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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
National
Cathal Ryan

Penneys to offer free sewing classes in stores for shoppers to learn how to repair own clothes

Ever buy a nice new shirt only to rip it when putting it on? Or maybe you have bought a new pair of pants that are just a bit too long and you can’t afford to get another pair.

For a lot of people, the quickest and easiest way to fix this is to head to Penneys and pick up an affordable replacement, however, this can cause a significant amount of waste.

Now, as part of a commitment to become a more sustainable and circular business, Penneys is set to offer free sewing workshops in stores so customers can learn how to make repairs to their own clothes.

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Launched as part of the Primark Cares strategy, the Love It For Longer repair workshops focus on basic hand-sewing techniques, from learning how to fix a zip to replacing buttons and helping them to repair and re-wear their clothing.

The rollout will be in Ireland in April, with one workshop per month planned until August. Each class will be hosted by a series of local experts and each session has a capacity for 15 people, although there will be more than one session a day.

This is not the first year the project is being run however, a successful pilot of over 40 free repair workshops across the UK, Ireland, The Netherlands and Germany was run last year.

Speaking on the rollout to the Irish Mirror, Lynne Walker, Director of Primark Cares said: “We’re delighted to be rolling out our repair workshops in Penneys stores.

"Our goal is to strengthen the durability of our clothes and keep clothes in use for longer as part of our commitment to become a more circular business. Educating customers on repair is one small step forward in our journey.”

The repair workshops are free to attend, and places can be booked in advance here.

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