Mending clothes can be hard if you're trying to make the imperfections disappear altogether, but a TikToker named Lauren (@socorrosociety) is changing the game by using the problem areas to her advantage.
The video features the concept of "visible mending" — mending clothes in a way that customizes them instead of eliminating the imperfection. In this case, they used Sashiko, a Japanese embroidery technique that focuses on geometric shapes.
@socorrosociety Easy visible mending hack using printable water soluble stabilizer as your grid. I needed to mend a collar but didn't want to hand draw a grid so I used this hack instead. #sashikodenim #visiblemending #handembroidery #sustainablefashion #sustainability #sashiko ♬ Skate - Trees and Lucy
In the video, the TikToker is mending some holes in the collar of a jacket. They begin by printing a ¼ grid onto self-adhesive water soluble paper — the grid is helpful later with embroidering.
They cut the grid paper into the shape and size of the collar and baste a piece of scrap material under the collar so that it shows through the holes.
From there, they adhere the grid paper and use it to stitch the Sashiko pattern onto the jacket — applying water to dissolve the paper when they finish. The result is a unique, beautiful pattern on the jacket with a pop of color from the fabric underneath the holes.
Visible mending is a great way to save money and personalize your clothing — once you get tired of wearing the same item, you can change it up with any number of stitching patterns.
There are so many ways to customize your clothes, including painting, adding patches, distressing the clothes, and much more.
An added bonus is that prolonging the life of your clothes is also great for the environment. The average U.S. consumer throws away 81.5 pounds of clothing each year, reports Earth.org. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reports that 10 million tons of textiles end up in American landfills every year.
Clothing in landfills releases toxic, planet-warming gases as they decompose.
Altering or mending your clothes is not only a great creative outlet and a way to customize your closet, but it also cuts down on the amount of clothing in landfills.
Commenters on TikTok were impressed with the concept as a whole, writing, "This is amazing, it's actually better than new!" and "How have I never seen this kind of pattern before? It's so cool."
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