Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Darning as Metaphor

"The mending of clothing and household linen, though wearisome, is nevertheless very necessary, and no woman should be ignorant of the best methods of doing it.
There is as much merit in knowing how to repair the damage caused by wear and tear or by accident, as in the perfect making of new articles."  Therese de Dillmont, 1884 in the  The Complete Encylopedia of Needlework
It is not difficult to darn, but very fiddly.  Click here for a short demo video. 

Mending as a way of drawing.
"The act of sewing is a process of emotional repair. "
 Louise Bourgeois

23 comments:

Ellen Shipley said...

Nice job. 8-] My attempts aren't so neat.

Saskia said...

very nice

india flint said...

mending as meditation, wonderful

ronnie said...

I'm afraid darning is beyond my capabilities - both mentally and practically! (but it IS lovely in these shots...)

mansuetude said...

So Darned beautiful, as they say. You taught me how to darn today.

Velma Bolyard said...

i'm a darner. keeps me in socks a bit longer. this is beautiful here.

Christine said...

Lovely repairs

Liz I. said...

So beautiful. Have been thinking about Tikkun Olam, "repairing the world."

jude said...

i have that book, it is grand. i remeber the first hole i darned. it has become second nature, my life has been so full of them. holes.

grace Forrest~Maestas said...

Louise looks down with a Smile

Judy Martin said...

oops - you are supposed to do this stitching on the inside (wrong side) of the work -

But I love it on the outside as a kind of screen.

either way. Darning is darned beautiful on many levels. A healing stitch.

Drucilla said...

one of my favorite posts ever!

wholly jeanne said...

makes me want to go rip holes in some things. people, too, but that's another story for another day.

apiecefullife said...

I love darning!
Recently I have been mending cardigans with contrasting thread. Much admired. But one is really wearing out and I am not sure what to do with the underarms.....

Ann Knickerbocker said...

Beautiful photos! I think stitching on "the right side of the work" surface is good... why should all that hard work be invisible later? It's as if the cloth is made twice, the first weave and then the darning...

Heather said...

Darning is healing in many ways. And it makes the cloth more beautiful, it speaks of kindness and caring.

Susan McShannon-Monteith said...

A neighbour of mine brought me a jar of hawberry jelly and so when I Googled for an image of the fruit your beautiful naturally dyed wools came up and this is how I found you.
Darning was once a required art yielding some of the most lovely mending samplers I have seen.
It was nice to discover you and I shall visit again.
Susan

Kim Henkel Creations said...

Oh so beautiful! What amazing work. I will keep it in mind as I clumsily mend my daughter's shirt that she brought to me for fixing this evening. I will work to make it not noticeable, keeping in mind the beauty you make when you make it just noticeable. Beautiful!

Peggy said...

"The act of sewing is a process of emotional repair." That quote is perfect for people recovering from sons' weddings! ;) I had one, too. Beautiful post. xo

Mary Ann said...

There's a little Dorothy Caldwell in all of us.I remember being taught in grade school how to darn and stretching my dad's sock over a light bulb to repair the toes.

Montse Llamas said...

My mother showed me how to darn. She learned ir from her own mother. They needed to do it in the past for practical and economical reasons.
I don't "need" to do it for this reasons anymore but I don't want to loose this capacity of meanding, healing...

Anonymous said...

love the quotes

Unknown said...

I used to mend all the socks when I was a child, I loved doing it and I still love darning today. I just love your work and the white darning is just beautiful.I have watched your work for a long time but never had the guts to comment before.