Traditional textile techniques used in contemporary ways – Part 5: mending and repair

I am including the subject of mending and repair in this series of blog posts about traditional textile techniques used in contemporary ways because this practical and necessary skill from the past has been making a comeback in recent years. With the advent of recycling, upcycling and the slow textile movement there is a growing interest in extending the life of garments. These contemporary repairs I would suggest are different to those of the ‘make do and mend’ era as they are more likely to be worn as a badge of honour. Using contrasting colours and materials these patches and darned areas become embellishments and recognition of the love and value the wearer feels for the garment. This gives the work a contemporary feel, saying something about how we appreciate the things we own and stating an allegiance to the culture of a more responsible consumerism.

In this post I am introducing practitioners who use repair as part of their creative practice starting with Tom of Holland a self taught textile practitioner with a passion for understanding and valuing the way things are made. He is someone who makes the things he needs rather than buying them, leading him to learn how to use double-pointed needles to make socks. But as he explained in his interview with Kate Davies felt saddened when the first hole appeared. So being true to his attitude towards his skill development Tom, needlecraft book in hand taught himself to darn, learning to embrace holes wherever they appear. This led Tom to set up The Visible Mending Programme in 2012, a continuous project that brings people together to learn textile repair techniques, celebrate the relationship between wearer and garment and view mending as a badge of honour.
Kirsty Wallace has been recording the wear and tear and subsequent continuous repairs to a pair of her jeans for a number of years. Working in the Japanese Boro style of textile repair the garment’s repairs have become a visible story of the relationship between jeans and wearer. Kirsty is interested in the passage of time, the way materials age and how this journey is visible through damage and repair. The artist links the emotional essence of the clothes we wear with memory and meaning, seeing the repairs to her well loved jeans as tragic and fragile yet there is strength and wisdom in their longevity.

For the 2013 exhibition Cloth and Memory {2} the artist Celia Pym responded to the ‘Spinning Room’ at Salts Mill Near Bradford where the exhibition was held, by knitting a jumper that she subsequently cut and repaired several times until the original garment was replaced. Blue Darning is the artist’s reaction to the evidence that the spinning room was once a place of great activity that the marks left behind are a memory of the machines and the work force that was once there. In the same way a worn and repaired garment contains evidence of memories through the changes that take place to it.
The artist Lee Mingwei takes this concept of visible repairs and explores how the repairs made by an artist can turn an everyday object into an artwork. In the work ‘The Mending Project’ lee Mingwei invites the gallery visitors to offer their damaged clothes to him for repair. In this participatory installation the artist sits across a table from the visitor as the repairs made. The work explores issues of trust, intimacy and self-awareness as artist and gallery goer chat and share the experience. Lee Mingwei sees this hospitality and accountability between strangers as the giving and receiving of gifts.
Repairs not only lengthen the life of clothing but also embellish them with meaning and personalised adornment. The act of repair enhances our relationship with the objects of daily life and brings the pleasure of living a little more lightly. You will find scores of images on Pinterest from enthusiastic textile menders taking part in this egalitarian, inexpensive and expressive art form.
Bibliography and further reading
Celia Pym http://celiapym.com
Celia Pym mending holes. AudioBoom podcast https://audioboom.com/posts/67088-celia-pym-mending-holes
Cloth and Memory http://www.clothandmemory.com
Cloth and Memory {2} (2013) Edited by Lesley Millar published by Salts Estates Ltd.
Irenebrination: Notes on Architecture, Art, Fashion and Technology. The Art of Mending and Mending as Participatory Art http://irenebrination.typepad.com/irenebrination_notes_on_a/2015/05/lee-mingwei-taipei.html
Kate Davies Designs. A chat with Tom of Holland https://katedaviesdesigns.com/2014/04/20/a-chat-with-tom-of-holland/
Kirsty Wallace. Fibre Alchemy – Adventures in make do and mend and fine art textiles http://fibrealchemy.blogspot.co.uk
Lee Mingwei: The Mending Project film by Virgil Wong https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfduRgfMD_4
Liz Cooper interview/What Do I need to do to Make it OK? Pump House Gallery, London. Studio International film https://vimeo.com/142029388
Make it Last. Celia Pym gives you: the world’s best mending tips http://makeitlast.se/2015/03/05/21493/
Mori Art Museum. Lee Mingwei and his relations http://www.mori.art.museum/english/contents/lee_mingwei/artists_works/index.html
Museum of Contemporary Art, Australia. The Mending Project https://www.mca.com.au/events/mending-project/
Not Just a Label, Make Do and Mend by Sass Brown https://www.notjustalabel.com/editorial/make-do-and-mend
Parallel Practices//Crafts Council film by Mike Paterson https://vimeo.com/183640009
Re wardrobe. Slow Care: Invisible and Visible Mending: the art of patching http://www.rewardrobe.eu/wardrobe-care/slow-care-invisible-and-visible-mending-the-art-of-patching/
Salts Mill http://saltsmill.org.uk
Selvedge Magazine. We Love Celia Pym http://www.selvedge.org/blog/?p=17218
The Campaign for Wool, A Q&A with Tom of Holland http://www.campaignforwool.org/2013/08/30/a-qa-with-tom-of-holland/
The Gallery of Contemporary Textile Artists, Celia Pym, artist statement http://transitionandinfluence.com/gallery/celiapymstatement.html
The Guardian, The rise of mending: how Britain learned to repair clothes again by Sarah Lewis-Hammond https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/may/19/the-rise-of-mending-how-britain-learned-to-repair-clothes-again
The Textile Blog. Kirsty Wallace – the Practice of Wear and Mend http://thetextileblog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/kirsty-wallace-practise-of-wear-and-mend.html
Tom of Holland https://tomofholland.com
Woman with a needle, Visible Mending https://womanwithaneedle.wordpress.com/tag/celia-pym/