Kino’s resident crafter Frances (@princepeachblossom) takes us through the beginning steps of darning, showing you the tools and one of the techniques featured in Modern Mending by Erin Lewis-Fitzgerald.

Check out some of her other favourite mending books below!

Modern Mending 
Erin Lewis-Fitzgerald 
RRP $35.00

Australia sends millions of tonnes of clothing to landfill each year and our clothing consumption is among the highest in the world. But mending is trending and it’s never been easier to repair and reinvent your favourite clothes. Inspired by the global slow fashion movement, Erin Lewis-Fitzgerald has created a comprehensive guide to mending your own clothes that combines creativity and sustainability. She demystifies mending and shares step-by-step instructions for a range of techniques, including stitching, darning, patching, needle felting and machine darning. So next time you tear your favourite jeans or find a hole in your jumper, think twice before throwing it away. With Modern Mending, you’ll gain the skills and confidence needed to rebel against fast fashion and save the planet.

Mending Matters
Katrina Rodabaugh
RRP $35.00

Mending Matters explores sewing on two levels: First, it includes more than 20 hands-on projects that showcase current trends in visible mending that are edgy, modern, and bold—but draw on traditional stitching. It does all this through just four very simple mending techniques: exterior patches, interior patches, slow stitches, darning, and weaving. In addition, the book addresses the way mending leads to a more mindful relationship to fashion and to overall well-being. In essays that accompany each how-to chapter, Katrina Rodabaugh explores mending as a metaphor for appreciating our own naturally flawed selves, and she examines the ways in which mending teaches us new skills, self-reliance, and confidence, all gained from making things with our own hands.

Mending Life
Nina Montenegro
RRP $39.98

Mending Life encourages us to cherish our things by repairing them rather than discarding them. It also encourages us to change our consumption habits so that with small mends here and there, we extend the life of our garments and other household items. This handbook is for beginners but also offers more advanced techniques to those with some experience in mending.  You’ll learn basic techniques such as patching, but will have options to take it a step further with decorative sashiko stitching; you’ll also learn how to darn socks and mend sweaters, as well as things like a tear in a bedsheet or down jacket. And along the way, the authors share heartfelt stories about the powerful act of mending, which strengthens not only the object we are repairing, but ourselves as well. Vibrant, full-color illustrations are woven throughout the handbook. Mending Life is a timeless, practical guide to cherishing and caring for our belongings.

Mend & Patch
Kerstin Neymuller
RRP $22.99

Throwing away holey, yet beloved, clothes can sometimes be one of the saddest things, but what if you were able to fix those holes and extend their life? With Mend & Patch, you can learn to take care of your clothes, mending, patching and repairing so you can cherish all your garments. This nifty book arms you with the skills and ideas you need to mend your own clothes, truly making and keeping them your own, whatever the wear and tear. Find out emergency tips for mending in a hurry, enhance your clothes with decorative ‘mends’ and learn to mend for and with different materials, including leather, cotton, wool, silk and of course, denim.