Modern Mending - by Erin Lewis-Fitzgerald (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Creatively mend and customize your old clothes to revitalize your outfits and save the planet

Bring new life to your old clothes and fabrics with this fun, easy-to-follow guide to modern mending.

Across the globe, we send tonnes of clothing to landfill each year. In fact, clothing consumption in the UK and US are one of the highest in the world. But the good news is that mending is trending, and it's never been easier to repair and reinvent your favourite clothes.

Inspired by the slow fashion movement that's taking the sewing world by storm, Erin Lewis-Fitzgerald has created a comprehensive guide to mending your own clothes in a way that combines creativity and sustainability. In Modern Mending, 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 them away. With Modern Mending, you'll gain the skills and confidence needed to rebel against fast fashion now and for years to come.

Review Quotes

With mending, everything old can be new again, and as Lewis-Fitzgerald points out, "there is no away" in our global society; every cast-off piece of fast fashion will become someone else's problem. She has created the mending guide every public library and every conservation-minded clothing consumer needs. She assumes nothing about the reader's sewing skill, beginning with essential basics (what is woven versus knit fabric? what tools are really essential? how do those different stitches work?) before moving into a well-photographed and encouraging guide comprised of a breadth of knowledge it can take a lifetime to accumulate. Unlike in mending guides boasting only bold, whimsical designs, Lewis-Fitzgerald points out that a mend is only as useful as its intended wearer, and offers unobtrusive options, techniques for planning ahead to handle future mends on the same garment, and yes, plenty of whimsy--mending does, after all, extend the life of our favorite things, so why not enjoy them all the more! Multiple nuanced techniques are illustrated, with good tips on when and why to use them. Encouraging samples abound, and a final section shares stories from menders worldwide, whose websites and Instagrams will offer additional creative inspiration. An essential resource for slow fashionistas.
-- Heather Booth Booklist June 2021 STARRED REVIEW

About the Author

Erin Lewis-Fitzgerald is Australia's leading clothes-mending practitioner. Her mending has been displayed in art exhibitions in Melbourne and Adelaide, and she teaches workshops across Australia. Erin began her career in journalism at 15 and over two decades worked as an editor, sub-editor, writer, and photographer. After leaving journalism she founded Bright Sparks, a social enterprise that repaired and reused electrical appliances to keep them out of landfill. When she's not trying to save the planet (stylishly), you can find her making tiny dioramas for her magic letterbox or cooking up a storm for her cookbook club, the Ottolenghi Appreciation Society. Her retirement dream is to run a deluxe toy hospital for stuffed toys.

You can find Erin online at www.erinlewisfitzgerald.com and www.modernmending.com