Make + Mend
We are excited to introduce our new Make + Mend section; here you’ll find an array of mindfully-curated resources and tools to help you make the most of your garments.
Mending matters
The phrase ‘mending matters’ is borrowed from Katrina Rodabaugh’s book of the same name - a slow fashion guide for extending the life of your wardrobe that can be found in our selection of repair books. Her motto - ‘just begin’ - encapsulates our simple, though considered approach - we believe that connecting with clothing on a more instinctual, physical level allows us the freedom to get dirty, to wear things to their fullest extent, to utilise every aspect of the piece to suit our lifestyles - because we know we can fix it.
Starting off with..
a few simple stitches paves the way for you to have a more involved relationship with your wardrobe, and use it as a chance to find calm.
Handcrafting mindfulness
Harking back to the ‘make do, and mend’ mindset of simpler times, learning how to stitch, patch, and repair lets us fulfil the opportunity - and duty, as wearers of sustainable fashion - to be the smaller counterparts to larger eco-friendly ventures. Sustainability goes deeper than spending hours researching brands and materials, and approaching slow fashion from a bureaucratic, perfectionist angle can sometimes misplace the focus on buying, rather than keeping. It can mutate into a competition, and detach us from our roots. Caring for clothes should be a physical task that connects us with the tactile nature of natural fibres - a chance to set aside our distractions and mend our relationship with fashion, so we can thank and care for clothes as we would with any other cherished object.
From rookie to old hand
The do-it-yourself approach is a wonderful chance for invention. You’ll learn the freedom that comes with making clothes; patterns and instructions become suggestions we can bend to our liking. Titles like The Wild Dyer provide the foundations for basic skills like foraging and colour-mixing - something that’s often see as being restricted to rural makers, when in reality, we can start anywhere, with whatever we have to hand. For those more experienced in sewing, we offer resources focused on certain areas, like Japanese Sashiko stitching techniques that reinforce pieces whilst providing visual interest. Or perhaps you’d like to try a new project… Sandqvist founder Anton talks us through ‘heavy-duty sewing’ to create a wide range of practical, hardwearing outdoor items, even for those who have never used a sewing machine before. And of course, help is never far with a trouble-shooting companion edition. We want to demystify the making processes that sometimes seem out of reach. Forming or fixing a beautiful garment need no longer be an unattainable goal, even for a beginner.
The joy of imperfection
It doesn’t have to be perfect. One of my favourite quotations is from author Chuck Palahniuk’s Diary: ‘It’s all giving you away. Everything you do shows your hand. Everything is a self-portrait. Everything is a Diary.’ The idiosyncrasies of the way you craft are a maker’s mark; we should welcome the quirks that provide us with things that nobody else has. This connects perfectly with the Japanese concept of wabi sabi - the acceptance of imperfection which delights in the human, jaunty stitches of a beginner, or the artful joy of a visible repair. These aspects only give us more reasons to love a garment, and to feel an attachment that gives us new, more personal reasons to appreciate the things we may have neglected to love.
Finding new value in the everyday
So - just begin. In the words of Arthur Ashe, ‘start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can’. Re-buttoned, an overlooked day dress assumes a new charm; elbows patched, you’ll find a fresh appreciation for the cardigan you forgot. With every stitch sewn, you reject an industry that demands we throw away the garments that have served us faithfully, just because they’ve changed with time - but with a little perspective and guidance, faults and flaws give us the freedom to put our own spin on things, and responsibly tailor them to our needs and tastes.
We hope you find something to help you repurpose the untapped potential in your wardrobe - mending matters, now more than ever.
Words by Lily Burrows