Bring new life to your old clothes and fabrics with this fun, easy-to-follow guide to modern mending.
Across the globe, we send tonnes of clothing to landfills each year. In fact, clothing consumption in the UK and US is one of the highest in the world. But the good news is that mending is trending, and it's never been easier to repair and reinvent your favourite clothes.
Inspired by the slow fashion movement that's taking the sewing world by storm, Erin Lewis-Fitzgerald has created a comprehensive guide to repairing your own clothes in a way that combines creativity and sustainability. In Modern Mending, she demystifies mending and shares step-by-step instructions for a range of techniques, including stitching, darning, patching, needle felting and machine darning. Furthermore, there's an invaluable "Troubleshooting" section at the end of each tutorial, as well as a "Quick-fix" section for buttons, snags, ladders and zippers, so no stone is left unturned in your mending process!
So next time you tear your favourite jeans or find a hole in your jumper, think twice before throwing them away. With Modern Mending, you'll gain the skills and confidence needed to rebel against fast fashion, be less wasteful and more sustainable for years to come.
‘My wish for this book is to share my love of mending with you, and to give you the knowledge, enthusiasm and confidence to mend just about anything. Mendy-problem-solving is such a fantastic skill to have; why not share what you've learned with others and reduce your environmental impact?’
Table of Contents
Foreword
Introduction
Helpful Tips
Thoughts Before Mending
Tools of the Trade
Fabric 101
This Goes With That
Techniques
- Stitching
- Patching
- Darning
- Needle Felting
- Machine Darning
- Buttons, Zippers, Ladders, Snags + Shoes
Case Studies
- Amanda’s dress
- Anna’s jeans
- Austen’s shirt
- Ben’s jacket
- Carolyn’s oven mitts
- Chilli’s bandana
- Clare's jacket
- Emily W’s jacket
- Emily O’s dress
- Emily O’s shirt
- Emma F’s tea towel
- Emma M’s jeans
- Erin’s shirt
- Guy’s jumper
- Hilary’s shirt (aka Large Marge)
- Jess’s jumper
- Kate’s cardigan
- Kylie’s jumpsuit
- Leta’s dress no. 1
- Leta’s dress no. 2
- Louise’s jumper
- Mandy’s tea towel
- Matt’s boxer shorts
- Matt’s pyjama pants
- Natalie’s cardigan
Modern Menders
- Aleksandra Zdravković
- Eline Medbøe
- Hikaru Noguchi
- Miriam Dym
- Nina & Sonya Montenegro
- Roberta Cummings
- Tom Van Deijnen
Care: Prevention & Maintenance
Share the Love & Increase Your Impact
Should I Redo it?
Mending for Others & Valuing Your Time
Resources: Where to Find Mending Supplies
Recommended Reading
Acknowledgements
About the Author
Index
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About Erin Lewis-Fitzgerald
Erin Lewis-Fitzgerald is Australia's leading clothes-mending practitioner. Her mending has been displayed in art exhibitions in Melbourne and Adelaide, and she teaches workshops across Australia. Erin began her career in journalism at 15 and over two decades worked as an editor, sub-editor, writer, and photographer. After leaving journalism she founded Bright Sparks, a social enterprise that repaired and reused electrical appliances to keep them out of landfill. When she's not trying to save the planet (stylishly), you can find her making tiny dioramas for her magic letterbox or cooking up a storm for her cookbook club, the Ottolenghi Appreciation Society. Her retirement dream is to run a deluxe toy hospital for stuffed toys.
You can find Erin online at www.erinlewisfitzgerald.com and www.modernmending.com
