Every year over a million tonnes of garment waste ends up in landfills the world over. Between fast fashion and lightning quick trend changes the fashion industry is one of the most wasteful out there. Clothes are worn once or not at all before being thrown out. According to Earth.org the average american throws out over 80 pounds of clothes every year. Most clothes that are donated to thrift stores are never purchased, instead they're thrown out after a certain amount of time, or never even make it to the racks. Having worked in a major thrift store for years I can tell you first hand that most of the donated clothes end up in the trash. People are buying clothes more than they ever have, the amount of garments purchased increased by 60% between 2000 and 2014.
mending lengthens the life of a garment, and it also adds unique beauty to it. it keeps garments out of the trash, meaning you have to buy and throw out less. it's been several years since I decided to get my clothes almost exclusivly at the thrift store, which keeps clothes out of the landfill, but it also means that quite often the clothes i buy are already on their way to wearing out. mending is how i extend the life of my garments and leave my mark on them. It's also important for me to respect the items I have in my life, and i feel that mending and caring for my clothes is the best way to do that. When i repair a hole in a tshirt i am honouring the maker who put it together, the worker who harvested the cotton, the cotton plant itself. We all know by now that the fashion industry is full of sweat shop labour and modern slavery, and by cherishing and caring for my garments instead of throwing them away when they get old i feel like i am doing some small part to ackgnowledge that the work that went into making the clothes in my closet was not in vain, was not to make something that would be garbage in a few months.
I also just love to mend. I love the process of sitting and stitching for a couple of hours. I love adding personal and creative touches to clothes. I love the clothes I own, and i don't like to throw them out because i have built my wardrobe with such care. mending is relaxing, connects you to the world around you, and can be what the author of my favourite mending book, Mend!, Kate Sekules calls "menditation," the meditative like state you can achieve while mending. it's a hobby that i genuinly really enjoy.
so with all that said, why do i do specifically visible mending? why not mend things look as much like new as possible, why do I like to draw attention to the mending I do? well for one thing by not caring to disguise my mends i can use whatever i have on hand instead of having to go out and buy materials that match the garment i'm trying to fix. if i have to buy new materials for every garment i'm trying to mend that's gonna create more waste, cost more money, and tbh be more trouble than it's worth. and besides, i love how it looks and how creative i can be with it.
visibly mending something makes a garment unique and one of a kind, and it also makes a statement. it draws attention to itself, tells people that i'm a mender. that I put that care into my clothes and value creativity and sustainability. Like visible mender Ruth Woods says, "Items which have been mended tell a story. When you are mending, it is meditative and reflective of the event." When I wear an item i've mended i remember where i was in my life when i sat down to stitch it back up. When I put on the white tierd skirt i've mended dozens of times i can look at every patch and seam and remember the years i've owned it. something else that makes stories out of my mends is the materials i mend with. I have scraps and patches that i've got from my grandmother, from my mother in law, from old clothes i used to love but which are too far gone to be repaired. those are memories in themselves; every time i use the shiny blue fabric leftover from when my grandmother made me a dance bag when i was five i feel connected to my history and the seamstresses i come from.
also, its fun! and i like how it looks! i have nothing against non-visible mending, but i think it's less fun and creative which is what i prioritize! I love the look of visible mending, i love the unique style, i love how every mender has their own style and their own ways of mending that they love to do. I love mending and love being creative, colourful, and fun with my mends. It's a joyful thing for me to do, i love having fun with my mending, because i love having fun!!
I think that it's important to share informaion freely. I think that, even though it's not like i have some huge reach, it's important to provide resources to help others learn and develop. Something I do for my irl community is free mending popups, and something i want to do for my digital community is provide information, resources and informaiton to allow you to do your own mending if you want. I genuinly think nearly anyone can mend, and that it can be an incredibly affordable hobby. The only things you really NEED to mend are a few tools you can get at the dollar store. You can get extra with it, of course, you can get specialty tools and materials and fun different kinds of threads and materials, and you can do all kinds of extravagent things to mend, but you can also stitch on a patch in five minutes with minimal tools and fabric salvaged from old clothes.
Mending is sustainable. Mending is creative. Mending is fun and beautiful and revolutionary. In a world that values capitalism and consumerism over almost everything else, mending is an act of rebellion.
if you want to start mending but don't know where to start, i've put together quick guides on three types of mending that are easy to learn and super versatile. these will take you pretty damn far, but they're just a start to what is possible with mending.
patches are one of the most versatile ways to mend damage. Any hole can be patched. Patches can be applied either on the side people see, called overpatching, or on the underside, called underpatching. all you need to patch is a piece of scrap fabric bigger than your tear by at least an inch, straight pins, a needle and thread, and scissors.
darning is really great especially for knit garments, but you can darn on anything. it's got a really good texture and it takes more time than patching, but it is one of my favourite ways to mend. to darn a garment you need a darning needle (these are larger needles that are used for yarn instead of thread), yarn that is about the same thickness as the fabric you're mending, and scissors.
buttons are under a lot of stress all the time, and sometimes they pop off. it's a good skill to know how to reattach one, or replace it with a new button if you lose the original. it's a pretty easy task, but there are some tips i have that could make it easier. All you need is a button, a needle and thread, and scissors.
If you're sewing a button back on that you still have, this step is simple. But if you've lost the button, there are a couple of things you gotta consider before picking a new one, mainly the size. too big and it wont fit through the button hole, but too small and it'll slip out of place way too easily. If there are other buttons on the garment you're working on compare the button size to other buttons to get one right, but if you can't do that try to slip the button through the buttonhole before sewing it on. It should be just a little difficult to get it through.
make sure your needle can pass easily through the holes of the button you've chosen. if you can, look for thread that's labled as being for buttons, as it's thicker and stronger than regular thread. buttons take a lot of stress, so using button thread will help your button stay on for longer. If you can't get button thread don't worry, just make more