Fix It, Don't Toss It: A Letter About Mending

Fix It, Don't Toss It

1Dear Families,

2A button pops off a coat. A sock gets a hole in the heel. A favorite pair of jeans rips at the knee. In many homes, clothes like these end up in the trash. But a needle, some thread, and a few minutes could save them. Every kid should learn to mend clothes, because mending saves money, cuts down on waste, and builds confidence.

3Mending saves families money. A small sewing kit costs less than a single new shirt, and it can last for years. Sam Patel, age eleven, learned to sew on buttons from his grandmother. Last winter he fixed three coats for his younger brothers instead of buying new ones. "My mom said the money we saved paid for a family trip to the movies," he said.

4Mending also keeps clothes out of landfills. Clothes that are thrown away can sit in a landfill for many years. Some fabrics, such as polyester, are made from plastic and break down very slowly. Every shirt that gets fixed is one less shirt in the trash. At Brookside Elementary, one class held a mending day and repaired a big pile of clothes that families had planned to throw away.

5Finally, learning to mend helps kids feel capable. Threading a needle takes patience, and the first few stitches are often crooked. After some practice, the stitches get neater. Rosa Delgado, who teaches sewing to young people, says her students stand a little taller when they wear something they fixed themselves. One of her students now patches the torn jerseys of her whole soccer team.

6Some people say that clothes are cheap, so fixing them is a waste of time. But a quick repair often takes less time than a trip to the store. Mending is a simple skill that pays off again and again. Please help your child learn it at home, and join us for our next family mending night in the school library.

7Sincerely,
Kwame Asante, Parent Volunteer