Table of Contents

Foreword

Introduction

Helpful Tips

Thoughts Before Mending

Tools of the Trade

Fabric 101

This Goes With That

Techniques
- Stitching
- Patching
- Darning
- Needle Felting
- Machine Darning
- Buttons, Zippers, Ladders, Snags + Shoes

Case Studies
- Amanda’s dress
- Anna’s jeans
- Austen’s shirt
- Ben’s jacket
- Carolyn’s oven mitts
- Chilli’s bandana
- Clare's jacket
- Emily W’s jacket
- Emily O’s dress
- Emily O’s shirt
- Emma F’s tea towel
- Emma M’s jeans
- Erin’s shirt
- Guy’s jumper
- Hilary’s shirt (aka Large Marge)
- Jess’s jumper
- Kate’s cardigan
- Kylie’s jumpsuit
- Leta’s dress no. 1
- Leta’s dress no. 2
- Louise’s jumper
- Mandy’s tea towel
- Matt’s boxer shorts
- Matt’s pyjama pants
- Natalie’s cardigan

Modern Menders
- Aleksandra Zdravković
- Eline Medbøe
- Hikaru Noguchi
- Miriam Dym
- Nina & Sonya Montenegro
- Roberta Cummings
- Tom Van Deijnen

Care: Prevention & Maintenance

Share the Love & Increase Your Impact

Should I Redo it?

Mending for Others & Valuing Your Time

Resources: Where to Find Mending Supplies

Recommended Reading

Acknowledgements

About the Author

Index

About the Author

Erin Lewis-Fitzgerald is Australia's leading clothes-mending practitioner. Her mending has been displayed in art exhibitions in Melbourne and Adelaide, and she teaches workshops across Australia. Erin began her career in journalism at 15 and over two decades worked as an editor, sub-editor, writer, and photographer. After leaving journalism she founded Bright Sparks, a social enterprise that repaired and reused electrical appliances to keep them out of landfill. When she's not trying to save the planet (stylishly), you can find her making tiny dioramas for her magic letterbox or cooking up a storm for her cookbook club, the Ottolenghi Appreciation Society. Her retirement dream is to run a deluxe toy hospital for stuffed toys.

You can find Erin online at www.erinlewisfitzgerald.com and www.modernmending.com

Reviews

This is a surprisingly thick book, full of lots of practical info and helpful tips. Well laid out with loads of clear photos, great for beginners and beyond. I particularly enjoyed the 'this goes with that' section (see pic), very useful and well thought out. Just that little nudge you need to get started on your mending journey!
*Customer Review*

This is a lovely book. Well written and researched including many helpful hints and tips. In the past I have tried to mend holes in my sons jeans with limited success. Now I feel this book will give me the tools and knowledge to do successful mending which looks good and will last even after washing. Sewing reference books can be a bit formal and stuffy. This one is not – there's plenty of humour to bring a smile to your face as you stitch. The authors passion certainly shines through the pages! I will refer back to this manual time and time again whenever holes and rips appear in my clothes.
*Customer Review*

This book is full of lots of good ideas to mend rips and tears, as well as holes and wear to garments. It is modern in style, and has given me lots of good ideas. I shall refer back to it many times, having gained some basic good ideas.
*Customer Review*

Modern Mending from Search Press is a must have for your sewing library. I always mend when I can, but in a very basic fashion. This book is full of inspirational ideas to mend and recycle your fabrics. I particularly like the 'front' and 'back' pictures (I often wonder, when following instructions, what things should look like from the reverse) and the 'what could go wrong' sections are most useful, as are the 'pro tips'. Packed with pics, information and easy to follow steps. If I could have given this book more than 5 stars I would have, it's a treasure!
*Customer Review*

Combine creativity and sustainability. Mending is trending and it's never been easier to repair or reinvent our clothes. There are step-by-step instructions for stitching, darning, patching, needle felting and machine darning along with a 'quick-fix' section for buttons, snags, ladders and zips.
*Machine Knitting Monthly*

A very useful book to repair and mend clothes.  A well illustrated book that makes mending clothes look very easy. I particularly like the chapters on mending denim jeans by hand and also by machine as my husband makes holes in the knee area and I will adopt these techniques in the future. There are chapters on darning, felting, machine darning etc. There are loads of ideas, both as a mending tool. but also ones you could just change a look of an article. Ideal for people to cut down on waste and also to give style to plain clothes
*Amazon Customer Review*

Ever wondered how to reduce your environmental impact? Enter Modern Mending, the quintessential guide to repairing your own clothes. Inspired by the slow fashion movement, this title reveals how to mend garments in a way that combines creativity and sustainability. Explore step-by-step instructions covering a range of methods, including darning, needle felting and patching, as well as quick fixes for buttons, and pesky snags and ladders. You'll wonder how you ever did without it!
*Sew Magazine*

Bring new life back to old clothes and fabrics with this easy-to-follow guide. You'll gain the skills and confidence to rebel against fast fashion, be less wasteful and more sustainable.
*Machine Knitting Monthly, October 2023*