Repair · Restore · Reduce
A 501(c)(3) Nonprofit
Upcycle 100 teaches clothing repair and upcycling skills to families in need - saving money, reducing textile waste, and proving that sustainability is for everyone.
The Problem
That's a garbage truck of clothing dumped every single second. Most aren't worn out - just a missing button, a small tear, or a broken zipper. Skills that used to be passed down through generations have been lost in the age of fast fashion.
The families hit hardest are the ones who can least afford to replace what they throw away.
The Story
I've been upcycling and repairing my clothes since middle school - a skill my grandmother taught me. Friends and family started asking me to fix theirs too.
But when I started volunteering with families experiencing homelessness, I realized: these skills aren't universal anymore.
When you can't fix things, you throw them away - or worse, you live with broken things and start to feel broken yourself. Upcycle 100 teaches repair skills that save money, reduce waste, and restore dignity.
Our Team
A growing team united by thread, community, and the belief that nothing is beyond repair.
Started upcycling in middle school. Now teaching families that fixing things is a superpower.
Our Approach
A four-workshop progressive curriculum designed for families with no prior experience and no access to specialized tools.
Learn the straight stitch, slip stitch, and backstitch to mend holes and close tears.
Master button sewing, snap attachment, and emergency safety pin fixes.
Hand-sewn patches, seam reinforcement, and measuring fabric to make clothing last.
Shorten hems by hand and transform old garments into something new, like a t-shirt tote bag.
Learn
Master repair skills at your own pace
Join Us
We're training the next generation of workshop facilitators. If you care about sustainability, community service, or just want to learn a genuinely useful skill - this is for you.
✂️ Learn repair and upcycling skills
🤝 Help teach these skills to families at shelters alongside experienced facilitators
📦 Help prep sewing kits and workshop materials
🌱 Eventually co-lead or lead your own workshop sessions
📚 Students in 9th or 10th grade
🪡 No sewing experience required - we teach everything
⏰ Able to commit ~2–4 hours/month for training and workshops
💚 Genuinely interested in helping people and/or reducing textile waste
Learn button sewing, basic mending, hemming, and intro upcycling techniques.
~2 hoursObserve a real workshop in action. Help participants with questions.
1 sessionLead one skill station while another facilitator leads another.
1–2 sessionsRun a full workshop session on your own. You're a Fellow - featured on our website.
Ongoing
Interested in joining?
Send us your name, grade, and a sentence about why you're interested.
Apply to Be a Fellow →One Mission · Two Fronts
Closing the loop on textile waste, from the factory floor to the families who need sustainable fashion to be not just better, but accessible.
The fashion industry generates 4 billion tons of CO₂ annually and 92 million tons of textile waste. Most discarded clothing isn't worn out. It's made from the wrong materials, and the families hit hardest can't afford to replace what breaks. The solution has to work at both ends.
Upstream
Redesign what fabric is made from
Downstream
Teach families to repair what they own
Upstream
AI-powered sustainable fabric design
An AI system that discovers sustainable fabric blends no human designer could find manually. Its evolutionary optimization algorithm finds blends that outperform products from GAP, Nike, Giorgio Armani, and Banana Republic by 30-53% on sustainability and 15-92% on cost.
FabAgent's blends are now being physically fabricated at NC State's Wilson College of Textiles.
Published at ICLR 2025
Regeneron ISEF Finalist + AAAI Special Award
US Patent Pending (Sole Inventor)
101 fiber materials · 24 attributes · 55 industry professionals surveyed
Downstream
Free sewing kits + workshops for families in need
A free workshop and sewing kit program for unhoused and immigrant families. Every family keeps their kit permanently: needles, thread, buttons, patches, and video tutorials.
Through workshops at Compass Family Services and Samaritan House and kit distributions to partner organizations nationwide.
180+ families served
9,000+ garment lives extended
125 kits shipped nationally
Upcycle100 Fellows program training next-gen facilitators
Every $10 kit gives a family thread, needles, scissors, buttons, and video tutorials.
Upcycle 100 is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Your donation may be tax-deductible.
Each kit gives a family everything they need to start mending on their own. $10 = one family. $100 = ten families across the country. Every dollar goes directly to materials and shipping.
Donate on GoFundMe →Get In Touch
Have a question, want to volunteer, or host a workshop? We'd love to hear from you.
