Modern Mending

Author(s): Erin Lewis-Fitzgerald

Craft | Textiles

Mending Life is a beautifully illustrated, practical tool kit for repairing the clothes and belongings we love. It is also an exploration of how mending can be a gently healing practice in our daily lives and a small act of rebellion in a world where many things are discarded without thought. Learn the art and craft of mending-a joyful and meditative practice and a powerful act of restoration for theclothes and belongings we love. This beautifully illustrated handbook will show you how to mend jeans, socks, sweaters, down jackets, and leggings and other common repairs. Mending Life encourages us to cherish our things by repairing them rather than discarding them.Filled with heartfelt stories that celebrate a sustainable, intentional lifestyle, it also encourages us to change our consumption habits so that with small mends here and there, we extend the life of our garments and other household items. Encouraging readers interested in slow fashion and craftcore, this handbook is for beginners but also offers more advanced techniques to those with some experience in mending. You'll learn basic techniques such as patching, but will have options to take it a step further with decorative sashiko stitching; you'll also learn how to darn socks and mend sweaters, as well as things like a tear in a bedsheet or down jacket. Along the way, Nina and Sonya Montenegro-creators of TheFarWoods- share how the powerful act of mending strengthens not only the object we are repairing, but ourselves as well. Vibrant, full-color illustrations are woven throughout the this timeless and practical guide to cherishing and caring for our belongings.

Review: 

"In this thoughtful and gorgeously illustrated book, Nina and Sonya Montenegro remind us what our grandmothers taught us: that mending is a radical exercise, both in its creative play and in its role in fighting consumerism and waste. For anyone who yearns to mend but needs helpful advice, this is the coziest book you'll ever own."
-Lisa Congdon, artist and author

"[Mending Life] positions making things by hand as a path to a less consumerist, more centered, maybe even more spiritual existence."
-Publishers Weekly

"Mending Life is equal parts illustrated textile repair primer and gentle prescription for fixing our fraught relationships with the planet and each other."
-Yes! Magazine

"With a guiding mantra that 'There's nothing broken that can't be fixed,' this very accessible guide will encourage readers to look with hopeful possibility at their well-worn, well-loved clothes."
-Booklist

"This powerful book, full of care and gratitude, will inspire you to give new love and attention to the objects in your wardrobe. But it will also awaken you, challenging you to rethink your outlook on the world and your role in it."
-Anna Brones, author of Fika and Live Lagom


Author Biography: SistersNina and Sonya Montenegroare illustrators, printmakers, menders, quilters, beekeepers, and gardeners. In 2013, they founded The Far Woods, a creative collaboration making artwork that seeks to contribute to a cultural shift in which there is a land ethic, reverence for nature, rejection of the dominant throw-away mentality, and direct connection to where our food and the things we use come from. Many of their artworks serve as educational tools, and their practice crosses disciplines to work toward an ecologically viable and socially just future. Their studio is situated on an organic farm just outside of Portland, Oregon.


Product Information

General Fields

  • : 9781925972290
  • : Affirm Press
  • : Affirm Press
  • : 0.3
  • : October 2019
  • : 2.5 Centimeters X 18.3 Centimeters X 23.5 Centimeters
  • : books

Special Fields

  • : Erin Lewis-Fitzgerald
  • : Hardback
  • : 2002
  • : en
  • : 272
  • : WFB