Zusatztext Praise for MEND! "Sekules brings a refreshingly fierce voice to an assemblage of topicsA prim sewing guide this is not, and I am here for it. If you want sewing basics, Sekules does offer them, but along the way she will school you on where fashion has been and where it's going (to the grave?)." BookPage ( starred) "As someone who does not know how to sew at all, I tend to shy away from any mending projects (hence the seamstress to whom I deliver damaged items for repair). But Sekules' book does a remarkable job at making me think I actually could do this myself and even want to try. A needle is less daunting than a sewing machine, and the diagrams in the book are so clear and simple that I am inspired to tackle my next holey t-shirt." Treehugger.com "Both practical and political, with a directory of menders whose work Sekules reveres, Mend! is a slow-fashion manifesto, a DIY manual and an argument for adding a little flair to any old garment--either by necessity or just because." Shelf Awareness Informationen zum Autor Kate Sekules Klappentext A hands-on manual and a history and celebration of clothes tending--and its remarkable resurgence as art form, political statement, and path to healing the planet. For Fans of NBC's Making It , Bravo's Project Runway , or shopping vintage: A sweater gets a hole? Sew it closed... Part history and part how-to, Mend! traces the task's evolution from a 1950s chore to a DIY sustainability movement. Marie Claire For thousands of years, mending was a deep craft that has for too long been a secret history. But now it's back, bigger and better than ever. In this book Kate Sekules introduces the art of visible mending as part of an important movement to give fashion back its soul. Part manifesto, part how-to, MEND! calls for bold new ways of keeping clothes and refreshing your style. Crammed with tips, fun facts, ravishing photography, and illustrated tutorials, MEND! tells you exactly how to rescue and renew your wardrobe with flair and aplomb--and save money along the way. Whether you've never owned a needle or are an aspiring professional, MEND! gives you clear instruction and witty advice, with over thirty techniques, from classic darning and patching to cheeky new methods invented by Sekules, to help you turn every garment into a unique fashion statement. Including interviews with menders, shameful fashion industry facts, a ten-step closet mend, cheat sheets, stitch guides, moth elimination, museum conservator and vintage dealer tricks, and more, this is a book to inspire, delight, and galvanize. Sharp, funny, and incredibly timely, MEND! leads the slow fashion revolution into its next phase, where getting dressed is a joyful, creative experience for all. Leseprobe Chapter One what I did not invent visible mending-nobody did. For goodness' sake, it's been around forever. There's been so much mending, always, throughout history, it is bound to show occasionally. When fabrics were costly and clothes were handmade, we all preserved them for years, even generations; we had no choice. Until the nineteenth century fabrics were handwoven, too-that is, after seed was planted and grown (or flock tended), harvested, processed and spun, maybe all by the same person. The linen cloth (see page 2) came into my possession complete with handwritten provenance that tells how Marie Elizabeth Damier grew the flax in Tige, near Baden, in the late eighteenth century and how Irene Marie Vedder, fresh off the boat on Ellis Island, sewed it in 1918. This still happens routinely in remote, poor, or destabilized regions, and many a back-to-the-land textile artisan these days is experimenting with the old ways by choice. Farm to table isn't only a food term...

Praise for MEND!

"Sekules brings a refreshingly fierce voice to an assemblage of topics…A prim sewing guide this is not, and I am here for it. If you want sewing basics, Sekules does offer them, but along the way she will school you on where fashion has been and where it’s going (to the grave?)." —**BookPage (starred)

"As someone who does not know how to sew at all, I tend to shy away from any mending projects (hence the seamstress to whom I deliver damaged items for repair). But Sekules' book does a remarkable job at making me think I actually could do this myself – and even want to try. A needle is less daunting than a sewing machine, and the diagrams in the book are so clear and simple that I am inspired to tackle my next holey t-shirt." **—Treehugger.com

"Both practical and political, with a directory of menders whose work Sekules reveres, Mend! is a slow-fashion manifesto, a DIY manual and an argument for adding a little flair to any old garment--either by necessity or just because." —Shelf Awareness**

Autorentext

Kate Sekules

Klappentext

**A hands-on manual and a history and celebration of clothes tending--and its remarkable resurgence as art form, political statement, and path to healing the planet.

“For Fans of NBC’s Making It, Bravo’s Project Runway, or shopping vintage: A sweater gets a hole? Sew it closed... Part history and part how-to, Mend! traces the task’s evolution from a 1950s chore to a DIY sustainability movement.” —Marie Claire

For thousands of years, mending was a deep craft that has for too long been a secret history. But now it's back, bigger and better than ever. In this book Kate Sekules introduces the art of visible mending as part of an important movement to give fashion back its soul. Part manifesto, part how-to, MEND! calls for bold new ways of keeping clothes and refreshing your style. Crammed with tips, fun facts, ravishing photography, and illustrated tutorials, MEND! tells you exactly how to rescue and renew your wardrobe with flair and aplomb--and save money along the way.

Whether you've never owned a needle or are an aspiring professional, MEND! gives you clear instruction and witty advice, with over thirty techniques, from classic darning and patching to cheeky new methods invented by Sekules, to help you turn every garment into a unique fashion statement. Including interviews with menders, shameful fashion industry facts, a ten-step closet mend, cheat sheets, stitch guides, moth elimination, museum conservator and vintage dealer tricks, and more, this is a book to inspire, delight, and galvanize. Sharp, funny, and incredibly timely, MEND! leads the slow fashion revolution into its next phase, where getting dressed is a joyful, creative experience for all.

Leseprobe

Chapter One

What

I did not invent visible mending— nobody did. For goodness’ sake, it’s been around forever. There’s been so much mending, always, throughout history, it is bound to show occasionally. When fabrics were costly and clothes were handmade, we all preserved them for years, even generations; we had no choice. Until the nineteenth century fabrics were handwoven, too— that is, after seed was planted and grown (or flock tended), harvested, processed and spun, maybe all by the same person. The linen cloth (see page 2) came into my possession complete with handwritten provenance that tells how Marie Elizabeth Damier grew the flax in Tiège, near Baden, in the late eighteenth century and how Irene Marie Vedder, fresh off the boat on Ellis Island, sewed it in 1918. This still happens routinely in remote, poor, or destabilized regions, and many a back- to- the- land textile artisan these days is experimenting with the old ways by choice. Farm to table isn’t only a food term.

During the centuries when mending was not an aesthetic choice but a necessity, obvious repair was despised as a marker of poverty rather than valued and collected as artifact or fashion inspi-ration. These days, f…