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Monday, July 11, 2016

Monday Morning Inspiration/Visible Mending

When I was in St. Louis a few weeks back, my husband and I had brunch with a friend at the most delightful restaurant called Tree House. It's a vegetarian restaurant and the food is amazing. If you are ever in St. Louis, by all means, make your way over for a meal. You won't be disappointed.

Our waitress that morning was so delightful, and as it turns out, quite creative. She loves taking old pieces and giving them new life. She was wearing a vintage silk top that had a hole in it when she found it. Rather than pass the piece by, she purchased the top and then did the sweetest little applique over the hole and added an embroidered spider web over the applique. I wish I had taken a picture. 

With that in mind, I decided to check out mending on Pinterest and I found a few inspirational pictures that I thought you might also enjoy. If you're in the mood, just search visible mending. You'll find lots of interesting ideas.

So here's a few that I found,

I love how a hole was turned into a window in the 2 pieces below.

       


Another window idea, but with lace. 


The next 2 pieces are from an amazing artist, Lou Tonkin. She does needle felting over holes. Beautiful work.  




If you think you might like to give needle felting a try and do a little mending, or just add a sweet touch to a garment, check out THIS POST


Even just a simple little touch can save a garment and add interest. 


I may be showing my age, but I am not a fan of the ripped up jean look. The Japanese have such a beautiful art form called Boro where garments are pieced and saved, but no holes are left open.

I thought this was rather fun, adding the British flag in a subtle manner.



Rather than discard a garment because the sleeves are worn, a touch of embroidery will make a worn garment so special. 


I loved how this artist took a striped denim and matched the mend with plain denim and white thread.


A beautiful touch of Boro on this pair of jeans. You can find more of this artist's work at Woman With Wings.



Amy Meissner is another textile artist that you might want to check out. Very interesting work.



And finally, for a little peek into my hippy personality ;), a pair of jeans that I actually wear. It all began with a hole that I decided to cover with a patch.....and then I went crazy!  


So now you see, patching no longer needs to be what your mother did to save the life of a pair of pants by ironing a patch over the knees.  

Happy Monday!
Rhonda



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17 comments:

  1. What a delightful, interesting and inspiring post! Lovely ideas, thank you!

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  2. I love this post! So much inspiration here. I especially love the Boro idea and your jeans are so fun! I just found a much loved sweater had a hole just this morning and wondered how to save it. Thanks for the timely inspiration :)

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  3. What Great ideas! My youngest daughter was the WORST of my children for wearing holes in the knees of her jeans...I would cut out around the holes in star or heart shapes, then reverse-applique a patch under them, zig-zagging about 1/4" away from the cut edge, so it would fray when washed. Then I'd echo stitch around it several times in bright colors. She liked the patched jeans better than the new ones...

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  4. Your jeans are such fun! I'm sure each patch has a special meaning to you. Great way to display.

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  5. Thanks so much for sharing my needle felted project! There are some great ideas here - pinning for when I need them :)

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    1. I so enjoyed finding your blog! Thanks for the great tutorial.

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  6. These are all so pretty, and fun. I love the whimsy of making a hole or tear a part of the design.

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  7. Make do and mend made into an art form. Truly inspirational. Thank you Rhonda 😃

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  8. Very beautiful, inspiration indeed, thanks for showing us.

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  9. Wonderful inspiration for a necessity of life.

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  10. Great ways to mend. Fun post.

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  11. I bought a sweater with holes just to do some fun cover ups...then I was hooked. It's a great way to personalize your wardrobe as well as extend the life of loved items. Great photos!!

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  12. Oh YES! I love this post and all the neat ideas within it! Thanks for sharing!

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  13. Gracias por esta recopilación, cuántos artistas!

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  14. Rhonda, I am suddenly enchanted by visible mending and have found this post. What great inspiration! Thank you!

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    1. Hi Bunny! I hope your new year is off to a wonderful start!!! I'm just getting back to the blog...sigh.
      Thanks so much for reminding me of this post. I had forgotten about it!

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    2. I wanted to add...
      With your smoking and hand sewing skills, I am sure you will come up with some wonderful ideas.

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