We support local employment
Patch me up helps connect skilled local seamstresses with clothes owners in need of repair or alterations. The seamstresses are based all over the UK, with many working from home. This supports rural, flexible employment and helps connect people with a passion for sustainability and circularity.
"[Patch me up is] for us as creatives who want to use our skills to encourage sustainability and help our planet become less toxic from landfill."
(Chinyel)
"I used to work in a sewing shop doing alterations. I would like to [work] while keeping flexibility for school holidays, kids illnesses etc."
(Gemma)
"I trained while at school and learned along the way for 25 years and run [a] sewing shop. I love fixing things and I think it’s great to giving new life to clothes."
(Tanya)
Patch me up is a platform that facilitates that transaction, which means 85% of your payment goes directly to the sewists. The rest helps us run the platform and spread the word about affordable and accessible clothing repairs and alterations.
Our Story
I started Patch me up because I was frustrated. I ordered an amazing, colourful trouser off vinted but it just did not fit! In the past I would have sold it on again or donated it to a charity shop, but I really wanted to wear this trouser. That got me wondering: What was keeping me from repairing?
And the truth was - laziness. Or perhaps being kinder to myself, the lack of accessibility to cheap and convenient clothing repairs.
My next high street tailor is a 30min journey away, open at inconvenient hours, and untransparent on pricing. Finding time to make the trip and guess how much it would cost - ultimately I would rather buy new or throw clothes out. But that's not what I wanted! I work on climate change and sustainability after all, so my clothes should reflect that.
So I decided, there must be a better way. Online tailoring - I place an order online,ship it, and them my mended clothes get returned to me. No faffing about when to make the time for a trip to the tailors. No guess work on whether I could afford it. In fact, repairing should be cheaper than buying new.
Since, I could not find a service that fit my needs, I decided to start my own. Mind you, I can barely re-attach a button to a shirt, so I tapped into an amazing community of seamstresses who shared my passion and also found out my mission could support rural and flexible employment along the way.
Thank you for joining my revolution and I hope Patch me up will make it easy, convenient, and cheap for you to keep wearing, and ordering second-hand, clothes with confidence.