/r/Visiblemending
A home for those who add artistic flair to repair work.
A lot of time, care, and resources go into the creation of everyday items, especially the clothes we wear. Mending honors and celebrates all of that by extending the usable life of items, rather than just throwing them away and replacing them. Visible mending combines the repair process with creative expression. This is a place to share your visible mending projects, or learn and gather ideas for visible mending.
Upcycling, zero waste fashion, secondhand projects, etc., do not automatically belong here, they must prominently feature visible mending.
Mends do not need to be expressly "Visible", but consider if it would be more appropriate in the dedicated subreddit for r/InvisibleMending.
Sort by flair:
Links to Mending Information and Inspiration:
We have a new FAQ/wiki!
https://visiblemending.com : Visible mending artists, manifestos, vintage supplies.
https://upcyclestitches.com : All Sashiko supplies, patterns, history, tutorials. (my Favorite by far)
FailScout is the place to go to learn about how products break and find fixes for common product failures.
Notable Menders and Artists
Tom Van Deijnan, a UK based mender and knitter, "the Visible Mending Programme"
Katrina Rodabaugh, Fiber artist/Slow Fashion advocacy, mender, Author of "Mending Matters"
Jessica Marquez Is a professional sashiko style mender and fiber artist, author of Make + Mend
Claire Wellesley-Smith, UK based Fiber Arts and Slow textile art advocacy
Lindzeanne in Tokyo Japan, functional textile art, Boro-inspired, reclaimed materials.
Subreddit Banner: "Sashiko - By Saian 彩庵" CC BY-SA 4.0 Cédric Vanvelthem
/r/Visiblemending
214,938 Subscribers
Would it be feasible to embroider over these bald spots on a velvet jacket?
They’re tiny but I’ve never embroidered anything in my life so I can’t tell if it’s worth attempting. I’d obvi practice a bit first. Thanks!!
18:16 UTC
How to replace sole rubber
I have these cheap shoes from Walmart (yes, I know) that are getting waaaay too thin in the grippy rubber sole. Has anyone ever replaced or patched this part of a shoe?
Do I fill the gaps and slap another sole on the bottom? Peel off the old one? Give up entirely? The upper needs some patching but is still good for at least another couple years. I don’t want to toss them if I don’t have to.
22:49 UTC
Used some embroidery to patch holes in a second hand shirt 🚜🌾
Got this shirt from a friend, and when I realized that it was green and yellow plaid I decided that the correct course of action was to embroider a little tractor. The yellow fabric behind it was used to patch the hole itself, but I wanted to spice it up a bit with the tractor over it. There was a much smaller hole as well, so that one got patched with the wheat. Sorry for not taking before photos!
21:18 UTC
Favourite shirt has elbow hole- Any advice to fix this terrible situation ? I plan on putting the goat patch on, but how do I get it to stop fraying underneath?
this hole is become a problem! I’m not sure how it started but the elbow fell apart very quickly and I’m concerned that the fabric will continue to slip or that the patch will fall off if I just toss it over the hole. I was thinking about adding some decorative embroidery over the image as well to give it a better border.
Particular method or thread I should use? I have no experience but I’m willing to try anything!
18:22 UTC
Decided I like this hobby and want to start a thread collection. What thread can withstand wear & washing and still look good for mends and small embroidery on clothing?
I work almost exclusively on clothing, so the thread needs to be able to stand up to the elements/weather, wear, and washing.
Thanks!
Edit:
with the suggestions for cotton embroidery floss I’m assuming it doesn’t wear/fray or bleed as quickly as I thought it would?
10:09 UTC
First time darning:)
Fixed a hole in my husbands favorite hoodie, it's starting to wear thin all over but I'll fix it as many times as I need to <3
19:33 UTC
will this embroidery floss method work on a larger weave?
18:38 UTC
How should I fix this?
This is my favourite work dress, but I accidentally got holes in it! I'm very new to visible mending, so any suggestions would be really appreciated!
15:26 UTC
Speedweve double knee repair. I’ve had multiple people comment they thought I bought them like this!
03:49 UTC
Sashiko jeans repair
03:37 UTC
Finally finished fixing the first hole only to get two days of wear out of them before the other side ripped while I was wearing them
21:47 UTC
Broken handle on the laundry bin! Is this worth mending over tossing out and buying a new one?
21:14 UTC
How to use a darning presser foot to patch holes in socks?
We have a Brother embroidery & sewing machine (SE 1900). I'd like to patch up a few holes in my wool socks using the built-in darning stitches. The manual advises using a darning presser foot for this purpose. I'm wondering if there might be some video tutorials available, as I am not very confident about doing this.
Also, should I use an embroidery hoop, stabilizer, or just a scrap of fabric for these stitches? I'm not concerned about the appearance; I just want the socks to last a few more years.
20:37 UTC
Recently fixed a giant hole in my 10+ year old jacket
The whole back was ripped out and I had it temporarily held together with safety pins for a solid 6 months lol. Have had quite the embroidery/ mending kick the past few weeks and fixed her up. Will probably add a few more embroidered bits soon! I got it when I first got into thrifting and I will never get rid of it, this is at least the 4th time I’ve fixed it
18:56 UTC