MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - A free sewing service is stopping by shelters and housing programs around the Twin Cities.
Known as the Mobile Menders, the group’s motto is simple: sewing mends the soul, Minnesota Public Radio reported.
The group fixes everything from pants, shirts, shoes, blankets and backpacks. Items sometimes have missing buttons, broken zippers, holes and waistbands that need to be taken in.
“I’ve had several experiences with people that fixing this garment or this shoe or the headphones was a very big deal to them,” said Carla Inderrieden, one of the group’s volunteers. “They couldn’t afford another one. And they were going to be walking on it that way or wearing it that way.”
Michelle Ooley founded the volunteer group in May. She works at the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency in St. Paul and was inspired after volunteering in the agency’s annual Earth Day initiative.
Some volunteers sew as a hobby while others have professional experience.
A lot of resources go into making new clothing, so repairing clothes instead of throwing them away is good for the planet, said volunteer Cathy Jensen.
“The idea of throw-away clothes is an anathema to us,” she said. “So if we can make sure that somebody’s favorite pair of pants stays in use, we’re way ahead in terms of all those resources (being used).”
The group volunteers once a month at shelters and housing programs. They fix what they can on the spot and sometimes take home more difficult clothing projects that require special buttons, long zippers or more work.
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Information from: Minnesota Public Radio News, https://www.mprnews.org
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