When moths ate a hole through Sharon Kravitz's favourite sweater, she thought it was a gonner.

Kravitz had found the red wool cardigan with a black and white patterned stripe at Value Village about three years ago. It was made in Scotland — an original, not a cheap knock-off.

"I want it to last as long as it can," she said, sitting at a long table with sewing supplies in a busy room at the downtown branch of the Vancouver Public Library.

Sharon Kravitz fixes her favourite sweater at a fix-it event in Vancouver on Saturday. (Jon Hernandez/CBC)

The Saturday event was billed as a clothing fix-it workshop. Volunteers provided the sewing machines, tools and knowledge for free to help people repair their garments, with the goal of keeping damaged clothes out of landfills.

Over 12 million tons of old textiles end up in landfills in North America each year.

The event was organized by Frameworq, which hosts clothing fix-its about twice a month across Vancouver — including once a month at the Mount Pleasant branch. This was its first time downtown.

Organizer Irina McKenzie says many people come to prolong the life of a cherished garment.

"The clothes that are being fixed are, a lot of times, of sentimental value," McKenzie said. "It's clothes that make people feel comfortable or safe or beautiful or have some sort of memory to it."

Repeat customers

More than 130 people came to the downtown branch on Saturday carrying their cargo of precious pants, tops and other clothes.

McKenzie says about 40 people usually show up at the monthly events at Mount Pleasant — many of them are repeat customers.

"We want to encourage repair activities, but we also want to encourage people connecting to each other, talking to each other, and learning to repair things because it's a lost art," McKenzie said.

"We have clothes, we wear clothes, and we want clothes to last, but some people just don't have the skills or the equipment to do that."

Volunteers were on hand to help people who were at the event to fix old, torn garments. (Jon Hernandez/CBC)

Often, the holes and tears prompt discussion among the volunteers and participants. Including one of the most common ones — tears and holes in the crotch area of women's pants.

"Our bodies are designed in a way that there's more wear and tear in the thighs," she said.

Zippers are another common issue, she says.

'It's a great sweater'

McKenzie has been running the clothing fix-it workshops for more than three years, inspired by a course she took in social entrepreneurship.

She thinks the popularity of Saturday's event makes a strong case for a second, ongoing monthly drop-in fix-it — even though McKenzie says the events, which she doesn't make any money from, take up a lot of her time.

Last month, McKenzie registered Frameworq as a non-profit organization and now hopes to attract funding to keep the events going.

Which would be good news to Kravitz and her red cardigan.

"It's mended, which is great. I think I might do a little bit more to it," she said. "It's a great sweater."

With files from Jon Hernandez