Hidden in the world of fast fashion, a small movement that is rumbling. A movement that wants their items to last and get the most out of it. A movement that is not new but is gaining traction again.
Mending.
via Brooklyn Based
The term is actually not new. There was a time when people repair their clothes and kids’ clothes everyday. People were not rich and fast fashion did not exist, and the next best thing was to mend clothes to make sure the clothes would last long. There are many ways to mend but the most common were knitting and patching.
A lot of woven items such as jeans, poplin shirts and slacks were repaired by patching the hole or rips. This is done by using a piece of squared fabric that is the same color as the item and sewing it on to the item.
via crazy mom quilts
Depending on the weight of fabric, it can also be darn. Darning can be found in a lot of jeans, twill clothes, and overalls. This is mostly found in sewing factory and Singer has machines to darn.
via Closet Core Patterns
Another way is knitting. A great example of this are socks. Knit repairs can be done to fill in the holes just by knitting new threads into the hole. Knitting actually integrates new yarns or threads on to the socks for strength.
via The Spruce Crafts
A new way to mend is now gaining traction, Sashiko.
Sashiko was formed in Japan that translate into ‘little stabs.’ It is a combination of patching and knitting. Basically, a matching color patch on top or behind the rips or holes, then creating stitch patterns to integrate the patch on to the item. Not only that, the stitches can be design anyway you want. This can results in a beautiful repair that can become tye focal point of the repaired item.
There is a community of Sashiko repairs out there and have created beautiful repairs, especially on denims.
While it can look beautiful, it is also painstakingly time consuming depending on the design of the repair. If you are willing to put time, then certainly a beautiful piece of repair can come out of it.
The beauty of mending clothes is cost effective and sustainable. Certainly you don’t want to waste your money on buying new items and it can help the environment by mending. At the same time, it can give you memories of the item that you never thought of. There are many benefits of mending but those are just a few.
I am not entirely sure if mending will become popular in the mainstream, especially in 2021. It does let us know that there are people who loves their clothes so much they they are willing to repair it instead of buying something new. Also, people are willing to learn.
One thing for sure, mending may settle but it will not die.