Meet The Makers: Martina and Sasha from Patagonia Worn Wear

We’re delighted to have the Worn Wear team joining us at Timber Festival this summer from the 5th to the 7th July. Repairing items across the weekend, the Worn Wear team will also be running two visible mending workshops giving you the skills to care for your clothing. 

The Festival will be a great opportunity to learn new mending skills, but we’re just as excited to meet-up with the makers behind the mending. We recently caught up with Martina and Sacha, two repair techs from the Worn Wear team, to ask them a few questions about their work, nature connection and why repairing is so important.

Martina by Hannah Bailey

All The Elements: Repairing gear sounds like such a cool job - how did you get into this role? 

Martina: I’ve loved sewing since I was thirteen and made my own prom dress aged fifteen. I’ve many years experience with clothing design and technology, from studying for my BA through to making bespoke dresses and working in the fashion industry. I had just been made redundant from a company where I worked with a girl who happened to know Lisa [one of the team] at Patagonia. Lisa was looking for someone who could sew and that’s where the repairs started…

Sacha: I was introduced to Patagonia by my very good friend Martina. Fashion has always been a passion of mine and as we studied on the same Fashion Design course we embarked on similar paths, both creating our own fashion businesses. So when Martina presented this unique opportunity to me I was more than keen to join the Worn Wear team.

ATE: What advice would you give to someone who wanted to start learning how to repair? 

Martina: Don’t be afraid to give it a go and if needs be, YouTube has a million “how to” vids to help you. The more you do it the better you become and like most things really, it’s not always as difficult as you may think.

Sacha: My advice would be to practice at home if you have a machine. Practice makes perfect! There are also numerous repairs that can be done by hand. You can then start to build a portfolio and improve your skills.

ATE: Why is repairing so important?

Martina: We can’t just be a “throw away” culture. Although some of my clothes have holes and need repairs (I’m usually busy fixing everyone else’s) I will hold onto it until I have time to repair because I believe that 9.9 times out of 10 something can always be fixed. It’s a new mindset to get into and to continue with. If it’s broke - fix it! Even if it’s not the most aesthetically pleasing repair, it still means you’re doing your bit by keeping your product going for longer.

Sacha: Repairing your clothing helps to protect the environment by reducing landfill. 

ATE:  Of course, you're going to be joining us at Timber Festival to run a Visible Mending session and offering repairs across the weekend, but how else can our community get their gear repaired if they aren't able to come along that weekend?

Martina: At other Worn Wear events which are typically event based, we repair clothing from any brand. If the item is Patagonia then they will repair this for free all year round, visit our worn wear webpage for future events or to start a repair.

ATE: Timber Festival is all about celebrating the natural world and our connection to it, what does nature connection look like to you? 

Martina: It looks like purposely planned time somewhere away from the roads, buildings and day to day chaos, to take a long walk or hike to reconnect with God’s awesome creations. For me, it’s inhaling and exhaling whilst mentally refreshing my mind and retraining my eyes to see all the beauty the outdoors has to offer.

Sacha: Nature connection is an intentional connection, an appreciation of the outdoors and nature. 

Sacha by by Hannah Bailey

ATE: Is there anything else you'd like us to share with our audience about you or the work you do? 

Martina: I teach Fashion Design at the University of Salford. Whilst I don’t do repairs full-time, I do take great pleasure in connecting with people and their damaged garms and helping them by giving their gear a new lease of life.

Sacha: It’s always exciting to do something outside of my day job. Patagonia offer such an amazing free service and I’m so honoured to be a part of it.

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Martina, Sacha and Patagonia Worn Wear will be offering free gear repairs on busted zippers, rips, tears and more as part of the All The Elements area of Timber Festival 2024. You can find out more about All The Elements’ area at Timber Festival here, including discounted tickets for the All The Elements Community.

We’re excited to be running this space in partnership with Timber Festival, and kindly supported by Patagonia.