The Midnite Darner.......
I love to re-use and re-cycle. I see my work as "DEVOTIONAL ART", taking something that has been or is about to be discarded, and making it beautiful again. I work in fabrics, but also on paintings, prints and ceramics.
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I have been exploring damage and repair in textiles since 2007., but working in this area for far longer than that, even doing a stint in MOMA in New York in the 1980's restoring Russian Icons.
Working with garments that belong to individuals as well as museum pieces, I have extensive experience with stories of damage, from small moth holes, animal damage, burns, and larger accidents with fire. I am engaged with the evidence of damage, and how repair draws attention to the places where garments and cloth wear down and grow thin, or have ceased to exist, and fall into holes.
In clothing, this is often to do with use and how the body moves. as evidenced in elbow patches and around coat collars. I explore the difficulties of mending other people’s clothes, the materials used for mending, and making damage visible. My tools are scissors, yarn and a sharp needle. I prefer not to hide the damage, but i can.
“Darning and mending are small acts of care, and paying attention.The mending is slow work to hold the damage in place.”
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Whether a fabric, ceramic or painting my approach is the same. The mend is evidence of honouring the item. A signal that we have decided the piece is too precious to discard.
We mend clothes the way they used to, so your garments last longer, giving you maximum wear from your investment pieces.
How the VISIBLE Mending Service Works
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Step 1: You send me an email with a description of the damage and photos of it to yogafirst2@bigpond.com
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If you particularly want me to include embroidery in the repair, or have seen an example of my work you particularly like, please let me know at this stage.
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Step 2: I will then give you an estimate of costs.
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Step 3: If you’re happy to go ahead, you will then post your item to me (making sure it’s clean and moth free first please), or make an appointment and drop it in to me.
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At this stage you can also let me know about any colours you love, or ones you want me to avoid.
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Step 4: Once your garment has arrived, I will select colours for the repair, and send you photos of the options for you to approve and select the ones you like best.
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Step 5: I’ll then repair your garment, and turn your holes into something you want to show off!
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MY PERSONAL PROMISE TO YOU
You will receive a very personal service- - I will discuss colours with you, and what style of creative mend you might like. All mends are done by me, by hand, no machine mends happen unless discussed with you first. I use the finest materials I can source, and the most up to date methods, also ancient techniques - JAPANESE BORO FOR INSTANCE.
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I use materials such as cashmere, lambswool and silk. Great care and attention goes into each one to make your item of clothing the best it can be again.
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When it is finished, your knitwear will be as unique as you are! For some holes, it may not be possible to make the mend completely invisible. Prices vary depending on size of hole.
We even mend cloth dolls and teddy bears.
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BORO. My very favourite jacket and hats I use the BORO technique to mend them. It makes the patch a feature. We don't hide patches any more - we celebrate them.
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