Broadford and Strath Community Company Company team up with RagTag to provide monthly textile mending workshops.

Broadford and Strath Community Company (BSCC), of the Highland Community Waste Partnership, have teamed up with Ragtag to host a series of free ‘Make do and Mend’ workshops every fourth Monday of the month in the Isle of Skye.

Ragtag is a charity well known in Broadford for recycling, reusing and restyling second hand clothes, with tutors skilled in the arts of textiles, running a range of workshops for the community. These workshops focus on decorative clothes repair, providing people with the opportunity to maintain and refresh their wardrobe with style, and avoid throwing away old clothes and save on buying new ones.

Helen MacLeod of Ragtag said of the workshops ‘Here people have an opportunity for one-to-one tutor time, in a supportive environment, where the other students share skills and help each other.’

Highland Community Waste Project Officer Janet Ullman added ‘Ragtag is a wonderful laid-back place, where you can gain simple traditional skills in sowing and textiles, all of which help you keep your clothes looking fresh and fabulous’.

The phrase ‘Make do and Mend’ is back because clothing is a big environmental concern with 85% of all textiles ending up in landfill. In addition is the need to factor in how clothing production is responsible for 10% of carbon emissions and takes up water resources and pollutes water courses.

These days ‘Make do and Mend’ is about breaking the cycle of disposable clothing. By learning how to repair clothes we can make our wardrobes last and save money.

To see what textile repair workshops are available in your area visit the Highland Community Waste Partnership Events page.