Synopses & Reviews
Learn the art of visible mending — a joyful, meditative, and restorative practice — to repair the clothes and belongings you love!
Now in paperback, this beautiful modern sewing and mending guide with vibrant, full-color illustrations woven throughout encourages us to break free from the fast fashion industry by repairing our clothes rather than discarding them. Along with DIY and how-to illustrations and tutorials, you’ll find heartfelt stories by authors Nina and Sonya Montenegro (creators of the popular @TheFarWoods) that encourage you to change your consumption habits, celebrate a sustainable, intentional lifestyle, demonstrate mending as a powerful act that not only strengthens the object we are repairing, but ourselves as well.
Beginners and Seasoned Sewers will find:
Basic Mending Skills - how to thread a needle, how to tie knots, and basic stitches
Sashiko - a striking Japanese hand-sewing technique for reinforcement and decoration
Darning - plain weave, swiss weave, crocheted patch, knitted patch, and needle-felted patch
Patching - the best three ways to patch holes how-to guide
Mending Tutorials by Item - down jackets, shirt cuffs, and linen
Other Common Repairs - snags, buttons, belt loops, leggings, pant pockets, and more
Sewing Beyond Mending - hemming pants, taking garments in, and adding pockets
Extend the life of your favorite clothes and beloved household items with mending with this timeless and practical guide to cherishing and caring for our belongings. This paperback edition includes french flaps which function as built-in bookmarks!
Review
“In this thoughtful and gorgeously illustrated book, Nina and Sonya Montenegro remind us what our grandmothers taught us: that mending is a radical exercise, both in its creative play and in its role in fighting consumerism and waste. For anyone who yearns to mend but needs helpful advice, this is the coziest book you’ll ever own.” Lisa Congdon, artist and author
Review
“This powerful book, full of care and gratitude, will inspire you to give new love and attention to the objects in your wardrobe. But it will also awaken you, challenging you to rethink your outlook on the world and your role in it.” Anna Brones, author of Fika and Live Lagom
Review
“It is so refreshing to read through this beautifully organized and illustrated book. It will inspire you to take the time to engage with your second skin in a manner that was almost lost to the tsunami of fast fashion. Regenerating your wardrobe with your own two hands is an act that gives the planet an opportunity to rest and repair itself." Rebecca Burgess, founder of Fibershed and author of Fibershed and Harvesting Color
Review
“Mending Life invites us back into real care and love for the material world, and by extension, all the worlds of our experience.” Charles Eisenstein, author of Sacred Economics, The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know Is Possible, and Climate—A New Story
About the Author
Sonya and Nina Montenegro are sisters, as well as illustrators, printmakers, sewers, puppeteers, nature nerds, dreamers, and lifelong students of gardening, beekeeping, and land remediation. Being oriented toward the arts and the natural world explains why we love and appreciate mending. It is a blend of the creative, the practical, and the conscientious.