Textile Aesthetic Dialogues of Garment Mending

Abstract

Creative engagements with mending may cultivate change in how garments are perceived when breakage, time, and life appear as signs of wearing. Garment mending as a care and maintenance practice does not solely have the potential of extending clothing lifespan. Mending can also be seen as a bottom-up approach to altering a clothing culture through creativity and making. However, material expressions of mending are still to be researched to understand the influence on garment lifetime. This research is based on textile aesthetics and mending to better understand the material perspectives of garment repair. It discusses how designers can utilize their skills in materials and aesthetics to encourage engagement with garment expressions as a part of mending by providing support in creating a language of doing and verbalizing.
Rooted in design practice, this research is carried out through prototyping and full-garment sample-making in three encounters with mending, namely Material experimentation, Textile aesthetic materials as design tool, and Co-explorations with participants. The three encounters underline the complexity of mending. Mending a garment is not solely fixing the damage; it also requires the mender to consider the existing design of the garment and how to engage with that in relation to the damage.
In this paper, I discuss how designers can support making alterations to garments through a repair practice. By drawing on the preliminary findings of this research, textile aesthetic dialogues are suggested as an approach to which the designer can communicate and inspire consumers to feel confident in experimenting with mending as a medium of self-expression.

Full text

5th PLATE 2023 Conference
Espoo, Finland - 31 May - 2 June 2023
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Textile Aesthetic Dialogues of Garment Mending
Louise Ravnløkke
Design School Kolding, Kolding, Denmark
Keywords: Garment appearance and lifespan; Design skills; Making mending; Material expressions;
Textile aesthetic dialogues.
Abstract: Creative engagements with mending may cultivate change in how garments are perceived
when breakage, time, and life appear as signs of wearing. Garment mending as a care and maintenance
practice does not solely have the potential of extending clothing lifespan. Mending can also be seen as
a bottom-up approach to altering a clothing culture through creativity and making. However, material
expressions of mending are still to be researched to understand the influence on garment lifetime. This
research is based on textile aesthetics and mending to better understand the material perspectives of
garment repair. It discusses how designers can utilize their skills in materials and aesthetics to
encourage engagement with garment expressions as a part of mending by providing support in creating
a language of doing and verbalizing.
Rooted in design practice, this research is carried out through prototyping and full-garment sample-
making in three encounters with mending, namely Material experimentation, Textile aesthetic materials
as design tool, and Co-explorations with participants. The three encounters underline the complexity of
mending. Mending a garment is not solely fixing the damage; it also requires the mender to consider
the existing design of the garment and how to engage with that in relation to the damage.
In this paper, I discuss how designers can support making alterations to garments through a repair
practice. By drawing on the preliminary findings of this research, textile aesthetic dialogues are
suggested as an approach to which the designer can communicate and inspire consumers to feel
confident in experimenting with mending as a medium of self-expression.
Introduction
Garment mending is identified as one direction
to extend the life span of clothing while slowing
down the material throughput in the fashion
system (Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2021;
European Commission, 2022). However,
mending requires material knowledge and skills
of how to engage with the damaged garment
and mending techniques which may be
challenging (Durrani, 2019; Gwilt, 2014;
McLaren & McLauchlan, 2015), and together
with low-quality and low prices of new
garments, the motivation for repairing damaged
garments is also low (Laitala et al., 2021).
Extending the life of garments through repair is
therefore multifaceted and revolves around
systemic aspects as well as social and
individual activities (Fletcher, 2016; Niinimäki et
al., 2020).
From the perspective of garment design, a
growing body of research is occupied with how
garment repair can create resilience in the
fashion industry to go beyond the point of
purchase and impact the use phase. This has
led to studies on garment design from a ‘repair
thinking’ perspective which takes mending into
consideration in the design phase and suggests
alternative approaches to garment
construction, product types and business
models to make a new balance in the fashion
sector (Durrani et al., 2019; Fletcher, 2008;
Gwilt, 2020; Harvey, 2016; Niinimäki & Durrani,
2020).
Moreover, repair communities have been of
research interest to obtain a broader
understanding of these collaborative learning
spaces (Durrani, 2019; Gwilt, 2014, 2020;

5th PLATE Conference Espoo, Finland, 31 May - 2 June 2023
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Textile Aesthetic Dialogues of Garment Mending
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McLaren & McLauchlan, 2015), as well as
individual mending practices (Kucher, 2022).
Since the establishment of the Repair Café
Foundation in the Netherlands in 2012, we have
witnessed growth in repair cafés as a part of a
“Fixer Movement” (Durrani, 2021). Likewise,
craft practitioners are creating awareness of
creative engagements with mending
techniques which is shared in viral realms and
in a growing number of inspirational books. At a
grassroots level, these initiatives are showing a
shift of interest moving away from passive
consumption towards actions on longevity on
the level of the wearer and owner of garments
(Niinimäki & Durrani, 2020).
Repair of garments, today, is often motivated by
environmental preoccupations and the desire to
reduce consumption (Durrani, 2019; Kucher,
2022). This retrieval of mending as a domestic
craft is also recognized as a political statement
of anti-consumption achieved by visible marks
of the repair (Harvey, 2016; Shercliff & Twigger
Holroyd, 2020). Contrary to historic fashion
trends such as the punk movement and
deconstruction employing raw expressions of
rips, tears, open seams, and random placement
of holes to break with tradition and demonstrate
anti-establishment views (O’Hara, 1989;
Zborowska, 2015), the drive of ‘visible mending’
is playing on beauty, skills and pride (Harvey,
2016). This acceptance of mending as a visual
attachment to the garment dissociate from
earlier social stigmas of economic hardship
(Fisher et al., 2008; Gwilt, 2014; McLaren &
McLauchlan, 2015).
Practicing mending, this shift away from an
invisible repair makes an alternative pathway of
mending where people can use it to express
themselves. Repairing garments as a care and
maintenance practice does not solely have the
potential of extending clothing lifespan.
Mending can also be seen as a bottom-up
approach to altering a clothing culture through
creativity and making (Fletcher, 2016).
However, material expressions of mending are
still to be researched to understand the
influence on garment lifetime (Durrani, 2021).
With this paper, I what to substantiate the
discussion of mending as an alternative
pathway that may echo another aesthetic.
Before taking this discussion further, the next
section will outline a practice-based exploration
of textile aesthetics and mending to better
understand the material perspectives of
garment repair.
Method and Material
Rooted in design practice, this research is
carried out through prototyping and sample-
making for the purpose of generating
experiential knowledge (Ravnløkke & Binder,
2023). The exploration consists of three design
experiments which make the research program
attain a greater level of abstraction by providing
different objects of mending (Brandt et al.,
2011; Redström, 2017). The data is, therefore,
a triangulation of three encounters with
mending, namely (1) Material experimentation,
(2) Textile aesthetic materials as design tool,
and (3) Co-explorations with participants.
These experimental encounters were set out to
explore how designers can facilitate
engagements with mending (Kucher &
Ravnløkke, 2023). This paper, though, draws
on the material-driven practice of engaging with
mending. In doing so, making mending samples
is developed from a selection of full-garment
exemplars representing different types of
damages from everyday use, such as tears,
spots, and holes. This study is concerned with
cases of fabric breakage as opposed to repair
of dysfunctional trims (e.g., missing buttons or
broking zippers). The making of samples is
therefore based on specific cases, yet to obtain
a rich exploration of materiality and textile
aesthetic engagements.
Material experimentation
To achieve a first-hand exploration, I
experimented openly with garment mending
through my practice-based textile design skills.
In this way, the engagement is both an
exploration of the mending process as it is the
gestalt of the full-garment samples (Albers,
2000/1965; Homlong, 2006; Rocha et al.,
2021). Figure 1 shows a selection of the
mending samples with a variety of garment
types – some well-known styles (e.g., jumper
and socks), some of the more specific
characters (e.g., chemise and dress), fabric
quality (fiber, construction, and density), and
aesthetic appearance (color, print, etc.).

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Textile Aesthetic Dialogues of Garment Mending
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Figure 1. Mending samples.
Overview of mending samples
1. Grey mélange socks. Worn-out material on
specific areas (heals and ball of feet).
Mending concept: Swiss darning with one- and
two-colored yarns. Color combinations contrast
and blend in with base material.
2. Dark blue jumper. Torn hemlines of jumper.
Mending concept: whip stitch in matching yarn.
3. Floral print dress. Torn fabric parts (shoulder
and short sleeve) on dress.
Mending concept: use of patches and
embroidery with a variation of colors.
4. Silk chemise. Torn seams because of wear and
tear (supporting areas)
Mending concept: use of patches and
embroidery with a variation of colors.
5. Blue mélange jumper. Holes from infestation
of moths.
Mending concept: needle weaving with one- and
two-colored yarns contrasting the base-color.
Textile aesthetic materials as design tool
Co-exploring garment mending with
participants was arranged as two participatory
textile-making workshops (Shercliff & Twigger
Holroyd, 2020). One was held at a NORDES
design research conference (Ravnløkke &
Kucher, 2021), and another at a public climate
summit in Denmark (see also, Kucher &
Ravnløkke, 2023). A selection of textile
aesthetic materials was developed as a design
tool to facilitate the social and material
encounter of mending together with participants
(Brandt et al., 2012). These comprise threads,
yarns, and fabrics with different material
expressions, such as smooth, rough, shiny,
matte, textured, solid, and flexible qualities, as
well as a color palette encompassing lighter
and darker neutral tones accompanied by
brighter accent colors (examples given in figure
2). Developing this selection draws on design
practice and skills of working with textile
aesthetics as a part of experimenting with
design means as facilitation of garment
mending. The selection was made to support a
decorative approach to mending, as
reconstructive and invisible repairs are more
difficult and skills demanding.

5th PLATE Conference Espoo, Finland, 31 May - 2 June 2023
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Textile Aesthetic Dialogues of Garment Mending
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Figure 2. Textile aesthetic materials to facilitate
garment mending.
Co-explorations with participants
At the co-explorative workshops, participants
brought a damaged garment they wanted to
repair. Based on an introduction to different
mending techniques and concepts of
engagement, it was open to the participants to
design and make their mending. Some
participants already had a mending practice,
others were beginners. In total 16 participants
attended the two workshops and mended their
damaged garments (figure 3).
Figure 3. Examples of participants’ full-garment
mending samples.
The process of making mending was observed
and documented by photographing and taking
notes. As it has also been noted from other
studies with a participatory textile-making
approach, the act of making and handling
materials starts conversations about previous
experiences and sharing of knowledge, as well
as, the actual samples become a common
reference point to reflect on taste, appearance,
and materiality (Durrani, 2021; Shercliff &
Twigger Holroyd, 2020).
Data collection and analysis
Altogether the practice-based exploration of
textile aesthetics and mending has resulted in a
range of full-garment mending samples and
insights into related material processes. These
empirical data are representing specific
examples of rich and qualitative character.
They are analyzed using a phenomenological
approach to detecting the connections running
through the three different material encounters
with mending (Brinkmann, 2014). In the context
of this paper, I am specifically looking at the
material engagements and outcome of samples
to better understand the material perspectives
of garment repair, therefore the analysis and
emerging findings already started to take form
during the creation process (Revsbæk &
Tanggaard, 2015).
Discussion on Findings
In line with other research, this study confirms
that mending requires skills and knowledge.
Knowledge of mending techniques is one thing;
another is material density and strength. As
seen in sample d and e in figure 3, the same
thickness of thread is used to mend a fine knit
jumper (thin and very elastic) and a jean
material (thick and tightly woven). Both are

5th PLATE Conference Espoo, Finland, 31 May - 2 June 2023
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Textile Aesthetic Dialogues of Garment Mending
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repairing a hole in the respective garments, the
challenge lies in matching the repair (thread,
needle size, stitches, and mending technique)
with the elasticity and thickness of fabrics.
I will not dive further into mending techniques in
this paper, yet it connects with the rather large
material complexity of doing mending which is
relevant when unfolding aesthetics and material
expressions of garment mending. I will return to
this material complexity throughout the
discussion, as it is one of the findings appearing
across the three encounters.
Material expression
Making mending invisible is rather difficult.
Therefore, in most cases, the appearance of
the mend is intervening with the existing design
of the garment. This requires the mender to
consider to what extent the repair is to be seen.
Two of the more experienced menders from the
co-explorative workshops described their
awareness of this issue: “Sometimes, the
damage is placed in areas where one does not
want to attract attention” and “The place of the
hole, seems like a decorative spot somehow”
(last quote relates to sample b, figure 3).
Developing ideas of how to engage with
mending a garment connects with an analysis
of the damage – the placement of it, the size,
the amount, etc. A mending project, therefore,
requires the mender to create an overview of
techniques and aesthetic options for
intervening with a damaged garment. This may
also be a part of other garment-making
activities as well, like e.g., knitting, but what
differentiates is that knitting is usually made
from the bottom and not as an alteration of
another. Meaning that the mender needs to
navigate another type of creative process
similar to one identified in processes of up-
cycling and redesign where the idea of the
existing design somehow has to be broken
down to see alternatives (Ravnløkke & Ræbild,
2022).
In the shown sample (figure 4), a pink tread is
used to contrast the existing garment design by
mending the holes in the blue jumper. This is
one example of how choices of color create a
pattern and new material expression when
mending the jumper.
Figure 4. Full-garment sample with repair of
several holes.
Looking further into approaches to mending
may assist in understanding the creative
process (figure 5).
Figure 5. Mending concepts – an overview of
textile aesthetic engagements with mending.
Moving from left to right within the spectrum
shows three steps of repairing a garment: (1)
controlling the damage, (2) approaching
mending in a reconstructive or decorative way,
and (3) intending a material expression that is
contrasting, supporting, matching, or blending
in with the existing garment design. All three
steps relate to choices of material and aesthetic
qualities which again underlines the complexity
when engaging with mending while taking the
appearance into account and not solely
focusing on functional durability. In this
process, the mender needs to navigate choices
and possible outcomes that are hard to grasp
from only thinking. Therefore, engaging with the
material is key to training the sensory
imagination. In connection to form-giving a
design, Donald Schön (1991/1983) and Anni

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Textile Aesthetic Dialogues of Garment Mending
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Albers (2000/1965) describes this process as a
dialogic exchange with the material.
Textile aesthetic dialogues of garment
mending
The experimentation and co-exploration of
making mending samples demonstrated how
playing with the material guided them in finding
the expression they thought suited their
damaged garment. In this way, they familiarized
themselves with materiality through this
sensory engagement:
“…going with the very close color match of the
thread, I really like the organic texture that came
to be. Moving in that grey area in between
reconstructive and decorative – it’s almost
invisible at distance, but going closer you can
see the craft and the woven pattern” (see
sample a, figure 3).
In the co-explorative workshops, the use of
colorways and a selection of materials as a
design tool for facilitation showed to give
participants a safe playground for
experimentation. Especially for beginners who
were new to mending techniques and unfolding
the aesthetic potential of garment mending.
Having this textile aesthetic dialogue of colors,
texture, pattern, etc. assisted the menders to
form a language of doing and verbalizing. The
textile aesthetic approach provided sensation
and identity to find a personal expression of
materials. Similarly, Durrani (2021) has, in her
research on mending practices within
communal repair, identified that training the
sense of touch develops the mender’s
response to techniques and materials as well
as taste.
Researching hand knitters' engagement with
reknitting as a practice of re-use and repair,
Twigger Holroyd found that examples helped
participants “to grasp the diversity of what
reknitted garments could look like, and begin to
generate their own ideas” (2018, p. 99).
Altogether this is stressing the importance of
the tangible approach in developing the
imagination of what aesthetics of garment
mending might be.
Concluding Remarks
Creative engagements with mending may
cultivate change in how garments are perceived
when breakage, time, and life appear as signs
of wearing. Throughout this paper, I have
shown examples of how the material complexity
of garment mending reaches beyond skills and
knowledge of techniques. Garment mending
holds the potential to become a medium of
personal expression, like other creative
garment-making activities. Taking knitting as an
example is also time-consuming and skills-
demanding, as what has been identified to be a
barrier to mending (Laitala et al., 2021), this
does not hold back knitters from exploring
techniques and aesthetics as a popular creative
occupation. However, I have demonstrated in
this paper that the process of garment mending
differentiates from other creative garment-
making activities, like doing a knitting project.
Mending a garment, the mender is required to
respond to the existing design of the garment,
connecting with the damage. As such, the
creative process of engagement cannot be
systematized in the same way as e.g., a knitting
recipe, and therefore demands another
involvement. I suggest textile aesthetic
dialogues as an approach to exploring avenues
of materiality and aesthetic experience.
Future research aims to continue probing how
designers in fashion and textiles well-
developed skills in working with materials and
aesthetics as a communicative tool to inspire
consumers to feel confident in experimenting
with mending.
Acknowledgments
I will like to thank the participants from the co-
explorative workshops and Simon Weinberger
for giving valuable feedback on an earlier draft
of Mending concepts.
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