 |
| Sewing and patching kit: London 10/17 |
My small, portable hand-sewing kit is one thing I will never, ever travel without. In recent years I have started including a packet of patches as well. In addition to bits of varied material, I also have an assortment of one-of-a-kind patches I created using photo transfer paper and a bank of intriguing non-copyright images I have collected over the years. Fully armed and ready to stitch, I hit a very hospitable friend's house in London for a ten-day stay. She fed me wonderful food and showed me around the lesser-known neighborhoods of London, and I patched clothes for her and her family. Her glass-ceilinged dining room became my temporary sewing atelier.
 |
| Sewing atelier |
The mending mania included one pair of ripped jeans for a son willing to embrace non-conventional repairs:
 |
| Mended jeans |
 |
| Close-up of mend: patched photo transfer image combined with under-mend and sashiko stitching. |
One reversible raincoat with holes in lower front (with additional patches added to balance the look):
 |
| Back of coat with vertical patch |
 |
| Close-up of sashiko stitching used on coat patches |
Two diaphanous cotton shawls for a pregnant daughter, incorporating ancient Chinese medical text image and ancient Arab monkey image.
 |
| Two shawls with decorative (as opposed to functional) patches |
 |
| Close-up: shawl patch |
 |
| Close-up: shawl patch |
Four shirts worn and torn by my lovely hostess. I had already repaired earlier tears in some of these, so the end effect here in some cases is the result of cumulative patching.
 |
| 2 mended shirts |
 |
| Close-up: patch using ancient Chinese medical text image and photo transfer |
 |
| Patch using image from old Arab book and photo transfer |
 |
| Patch using traditional Japanese sashiko stitching |
 |
| Cumulative patching |
 |
| Sashiko stitching for traditional Japanese Boro patching technique |
 |
| Sashiko stitching |
 |
| Patch using cloth photo transfer |
 |
| Shirt with small previous sashiko patch |
 |
| New patch using scrap of old Guatemalan cloth |
I am happy when I sew, and at this point in my life I cannot imagine traveling anywhere without a sewing kit and a supply of patches in hand. I believe the people wandering around the planet sporting one of my patches are happy also.
Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.
