Introduction - weaving a mending patch.
There is lots of interest surrounding the environmental benefits of making, mending and repurposing our clothes. From a sustainability angle this is great, if we can all extend the lives of our clothes then less need to be purchased with a resulting benefit to the environment and our purses. This article shows how one of our TabbyandTweed square weaving loom kits has been used to weave a mending patch which has then be used to repair and visibly mend a ripped pair of jeans.
There are further images and some weaving videos on our @TabbyandTweed Instagram site showing weaving on these looms and further work if you are interested.
Visible mending is the process of repairing items of clothing with the mend being obvious. In my opinion, this sort of mending can be accessible to many as you don't need to worry about unruly stitches as these stitches are a charm of the mend. Some of our weaving kits allow the weaving of really bright and vibrant fabric so here I have used the fabric to 'very visibly' mend a rip in the back pocket of some jeans.
Step 1:
I used one the square weaving loom kits to weave a piece of fabric. This is a really quick weave and instructions come with the kit with other blog articles giving helpful weaving tips.
Step 2:
This image shows the rip in the back of the pocket of a pair of jeans.
Step 3:
I wanted to create a square 'ish' mend so using scissors I cut into the corners to create a square when the cut fabric was folded back.
Step 4:
The fabric was folded into the inside of the pocket and small stitches were used to secure it. The corners were over sewn to strengthen.
Step 5:
The woven fabric was removed from the loom, washed, dried and pressed and then pinned at the back of the hole inside the pocket.
Step 6:
Using cotton thread the patch was secured with stitching. Again sewing was used to over sew the corners to give those areas some additional strength.
The Final Mend
All being well this mend with extend the life of these jeans!
