Gina Harper - Denim Mending + Visible Mending for Beginners: 2-in-1 Compendium for Mending Denim, Knitted Fabrics, and Other Materials

Denim Mending + Visible Mending for Beginners

Copyright 2019 by Gina Harper- All rights reserved.

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Book 2: Visible Mending for Beginners

The Technique

Denim Mending for Beginners

Patch and Repair Your Favorite Denim with Classic Japanese Stitching

People have been sewing for a very long time.

20,000 years ago, during the Ice Age, someone decided that punching a hole through needles and running threads through them seemed like a good way to sew.

They were right.

Archeologists have uncovered needles made of bone and concluded that early humans used them to sew furs and skins. But bone needles required, well, bones. There had to be a better material to utilize.

Fast forward to the year circa 100 B.C. Parts of Northern Europe began to use iron needles. These were sturdier than any previous forms of needles used (bronze was used to make needles around 3,000 B.C., and these had been in use until iron replaced them).

Today, you have sewing needles made from materials such as carbon steel (for that extra durability) and 18K gold (for corrosion resistance and for those who do not mind splurging a little on tools).

It is not just the tools of sewing that have evolved over the years. Even the reason behind the art of sewing has shifted perspective. At one point in time, it was a craft used for necessity. People could not afford to risk sacrificing animals they used as food to mend a torn shirt. These days, sewing has turned into a hobby. It has become a way for people to enjoy an art that requires a considerable amount of skill. It has even become a way to improve your mood and help you relax.

Even technology has helped add convenience and sophistication to the art. Thomas Saint is known as the designer of the first sewing machine. Although, a German by the name of Charles Weisenthal had issued a patent for a machine that used needle nearly 30 years before Thomas Saints design. Because of this reason, there has been some debate on the matter of the actual inventor of the sewing machine.

Regardless of the machines origins, people and industries both use the machine today to create and repair garments, fabrics, clothing, and fashion products.

Companies use workshops that contain sewing machines to manufacture textiles, and those textiles are used to create clothing and apparel. In many cases, manufacturers produce the article of clothing themselves, especially if the manufacturer is a home-based business. From tops and trousers to dresses of all kinds, sewing comes into play in the creation of many clothing products, and in the mending of those products as well.

Need a solution to fix a tear? Why, sew the tear together. Is there a way to make some modifications to a garment? No problem, bring out the needle and thread.

This capability to sew damaged clothing allows clothes to last for a long time. It makes them reusable. It helps maintain them.

It makes them sustainable, even in the world of fashion.

Even though a sewing machine speeds up the mending process, hand sewing is often preferred. This is because sewing performed by hand allows you to take the time to create wonderful and high quality handcrafted results. In many cases, the results speak for themselves, as you get to see the work of a person who applied finesse and patience to create a spectacular finish.

This is what you will be producing: works of incredible quality that showcase your skills.

When people think about the tools that are required for sewing, they often imagine the needle, thread, and scissors. While those are definitely the essentials, each sewing process requires a different set of tools. Take, for example, the process of marking the cloth. You have markers to show you where the pleat should fall on the garment, where the dart should be inserted, and so much more. Looking through the different markers, you have so many options such as water-soluble ink pens, the ever popular tailor's chalk, the tracing wheel, and a lot more. Those are just for the markers.

You have tools for ripping seams. You have special tools for opening buttonholes.

For the work that we shall be doing, we will dispense with the tools that are clearly meant for veterans of the art. We are not working with seams and buttons, so we wont require any tools that attend to those parts.

What we have left are tools that are important for you. These are the basic tools that will help you perfect some of the techniques that we are going to focus on.

Before you can start working on your material, you need to organize your tools. It is always preferable to keep all essential tools near you so that you are prepared before you begin mending. One of the reasons for this is that while you are mending, you often lose yourself in the work. Sewing requires a fair degree of concentration, and you might not want to be distracted while you are engrossed in a particular stitch.

Here are the tools you may require:

• A sharp needle. Ensure that you are not using worn or damaged needles, as they might cause damage to the denim while stitching. For specific stitches or threads, make sure that you get the right needle. To highlight an example, sashiko thread goes perfectly with sashiko needles.
• Thread. The choice of thread is important because when you use a thread that does not match your requirements, it only creates a poor result. There are a lot of factors to consider such as elasticity of the thread, its seam strength, its chemical resistance, and more. So ideally, you should get a high-quality thread and the right one for specific stitches.
• Pins. For holding the cloth in pace. After all, you only have two hands.
• An iron to smooth out the fabric. This allows you to work on the denim more easily. Additionally, with an iron, you can remove any folds or creases that might hinder your work process.

When you are ready, let us dive in to the first stitch.

Sashiko is a form of classic Japanese embroidery that makes use of curved or straight linear patterns to form stitches. In other words, it uses curved or straight stitches made in a repeating pattern. The name itself means little pierce or little stabs. The name is used to describe its technique, that of a running stitch that has numerous little stitches.