing. Today we buy 4 times as much clothing as we did two decades ago, yet we get 36% less wear out of our garments before we discard them.

Inspired to empower consumers and keep clothing out of landfill, the Sustainable Fashion Alliance has partnered with Fibershed and California College of the Arts to present a unique “Mending Bar” experience designed to equip attendees with valuable tools that will help prolong the wearability of their loved pieces of clothing.

Taking place during Fashion Revolution Week in San Francisco, the event will feature five mending stations to join at your leisure. Onsite mending stations include: hand mending, machine mending and altering, knit darning, creative embroidery and an upcycle station, sponsored by Bella Notte Linens, where attendees can make drawstring bags from a variety of fabric scraps. In addition to light snacks and Revive Kombucha, attendees can show off their renewed and repaired duds in our “Loved Clothes Last” photo booth by Paige Green Photography.

What to bring (1-3 pieces): clothing with rips, tears or split seams, clothing that you’d like to learn to alter, clothing with stains or discoloration that you’d like to hide with embroidery

Tore your favorite jeans? Repair them with decorative Boro and Sashiko Japanese mending techniques

Found a hole or snag in your knit sweater? Darn them with new knitting skills

Not getting use out of an ill fitting dress or pair of trousers? Hem and/or alter to customize to your unique shape

Have a stain on a loved top? Hide with beautiful embroidery techniques