Tag Archives: Sashiko

Mending Magic

Here’s a final recommendation to close out 2023.

Mending Life – A Handbook for Repairing Clothes and Hearts by Nina and Sonya Montenegro has been on my radar since it first came out in 2020. But it took having the perfect recipient this Christmas for me to finally buy a copy. Of course I had to ever-so-gently read it before wrapping it up to put under the tree.

Mending Life

If ever there was a book containing love, this is it.
Filled with gentle stories and charming illustrations that shine a light on the humble art of mending, you will never again think of repairing something with needle and thread as just a mundane chore.

The Montenegro sisters frame mending as an act of homage – to the clothes we wear, to those who made them, to the earth we want to protect, and to those who took the time and love to mend for us in the past.

Back Cover Mending Life

The easy-to-follow illustrated directions cover an assortment of ways to darn, patch or repair — perfect for beginners and seasoned sewers alike. The authors address sewing basics, as well as the more advanced Sashiko, needle-felting, crochet and needle-weaving, reminding us that an act of repair can also be a creative gesture (think Wabi-sabi or Kintsugi). The possibilities are virtually endless.

As I grew up, every woman in my orbit had a mending basket; it was as much a fact of life as any other set of household tools, completely unnoticed in its ordinariness. A skilled repair was meant to remain invisible. And even though I patched my jeans in high-school with contrasting fabrics, I never really thought of mending in general as a form of healing, let alone creativity.

But this sweet book has changed my mind. Suddenly I’m scouring my closets, looking for something to mend. That is indeed magic!

Happy New Year!

Arriving At Complexity Via Simplicity

What is it about pattern that is so seductive? Perhaps it’s that its regular rhythms lure us into a sense of comfort through the predictability of repetition. Or could it be the visual jolt that keeps us on our toes as we bump into the places where those rhythms break with a change of direction, color, or image?

Sample 1

This week I have been working up a sample piece for a workshop I will soon be presenting for a group of high school art students. Without being sure what their previous stitching experience (or even exposure) has been, I am planning to concentrate on the deceptively simple running stitch.

Sample 2

Like following the dashes of the broken white line down the middle of the road to destinations unknown, I hope they will become excited by the wide scope of pattern-making possibilities to be found by simply drawing a thread up and down along a line.

Sample 3

The running stitch has a rich history around the world, represented in part by Kantha embroidery of eastern South Asia, Japanese Sashiko, and traditional American hand-quilting.  Numerous contemporary artists, such as Christine Mauersberger, Sue Stone, and Mary Ruth Smith, (and even yours truly) continue to mine its possibilities in their work, offering plenty of inspiration to set any budding stitch artist on her way.

Sample 4

Beyond that, by having them concentrate on the most basic of stitches, my main goal is that the students will come away with a better understanding of the truism that I depend upon so heavily in my own practice: Limitations, self-imposed or otherwise, often provide our greatest opportunities for growth and creativity.

Finished Sample

Running stitch sampler     ©2018 Elizabeth Fram, 10 x 10 inches, Thread on canvas

Several artists I admire who use pattern to great advantage are Jane Newland, Eleanor Annand, Emily Barletta, and Arounna of Bookhou. Who would you recommend?

On a Different Note______________________________________________________________________________

Looking for a great non-fiction read that has nothing to do with art? Try Lab Girl by Hope Jahren, a funny, poignant memoir of a scientist who just happens to write beautifully. It’s my latest favorite.