I’m healing well from the gallbladder removal. I’ve been hand sewing while recovering. This technique is called Sashiko, a Japanese form of embellishment or mending. I love visible mending, it’s a beautiful way to extend the life of garments and reduce waste. The little shirt above is Poppy’s and had a hole at the back. Below are some jeans I bought from a local op shop which are comfortable but not a colour I like to wear. It’s a very wabi sabi approach to consider imperfect and transient things to have great beauty, and to take an older, damaged article and elevate it through care and love to be considered more valuable than a brand new one. I find the concepts deeply soothing.

Embellishments also help me to see garments differently, they take on more detailed form beyond their use as clothes. I begin to appreciate the fabric itself, colors and patterns, the cut, and quality of the stitches. Not having to mend clothes is a luxury, which means when I do it’s pleasurable. I am not volunteering for anyone else’s mending however!