"
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
Nice job. 8-] My attempts aren't so neat.
ReplyDeletevery nice
ReplyDeletemending as meditation, wonderful
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid darning is beyond my capabilities - both mentally and practically! (but it IS lovely in these shots...)
ReplyDeleteSo Darned beautiful, as they say. You taught me how to darn today.
ReplyDeletei'm a darner. keeps me in socks a bit longer. this is beautiful here.
ReplyDeleteLovely repairs
ReplyDeleteSo beautiful. Have been thinking about Tikkun Olam, "repairing the world."
ReplyDeletei 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.
ReplyDeleteLouise looks down with a Smile
ReplyDeleteoops - you are supposed to do this stitching on the inside (wrong side) of the work -
ReplyDeleteBut I love it on the outside as a kind of screen.
either way. Darning is darned beautiful on many levels. A healing stitch.
one of my favorite posts ever!
ReplyDeletemakes me want to go rip holes in some things. people, too, but that's another story for another day.
ReplyDeleteI love darning!
ReplyDeleteRecently 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.....
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...
ReplyDeleteDarning is healing in many ways. And it makes the cloth more beautiful, it speaks of kindness and caring.
ReplyDeleteA 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.
ReplyDeleteDarning 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
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!
ReplyDelete"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
ReplyDeleteThere'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.
ReplyDeleteMy 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.
ReplyDeleteI don't "need" to do it for this reasons anymore but I don't want to loose this capacity of meanding, healing...
love the quotes
ReplyDeleteI 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.
ReplyDelete