Primark launch special 'repair workshops' to teach people how to sew their clothes in Milton Keynes

A series of special ‘repair workshops’ is taking place at the city centre’s Primark store next Tuesday, February 21.

The free sessions will teach people how to sew a button on, so hand sewing stiches and even sew on a zip.

The aim is to encourage fashion lovers to give their clothes a longer life by repairing them instead of throwing them away,

A Primark spokesman said: “At Primark, we’ve always been about great fashion at affordable prices, now we want to help people buy better and more sustainably.

“Our Primark Cares strategy, launched in 2021, sets out our ambitious commitments to make more sustainable fashion affordable for everyone. As part of this, we’ve been running free repair workshops across the UK, Ireland, The Netherlands and Germany to give our customers and colleagues the opportunity to learn new skills in repairing clothing so they can love and care for their clothes for longer."

Next Tuesday will see three one-hour masterclass workshops, plus a drop in repairs session. They will be led by Lorraine Mitchell, who is a fashion designer and lecturer at City of Westminster College and UAL.

“They focus on basic hand-sewing techniques, from learning how to fix a zip to replacing buttons, making people think twice before throwing things away,” said the Primark spokesman.

First is the Hand-Sewing Techniques workshop, from 10.00am to 11.00am. People will learn basic hands-on techniques and stitches to repair, rewear and relove their favourite Primark clothing. Free tickets for this can be booked through Billetto here.

At 11.30am there is a Buttons Workshop. The spokesman said: “You'll leave knowing about different button types and methods of attachment (and practised them yourself), meaning you will be able to reattach buttons and even update your loved Primark clothing with new style buttons. No experience is required and we’ll provide everything you need to take part.”

Free tickets can be booked here.

From 1pm to 2pm there is a Zips Workshop and tickets for this can be booked here.

From 2.30pm to 3.30pm, the store will run a repair drop-in session for people to speak to Lorraine and questions about repairing clothes.