Two men in one Midcoast town separately teach and promote repairing clothing and outdoor gear. They are among many across Maine and beyond who are part of a mending skills comeback.
Whether money is tight on your homestead or you just don’t want to part with a well-loved pair of work pants, some simple, inexpensive skills can help you shop for longevity and repair your outdoor clothes, bags and other possessions that get torn.
“I always encourage people to try,” said Josh Bossin, executive director of Maine GearShare in Brunswick. “If it’s already damaged to the point where you’re not wearing it anymore, you can’t make it worse.”
Being able to mend clothes is a form of empowerment to Bossin, a former college professor who taught gear repair and design. The gear share nonprofit started a repair service and education arm about a year ago that he said has filled a need locally.
Repairs are trending in sustainability subcultures, according to Bossin, who sees repair and buyback programs offered by large manufacturers of workwear and outdoor gear as measures of that interest.
He got into mending to make his outdoor gear last longer. That’s a common concern at the GearShare’s repair events, where people tell Bossin they are frustrated that they can’t trust the quality of their purchases anymore.
The gear share offers two tips for shopping new. First, look for larger zippers. Bossin said zippers tend to be the weakest link in outdoor clothing; zippers on puffy coats are often a small No. 3 size for aesthetic reasons when a larger No. 8 would be more durable.
Second, look for longer seam allowances, or the amount of extra fabric inside of a garment where the pieces are sewn together. The smaller the seam allowance, the more likely it is to rip.
Start with simple button repairs, ripped seams or basic patches, he said. Beginning tools are simple: basic needles, thread and a pair of scissors.
Choose a thread that feels similar to the fabric — natural fiber with natural thread, stretchy thread with stretchy fabric and so on. There are a lot of minutiae in choosing the right thread to use, but beginners can focus on the type of fabric, he said.
Always make the patch or repair bigger than you think it needs to be, he suggested. If you’ve worn through the knees of your jeans, the fibers around the tear are also threadbare. Going wider will reconnect the repair to the healthy part of your garment.
Broken buckles are easy and inexpensive fixes for beginners. Measure the existing buckle and find a replacement from a gear shop.
“The key is to get people touching the stuff and giving it a try,” Bossin said. “The first few times, just give it a go and be brave.”
Jared DeSimio, also of Brunswick, began mending with noticeable, artistic stitches — now called “visible mending” — almost 15 years ago as a break from his more involved sewing projects.
“No measuring, no machines, just me and a needle and thread and a garment,” he said.
At that time, there was less popular interest in mending, and he started learning from online resources. In the last four years, he has seen a surge of interest in mending like his that doesn’t hide the former tears in a garment.
“There’s a real tradition in Japan of craftsmanship but also the ‘preciousness of stuff,’ and it just really spoke to me,” he said. “I decided I was going to just mend some jeans instead of leaving the holes in them, to see what (I could do to) make them interesting and also fixed.”
Now that he has built up the basic skills, DeSimio said he sees mending as a new language. He makes visible repairs on leather sneakers using an awl, heavy duty needle and even pliers when needed. Sometimes, he purchases secondhand clothing with stains and embroiders around the shape of the discoloration.
Mending is re-emerging as part of the current style language because the younger generations are more interested in sustainability, he said.
For beginners, start with a flat item or piece of the garment rather than a knee or an elbow. If patching, secure it first with pins or a loose basting stitch. Remember that a patch on the inside of a garment could change the fit of tighter clothes, he said.
For durability, focus on making small, close stitches. Try heavy duty or upholstery thread, and if it’s tangling, rub it with beeswax.
Above all, he said, “be willing to do it, hate it, remove it and do it again. You’re just learning. You’re just figuring out your language.”
Both men recommend joining community groups or taking classes to expand your skills. The gear share offers pop-up workshops; DeSimio leads a monthly repair gathering at Caballeras bar in Brunswick.
It can be easier for some people to learn in person, but books and online resources abound for the more advanced or people without classes nearby. To Bossin, it’s like a circle: learn in person, develop through books or video and connect more in person as you progress.
The life of your clothes can become circular this way, too.
“When your mend starts to need a mend, that’s an amazing moment,” DeSimio said. “If you’re into it, that is a beautiful thing.”
