MISSOULA — Community members got together Sunday night to not only repair clothing but to also give a space for people to feel more comfortable in their own clothes.
“This was the first opportunity for me to like, really dive into a community that I haven't tapped into yet,” said Madeline Kleeman, a sewist at Mend-O-Rama.
The event allowed community members the opportunity to bring in clothing to be patched up, hemmed or have buttons replaced.
“It was apparent that people wanted second-hand clothes. But a big problem with second-hand clothes is that they are sometimes in need of a little bit of fixing up,” said Julia Battisti, organizer of Mend-O-Rama and owner of Bubblegum.
Mend-O-Rama started from the idea of keeping clothing repair contained within the Missoula community, with the hope that community members would not only show up for clothing repair but also come with the hopes of getting to know other Missoula neighbors that they otherwise may not have come in contact with.
“I bought a sewing machine two years ago as a way of recycling my own wardrobe," Kleeman said. "There’s a lot of things I didn’t want to get rid of because I love them, but I didn’t like the way they felt on my body or fit."
That was perhaps the biggest aspect of Mend-O-Rama, helping people fit and feel better in their clothing that they had either picked up second-hand or had lying around.
“I ended up mending and cutting and putting on different things, which ultimately made me more comfortable in my wardrobe,” Kleeman explained. “I just wanna see more of this and more community members coming together to share skills and share clothes and like, ultimately feel better.”
