Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Mending: Darning Socks


I love darning socks. Mostly because I love my wool socks and refuse to give them up. Darning is like the duct tape of sewing fixes. It's inexpensive, durable, and stays put.


Darning wool is easy to find. JoAnn's carries it in the US and both Spotlight and Lincraft carry it in Australia. You'll need tapestry needles, darning needles, or those kid plastic needles, anything with a large eye. You can use a darning mushroom inside your sock, but an orange or lightbulb will do.


Darning doesn't just grab edges and pull them together. No matter how much you wish it did.

It's a lovely process of creating a fabric by weaving back and forth across the hole and into the fabric to recreate the missing area.


Here are some lovely sites to show you how to darn your socks. You can also use this technique with sheets and cottons by sewing back and forth on your sewing machine and then again up and down.

How to Darn Socks

Make Do and Darn

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Legalities of Refashion


In 2009, the Arts Law Center of Australia published an article outlining the legal issues involved in upcycling fashion. Is it legal? Are we stepping on any toes if the original tag is part of the artful design? Is there intellectual property, trademark, or other legal interest invested in clothing and design?


For a fascinating and easy-to-read examination of the ramifications of upcycling in fashion and staying legal have a read.

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Mending: Zippers


Oy vey! Zippers are difficult to mend and costly to replace. At least that's the scuttlebutt. Fortunately, there are a whole lot of zipper life hacks and ways to mend them.

Here are a few sites that explain several common zipper problems and what to do about them.

How to Fix a Busted Zipper

How to Fix Every Common Zipper Problem

The DIY Tailor on 3 Common Zipper Problems