Sashiko Mending Matters – Book Review

Mending Matters explores sewing on two levels: First, it includes more than 20 hands-on projects that showcase current sashiko trends in visible mending that are edgy, modern, and bold—but draw on traditional Japanese stitching.

It does all this through just four very simple mending techniques: exterior patches, interior patches, slow stitches, darning, and weaving. In addition, the book addresses the way mending leads to a more mindful relationship to fashion and to overall well-being. In essays that accompany each how-to chapter, Katrina Rodabaugh explores mending as a metaphor for appreciating our own naturally flawed selves, and she examines the ways in which mending teaches us new skills, self-reliance, and confidence, all gained from making things with our own hands.