Patching up my past

A simple and subtle repair on my aged denim jacket

I have a complicated relationship with this jacket.

Bought in Selfridges on my 19^th birthday, it’s officially vintage. My Diesel denim jacket saw me through my 20s and into my 30s. Until I wore it less and less. At times, it felt dated, no longer my style. A bit short at the back. And though it holds happy memories of my heady, youthful London days, our history is complex. While the denim has faded, certain associations haven’t. It’s complicated.

This relationship has made it hard to repair. It bears the scars of years of wear and tear. These imperfections add character, the kind that can only be worn, not woven, into denim. Yet, something has held me back from mending it. A few things, in fact.

1. I can’t decide which mending method to use

2. Part of me believes the mend must be perfect (I’m well aware that outcome is impossible)

3. I resent the jacket (I realise how irrational this sounds, but as I said, we have history)

4. The mend must make the jacket better and express who I am today, not who I was in my 20s, pre-kids.

5. Who am I today, in my mid-40s?

6. No, seriously. Who am I?

7. How the hell am I ever going to mend this **cking jacket with all this overthinking going on?!

I had planned to write about the jacket last week. I really had, and up until Thursday late morning, I was going to. The problem? I hadn’t actually repaired it. I was going to mend it and write its story all in one day, but a meeting at my son’s school overran and some client work needed my attention, so something had to give. It was the jacket.

In the end, I’d faffed about enough. I needed to finish the repair so I could write this post. I told myself to just get it done before lunch today. I needed that deadline. I was just going to bloody well do it. Get. It. Done.

After years of procrastination, the repair took me all of 40 minutes.

A bit of an anti-climax.

My mending kit for this repair:

• Long needle

• Pins

• Snips

• Scissors

• Thin embroidery thread

• White cotton sewing thread

• Fabric off-cut (bit of an old pillowcase)

Here’s how I did this repair:

• Snipped the loose ends off around the hole

• Cut a patch to size from an old pillowcase

• Pinned it to the back of the hole

• With white thread, I stitched the patch onto the back of the hole with two rows of stitching for sturdiness (this was not as neat as I usually feel comfortable with, but I’d set myself a goal of getting it done and I did not allow myself to unpick it)

• On the front of the jacket, I sewed small sashiko-style stitches vertically to secure the patch to the back of the hole. I chose to do the rows of stitching vertically so I could attempt to close the long, narrow hole

I decided which technique to use for this repair based on the need to meet my self-imposed deadline. I refused to give myself much time, so it needed to be simple. There are also more repairs that I need to do on the jacket, so I’ll be adding to its story over time with more little stitches and imperfect patches.

Making it my own all over again, by rewriting and restitching our history, on my terms.

What’s coming up this week:

My mending pile: a hoodie of my son’s that has numerous holes

Next week on The Mending Kit: I feel like doing a spot of darning so I’ll look for one to share next week.

Want to read another sashiko repair post? You can find it here: Sashiko repairs from The Mending Kit.

Thank you for reading The Mending Kit. If you’re enjoying it, please do share it, ‘like’ it, subscribe, or leave a comment below. It really means a lot to get feedback!

---