Visible Mending – Inspirations and Interpretations
Rescue, repurpose, stitch
Duration
Urban Life
Materials and techniques
Fabrics, threads, hand stitching (machines can be added).
Skill Level
None required
Outcome
Explore and create a project
Rescue, stitch, repurpose. Delve into clever and thrifty Japanese inspired techniques. Create a unique bag or cloth from your scraps and discards. From the starting point of used fabrics, perhaps denim, old shirts, stained fabrics, tablecloths, vintage fabrics etc., which are no longer in use or are damaged, you will take them apart and build a new purpose for them, creating a fabric which becomes a bag.
The reusing of old textiles acknowledges their history and, in some cases, the personal value of these pieces, whilst also moving forward, giving them a new function and life.
You will use simple hand stitch such as running stitch and darning in the form of Japanese Boro textiles and/or machine stitching (bringing us up to date) to patch, join and stabilise the fabrics. Once a surface is created with subtle, intricate stitched textures, you will create a simple object such as a bento bag, a knot bag or leave the cloth as it is to become a wall piece or a Furishiko style wrapping cloth. This is primarily a handstitch course, though some aspects will be quicker if machined.