The Art of Visible Mending

There's a lot of talk these days about fast fashion and ethical consumption. Whether due to economic or climatic reasons, there has been a pendulum swing (especially noticeable in Generation Z) from buying trends from high-attention brands to thrift shopping and emphasizing the cultivation of a unique style. While we may have used to ask our mothers to darn socks and sew patches over holes in the knees of our pants, the modern solution is to replace the garment altogether. You've just torn the seam in the back of your pants? Not to worry. Target is only a hop, skip and a handful of dollars away. Clothing, like many other products, has become part of a linear economy. We buy what we like, wear those items until they are unwearable, or we no longer like them and then they end up in the thrift stores, landfills or burn piles. The sheer number of textiles in circulation is astonishing with 80 to 100 billion new garments being produced every year and as much as 92 million tons of textile waste (theroundup.org). Fast fashion brands have perpetuated the problem by simplifying consumption. It's easier than ever to jump online and fill your cart full of goods, giving you a rush of dopamine and anticipation for the day your package arrives, soon to be replaced with the next bought items. Buying clothes second hand, swapping or selling clothes and repairing damaged fabrics are all easy ways to disrupt that linear economy and keep clothing out of the landfill and burn piles for longer. Not to mention all three of these contribute to a more personal style than shopping big box stores. But how do you mend your own clothing and where do you start? How you mend garments will depend on what you're trying to fix, but all of these techniques can be achieved using basic stitches and a needle and thread. Covering Stains and Minor Holes: For garments with stubborn stains or small holes, there are a variety of things you can do to cover the area while elevating the piece into something new. Try sewing a button (or a few) over the spot, using embroidery thread to sew a design that covers the problem area or covering with scrap fabric or an iron-on patch. This can be as simple or as complex as you like. You may just do a bit of cross hatching or maybe sew on some buttons and embroider stems to make them into flowers. Reverse Appliqué: &emsp;&emsp;This method is an interesting one as it involves making already existing holes even larger. The idea is to sew fabric behind the hole in the garment and cut around the hole to create a shape or design creating a layered, window-like effect. The edges are finished with a sewing machine or by hand using the blanket stitch. Knit Garments: Knit garments will require darning, but there is still room for creativity. If you're not familiar with darning, it is a form of mending using yarn or embroidery thread woven together to create a patch. While you can choose a matching color, you can also get creative using vibrant colors on an otherwise drab cardigan. To darn a hole, you will sew long, vertical stitches. Once you have sewn the vertical lines, you will weave your needle horizontally over and under each thread until the hole is covered with layers of thread. While you can repair clothing more discreetly using like colors and textures, visible mending highlights the imperfections of your garments in a creative way, similar to Kintsugi—the Japanese practice of using gold to repair cracked pottery, highlighting the beauty within the imperfection. Synonymous with the idea of Kintsugi is Shashiko, meaning "little stabs", a Japanese method of visible mending which uses small stitches to create intricate designs. There are so many unique ways to upcycle the clothing you love; those standout pieces will last a lifetime. And if fast fashion has proved anything, it's that everything always comes back in style. Hold on to your skinny jeans, folks. It'll only be a matter of time.