A hands-on manual and a history and celebration of clothes tending--and its remarkable resurgence as art form, political statement, and path to healing the planet. “For Fans of NBC’s Making It, Bravo’s Project Runway, or shopping vintage: A sweater gets a hole? Sew it closed... Part history and part how-to, Mend! traces the task’s evolution from a 1950s chore to a DIY sustainability movement.” —Marie Claire For thousands of years, mending was a deep craft that has for too long been a secret history. But now it's back, bigger and better than ever. In this book Kate Sekules introduces the art of visible mending as part of an important movement to give fashion back its soul. Part manifesto, part how-to, MEND! calls for bold new ways of keeping clothes and refreshing your style. Crammed with tips, fun facts, ravishing photography, and illustrated tutorials, MEND! tells you exactly how to rescue and renew your wardrobe with flair and aplomb--and save money along the way. Whether you've never owned a needle or are an aspiring professional, MEND! gives you clear instruction and witty advice, with over thirty techniques, from classic darning and patching to cheeky new methods invented by Sekules, to help you turn every garment into a unique fashion statement. Including interviews with menders, shameful fashion industry facts, a ten-step closet mend, cheat sheets, stitch guides, moth elimination, museum conservator and vintage dealer tricks, and more, this is a book to inspire, delight, and galvanize. Sharp, funny, and incredibly timely, MEND! leads the slow fashion revolution into its next phase, where getting dressed is a joyful, creative experience for all.

DonÕt hide that patch, make it a bold, beautiful embellishment! Repair holes with bright thread and a creative darning stitch; revive a stained shirt with fun embroidery! In Mend It Better, popular craft blogger Kristin M. Roach puts a new spin on mending by adapting traditional techniques for todayÕs crafty sewers. With detailed photography to show each step, she teaches a wide range of patching, darning, and repair stitches using both hand and machine sewing. The how-to text is accompanied by dozens of inspiring examples from KristinÕs own work and that of other craft bloggers and artisans. You'll love the innovative solutions using appliquŽs, patches, brightly colored accents, and intricate lace details.ÊWith Mend It Better, every garment and fabric repair is a chance for self-expression and fabulous creations.

An exquisite, full-color guide to sashiko, a simple Japanese stitching technique that uses stunning patterns to decorate or repair clothing, accessories, and home textiles. Requiring no special equipment other than a sewing needle and thread, Make and Mend introduces the incredibly simple technique of sashiko--a striking hand-sewing method using a running stitch to form pleasing geometric patterns. Sashiko is traditionally used to mend and repair clothing and textiles, but it can just as easily be used to create beautiful, decorative projects for the home. With fifteen projects applying a modern, on-trend aesthetic to this ancient craft, Make and Mend shows readers how to apply sashiko stitching to a variety of craft projects, such as repairing torn jeans, mending a ripped hem, and making decorative pillows, napkins, a tablecloth, and a totebag. Touching on the concepts of beauty in minimalism and resourceful simplicity, as well as a fascination with Japan and Japanese design, this easy and accessible book appeals to both the seasoned maker and total beginner.

"Tikkun Olam"--To Mend the World is premised on the conviction that artists and theologians have things to learn from one another, things about the complex interrelationality of life and about a coherence of things given and sustained by God. The ten essays compiled in this volume seek to attend to the lives, burdens, and hopes that characterize human life in a world broken but unforgotten, in travail but moving towards the freedom promised by a faithful Creator. They reflect on whether the world--wounded as it is by war, by hatred, by exploitation, by neglect, by reason, and by human imagination itself--can be healed. Can there be repair? And can art and theology tell the truth of the world's woundedness and still speak of its hope?

Kids are tough on their clothes…Fortunately, they're creative too! Mending With Kids shows you how to make kids' torn and stained clothes wearable again using a variety of simple sewing and decorating techniques that foster kids' participation. It includes helpful tips and techniques for patching, collage (with felt and fabrics), iron-ons, stenciling, darning, embroidery, hand-painting, and much more—including templates for making your own patches and stencils! Best of all, most of these techniques are easy enough for kids to join in and put their personal stamp on their clothes—which they absolutely love doing! And with your supervision, they'll pick up practical skills along the way. In this book, you'll find practical ideas and advice on clothes-savers like: Using added bands of fabric to cover, patch and lengthen jeans and trousers (kids outgrow them so fast!) Combining patching with embroidery to make a repair into a design element Embroidering around holes to make them look like part of the original design (make a worm hole in an embroidered apple, for instance!) Turning an iron-on patch into a canvas for your kid's artistry—just grab some permanent markers and have fun Covering stains with a creative use of paint (use the stencil patterns in this book, or use ready-made stencils to add favorite animals, cars, flowers and more) And many other ideas that turn clothing repair into a shared adventure! It's a win-win-win collaboration—you, your kids, and this book!