A free sewing workshop is being held to help people upcycle their Christmas jumpers in the run up to the festive season.

Love Your Clothes London, which promotes sustainable fashion in the capital, is hosting the event at Wealdstone Library on November 20.

Taking place between 11am and 2pm, the workshop will equip attendees with simple skills needed to customise and upcycle their clothes.

Ali Moore, from Love Your Clothes London, said: “An estimated £30bn worth of UK clothing gathers dust in our wardrobes every year because we don't wear it.

“Rather than buying new Christmas jumpers and party outfits which may only be worn once and then thrown away, we’re encouraging Londoners to upcycle last year’s Christmas jumpers.

“By coming along to these fun workshops, they could come away with not only a truly unique item of clothing, but also feeling inspired to support more sustainable fashion.

“The festive season can be a time of excess and waste, but we want to show people how simple and cheap changes can really make a huge difference to their wardrobes and the environment.”

Research shows that consumers in the UK spend £300m a year on Christmas jumpers, with two fifths of buyers expecting to wear them just once or twice.

And when it comes to basic sewing skills, just 17 per cent of people feel confident about redesigning an item of clothing while a similar number said they would be able to replace a pocket or zip.

The workshop organisers also noted how upcycling clothes can have environmental benefits.

According to research by the Waste Resources and Action Programme, extending the life of a piece of clothing by an extra nine months reduces the carbon, water and waste impacts of that garment by around 20 to 30 per cent.

All that attendees have to bring to the free workshops is a plain jumper or top from their wardrobe or charity shop.

Visit billetto.co.uk/users/love-your-clothes-london for more details.