Visible Mending
It's happened twice now. I was snipping stray threads and accidentally nipped a hole in a nearly finished quilt. The horror, the panic, the feeling of utter helplessness and the realization of "what's done is done." After having a conniption, I covered the hole with a little patch. Until a couple of years ago, I never knew it had a name -- Visible Mending. I have used this type of mending quite often to patch up my family's clothing and on those two occasions, my quilts.
I often use vintage linens to back my quilts. Sometimes, they may have imperfections, such as this backing (in the photo below). It had an uneven area in the weaving that looked like a huge clump of white thread. The clump detracted from the softness of the fabric, so I decided to cover it up with some visible mending.
I used the same color fabric and from a distance, it's not noticeable. Up close, you'll see that it's an embroidered heart. I hand stitched around the patch and now we have a visible mend that blends into the background.
You can do the same with shirts, pants and jeans. Remember the elbow patches on men's sports coats? That was visible mending that became a popular style for decades. I don't expect what I do to become a style, but who would've thought that ripped and hole-worn jeans would become part of popular culture, either? Here are some great examples of visible mending from around the web:
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| Patching a t-shirt |
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| Reinforcing the knee and repairing a hole. |
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| Making a monster patch. |
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| Mending a sweater. |
There are many ways to make repairs or extend the life of a well loved garment. As you can see, you can make it noticeable and fun, or you can try to blend it in. Just do a search for "visible mending" and you'll have thousands of ideas to make your own.
Happy mending!
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