Timeless Techniques for Mending Garments

My story with mending is since forever. I’ve done this since childhood, when learnt by watching my grandma’s hands making stitches on garments she cherished. Those were long and slow moments when she paused her daily tasks in the house, took her crafting stuff and sat down on a chair on the porch or on the bench under the old walnut tree at my grandparent over 100 years old house in the country. There were days when she told me stories from her childhood, days she sang, days she remained silent and all I could hear was the sound of thread and needle on the fabric and the birds in the courtyard.

Maybe that’s why, when I think of the moments I mend, I feel peace. It’s a state I learned by mimicry. It’s a state that sends me back to a slower and more normal life, with deep connections with others, the environment and ourselves. And it is also so, so satisfactory when something “broken” gets hope, another chance and a new life into my two hands.

For years I did this without knowing to name techniques, but naturally and intuitively, going with the flow, for myself, family and friends. Lately, yet, with Universe sending me people with garments to mend, from an arising and growing impostor syndrome position, I started looking for technique names and the stories and history behind them. I share them with you behind, exemplifying through my work.

Appliqué

Appliqué – “to attach” – is a needlework in which pieces or patches of fabric are overlaid and sewn over another piece of fabric or garment. It is often used as decoration, as well as repair, but was initially used to strengthen thickened or worn areas of garments.

Reverse Appliqué

In reverse appliqué, a patch is applied to the underside of the garment and sewn together with various stitches, giving a sense of depth to the entire mended area and a nice look also.

Sashiko

A form of decorative reinforcement stitching or functional embroidery originated in Japan, sashiko, in its simplest forms (lines or crosses), is probably the most accessible and used type of mending. In the past, sashiko’s styles varied depending on the region and its variables (weather, climate, available resources). Now it is identifiable by the patterns and methods used or through its various patterns.

Boro

While sashiko is a stitching style, boro is a mending technique emphasizing layering and patching. Boro is often used in repairing cotton and denim fabric items, and also constructing a garment from head to tail. It is often paired with the sashiko stitch; thus, the two are often thought of concurrently.

Darning

Darning is a lovely process of mending an item by weaving back and forth across the hole and into the fabric to recreate the missing area using a needle and thread. It is mostly used for repairing holes or won areas, on woven or knitted medium, as socks, where patching would be uncomfortable. It’s been also used since forever in restoring items made from precious materials (wool fabrics, silks, cottons).

Honeycomb darning

A circular blanket stitch sewing technique, honeycomb darning is mostly used in repairing knitted socks on the upside area in order to not create discomfort to the foot, but can also be a very nice embellishing detail to a sweater or a pair of jeans.

Swiss darning

One of the few invisible mending techniques, Swiss darning rebuilds the broken (loose or undone) loops in a knit structure to recreate the original finish, by following the yarn row by row, creating stitches on top of the knitted fabric, replicating the original design. It can also be used to create decorative patterns.

Embroidery

Using a needle to stich thread, yarn or wire, embroidery is an art of decorating fabric or other materials, but can also be used for masking or embellishing various visible mending works. The beauty of it is that one can personalize a product and make it unique, using practically what they have in their house.

Most of the mending work I do involve more than one technique and is a mix of your expectations and my inspiration in the aim of prolonging the life of garments. Learn more about my mending service, how I work, short portfolio and the pick-up point locations in Timisoara, Romania.