Friday 29 January 2021: Online Workshop (Visible Mending)

Gary Mills - Friday 29 January 2021 - 6.00pm to 9.00pm (GMT)

Online Interactive Workshop: Visible Mending

The wonderful Gary Mills steps into the spotlight once again and teaches you all about Visible Mending, a fantastic method which helps you revive or rescue bygone loved garments & give them an excitingly fresh lease of life!...

Introduction by Gary:- 

It used to be called 'Invisible Mending', but today the new “make do and mend” trend is truly visible, which can be seen, stand out and enhance the look of the garment. The finished outcome gives a once pre-loved every day manufactured piece of clothing a unique, home-spun, hand worked new lease of life, which will make you love all over again!

What makes this workshop so neat, is that you do not need any special equipment, no expensive materials and you do not even necessarily need clothes in need of repair as you can re-imagine or pretend where a repair is required and get to work on creating this customised look. Once you get hooked on playing and experimenting with visible repairs it is the take anywhere craft-stitch project; get creative in your armchair, take it on a journey or sit on your porch; you do not need workspace to achieve these outcomes.

What You Will Learn in this Online Interactive Workshop:-

Experienced and talented tutor Gary Mills, with his background in fashion design, imparts his knowledge on how to create a balanced and a visually enhanced look to your repairs.

During this 3-hour workshop he will cover, stabilising a hole in a garment for repair, patching from behind and patching on top; using turned or raw edges, a simple yet effective darning technique, decorative Boro stitching to use for strengthening the repair but also for decoration and a small portfolio of hand stitches that you can draw upon to enhance and decorate a garment.

Gary has chosen a knitted jumper, a cotton jersey t shirt, a woven cotton shirt and cotton drill trousers to visibly repair in his examples.

Your outcome for this workshop can be examples on all 4 types of garments or you may wish to just concentrate upon and choose one woven and one knitted garment.

Skill Level for this Online Interactive Workshop:-

The skill level for this project would suit all, from the beginner who would like to learn with simple, clear, achievable instruction, to those who are more experienced who will quickly grasp the process and perhaps wish for more guidance in design choices which Gary can advise upon.

Material requirements for this Online Interactive Workshop:-

You need suitable garments or clothes.

Note: These do not necessarily have to need repair as you can use this process on new garment also.

It is suggested that you have a knitted garment (exampled for darning jumper or similar not too fine a knit) to decorate and a woven garment such as simple cotton shirt or a pair of trousers such as Jeans or cotton drill cargo pants or similar.

Fabric & Haberdashery requirements for this Online Interactive Workshop: -

A SELECTION of FABRICS for REPAIRS and PATCHES

You only need ridiculously small scraps of cotton fabrics in prints, checks and block colours. But do consider in conjunction with the original colours of the garments you are working on. You may wish to go tonal or you may wish to go contrast against a plan colour. See how Gary has worked colours in his photographed examples.

THREADS & YARNS

Gary has used cotton Perle embroidery thread and DCM embroidery thread for his decorative stitches and darning details. You can also use fine wools and any other decorative or repair threads you have at hand.

You will also need sew-all or quilting cotton thread in matching colours to garments and patching fabrics for stabilising and hand turning edges of the patches.

USEFUL

Thin strips of fusible web are useful to adhere small patches before stitching, although some tacking stitches can be just as effective

Equipment requirements for this Online Interactive Workshop:-

• Fabric, and embroidery scissors
• Pins
• Hand sewing needles varying sizes (a wool darning needle if you wish to work in wool)
• Tape measure, ruler or small quilters graded square
• Vanishing ink fabric marker pen
• Iron and board for pressing

​Tickets for this Online Interactive Workshop (via the Zoom platform) will be limited & allocated on a first-come/first-served basis! If applicable, any free pattern, or other information, relevant to this course will be forwarded to you after booking and approximately 5 days before the course date. The ticket price of £25.00 is based on ONE person attending this crafting class.

IMPORTANT - Ordering MATERIALS/EQUIPMENT Online For Any Class/Workshop!

In light of the ongoing potential for lockdowns in some/all parts of the UK due to Covid-19 outbreaks & subsequent Government-imposed restrictions to people movement and business operation, we advise everyone to please book your place & order any materials/equipment online in plenty of time ahead of any course dates.