Dress ECOde’s lifestyle – No, I don’t throw away no! Stories about repairing

The backstory

It’s November. We are temporarily in the city where I was born (Modena), for family reasons going back and forth from the hospital. I wear a bag bought many years ago, unfortunately in a fast fashion chain. I really like the model and I try to make it last for a long time, having now made a senseless purchase, before embracing sustainable fashion. It’s faux leather, so it’s okay about respect for animals but… often synthetic materials are used to avoid leather but have nothing respectful of animals and the environment. But who knew then? So I try to make it lasts as long as possible.

The damage

I’m in Modena and looking at the bag I exclaim: “I really like this model! It’s really cute!”. The next day, I don’t know how, a peeling appears on the top… To be thrown away.

I can’t do it. After collecting plastic and waste, I think and think again before throwing an item like this away. It should be a solution… If it were made of good quality leather, such as those we find in vintage and second-hand shops, it would have its charm even ruined (and in any case it wouldn’t peel like that) or it would be worth taking it to your trusted cobbler for repair. Instead this is what happens when you buy such pieces in fast fashion chains.

The solution

Time passes, the bag remains in a corner of the closet, waiting for a solution. Until one day, in fact, arranging fabrics and scraps I find a square of brown eco-leather. What if… What if I try to fix it myself, with a darker colored insert? I put the fabric close to the bag and it seems to work!

The recovery

I didn’t take any photographs of the bag before the restoration. It occurred to me during the recovery operation! In the video, however, you can see half as it was before the intervention. Originally, it was of a single color. I placed the sheet of a newspaper on the bag to take the shape of the insert to be covered. Then I placed the paper template on the back of the fabric, drawing the line to be cut with a pencil, trying to keep half a centimeter of the edge for safety. In fact, I imagined that the fabric would shrink once attached.

After sprinkling them with fabric glue, I patiently put the two shapes on the bag, mainly pressing on the edges and going over the corners.

Finally I passed the hair dryer, so that the inserts adhered better. I remembered when dad used to make me blow the hair dryer as a child to let the covers of school books adhere better…

Click here to watch the video

 

The outcome

And here is the result! I don’t dislike the final effect. I have to apply the glue again on the corners now that the first pass is dry. These are the points where it will otherwise tend to rise. In the meantime, however, I’ll show you in the photo.

How does it look to you? I really appreciate the idea of being able to use it for a long time to come! Even if it is no longer in a solid color, I can still wear it pleasantly.

Did you also happen to repair a “fast fashion quality level” purchase, before the conversion to sustainable fashion? If you want to tell me the story, write me by clicking on the button below! I will gladly listen to it and it will be nice to share it with those like us who are trying to reduce their environmental footprint.

 

 

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