Mend It, Wear It, Love It!: Stitch Your Way to a Sustainable Wardrobe

A practical tool kit for mending and upcycling your wardrobe.

It's “sew” simple to give your wardrobe an eco-chic edge! With fast fixes and clever techniques, this accessible, fully illustrated sewing book has everything you need to mend, customize and care for your clothes.

Parting with damaged, yet beloved, clothes can be one of the saddest things, but what if you were able to fix those holes, give them a fresher look, and extend their life? Luckily, with this guide to mending and patching, you don’t have to say goodbye to your favorite clothing items ever again!

Now you can cherish all your garments, even those in the furthest corner of your closet! This sewing book for beginners will help you master the skills to repair a seam and mend a hem, even if you’ve never touched a needle and thread before!

Enjoy Your Clothes for Longer

This sewing book arms you with the techniques you need to enjoy your clothes for longer and express your creativity. Detailed step-by-step illustrations and clear instructions explain how to sew, repurpose, and care for your clothes in a range of materials. 

For anyone who cares about reducing fashion waste but doesn't want to sacrifice style, this is the book for you! It addresses the way mending is great for fashion sustainability and gives you the low down on “fast fashion”. From polluting ecosystems and breeding unsafe work environments, discover the huge human and environmental impacts those irresistibly cheap t-shirts have.

The Art of Mending and Sewing 

Mend It. Wear It. Love It is for everyone! Packed full of simple fixes, as well as more advanced techniques, this book is perfect for sewers, crafters, and fashion lovers of all experience levels.

• ISBN10: 0744026806
• ISBN13: 9780744026801
• Publish Date: 9 February 2021
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: DK Publishing
• Imprint: Dorling Kindersley
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 144
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780744026801

Reviews

[annieb123]

Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Mend It, Wear It, Love It! is a tutorial and style guide to re-imagining, mending, and re-purposing materials to support a more sustainable lifestyle. Due out 9th Feb 2021 from Penguin Random House on their DK imprint, it's 144 pages and will be available in hardcover and ebook formats.

The pandemic and subsequent economic collapse have shown us what people have known for ages. Our current treadmill of ever faster and more frenetic consumption isn't sustainable for us or for the planet we share. We need to find another way to do better and we're really on the knife-edge of passing the point of no return.

This guide provides good and sensible tutorials for fixing and mending clothing. Most of the info was taught earlier in schools or by family members, but much of it has fallen to the wayside in an era of fast fashion and disposable clothing. The tutorials are arranged thematically: basics (sewing, tools and supplies), mending clothing, wearing (hemming, adding patch pockets, and other alterations), and taking care of clothing with proper storage and cleaning.

The book isn't exhaustively full of photos... but the tutorial photos which are included are sufficient, clear, and understandable. Many of the tutorials are also accompanied by colorful line drawn illustrations.

This would make a superlative selection for library acquisition, maker's/activity groups, home library, or gift for a newly flown-the-coop child or friend. There's a lot of good usable information here.

Four stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.