Make do and Mend

At the moment I am studying for a BA in Fine Art Textiles at Moray School of Art: I have just begun my second year and have entered Studio Practice. I am gradually getting the hang of what I want to focus on for the next two years - I have been thinking about our relationship to fabric and clothing, how throw-away our society has become and the impact this is having on our home, the Earth.

As a way to help me really understand my own relationship to clothing and fabric I have decided to set myself the challenge of not buying any clothes for the next two years! What I have now I will have to mend, patch and make do with. However, I will allow myself to make new things from old semi worn out clothes; and use fabric, threads and findings I already have to make new, as long as I don't bring anything new to me into my home.

Jeans resurrection mission

This idea has been partly sparked off by my favourite, in fact my only pair of jeans, which over the summer were getting to the point of completely falling to pieces. I had recently seen pictures of Boro mending and this inspired me to use a second pair of worn out jeans to mend my beloved comfy ones! I have been gradually adding patches to the inside of my jeans and attaching them with running stitch over and through the whole surface. This labour of love is turning a throw-away pair of fairly cheap jeans that were second hand (if not 3rd or 4th!) when I first got them, into a work of art that are a delight to wear. The fabric thus created has a robust and substantial handle, looks really interesting and feels full of good vibes.
I am also really enjoying exploring eco dyeing using locally gathered plants and little or no mordants: I can see many of my clothes landing in a pot of leaves and flowers for a new shot of colour over the next two years!

I am going to record my journey through these two years of Make Do and Mend here on this blog, do follow and feel free to comment if you are interested in this idea!

Eucalyptus and Rust