In life, stuff breaks. A lot. Glasses, plates, clothes, electronics, relationships, expectations.
Our consumer culture has made many items so cheap, that we no longer repair them. We just trash and replace. This was not the case for previous generations. I still remember my mother’s sock egg, used to mend the inevitable holes in the heels. Or my grandfather’s workshop in the basement, where he built and fixed all kinds of things.
Fortunately, the tides are turning on the throw-away culture. People are keen to buy stuff that lasts, and learn the skills to create and repair.
Taking the time to sit down and figure out how to repair our possessions also has a positive impact on our well-being. We get a boost from learning a new skill, we get to enjoy Flow when we’re using this skill, and we (hopefully) feel a sense of achievement when we’re done.
The Activity: Learn to fix what is broken
Step 1: Find the patient
Find something in your house that is broken or damaged. Here are some examples you might have at yours:
An item of clothing with a hole in it
A wooden chopping board that has started to warp
That book with the torn off cover pages
That broken pottery vase you got last Christmas
A wobbly table
The bike in the shed
Or if you really want to challenge yourself: that electronic device that just won’t turn on anymore.
Step 2: Learn
It’s time to research. Go online and figure out how you can fix your patient in the easiest way. For many things, there’s a ”take it to a professional” option, and then there’s a ”DIY hack I saw on Pinterest/TikTok” version. We’re looking for the latter.
The goal is not for your item to look like it was never broken in the first place, but to get it functioning again. In Japan pottery gets fixed with gold, so you can see the scars. Scars tell stories. There’s no shame in having been broken and then fixed. On the contrary, if we can see the traces of your craftiness, all the better!
Step 3: Fix
Now it’s time to sit down and fix your patient. Take time to do this, a nice cup of tea, some good music. You want to be able to indulge in this moment of applied awesomeness. When you’re done, admire your work. It was broken, and now it is healed, and you did this.
My Example
I’ve dabbled quite a bit in the fabric and yarn crafts. I got pretty good at crocheting, I’ve succesfully completed some beginner level sewing projects, and I tried my hand at embroidery (exactly once). And coming to think of it, I used to do a pretty mean cross stich in elementary school.
One of the most common breakages at my house are pants. I wear them until the fabric starts wearing thin and the inevitables holes appear. I want to keep wearing them despite the holes, which is fine when you’re working from home, but not so great if you’re out and visible to other humans below your shoulders.
My two patients today were 1) a pair of jeans with the classic wear and tear in the crotch and 2) a pair of corduroy pants that got torn on the shin.
I follow some people on Instagram that are showcasing their visible mending skills. Visible mending is the art of repairing a piece of clothing in a very visible way, on purpose. It’s almost like a decorative fix, with the mending turning into a new feature of the clothes.
On the jeans, I experimented with weaving green, yellow, and blue embroidery thread, so it would create a colourful and sturdy patch. I do want it to last for a while after all.
The tear in the corderoy pants was a straight line, so I tried a more decorative free-hand stitch in pink and purple. Almost like I would hatch it when I’m drawing.
I’m pretty happy with how both of them turned out, and that I can start wearing these pants again. I already sported the cords out to dinner this evening.
And you, what will you fix next?
Have a great week my creative friends!
Love,
Lorena