Saskia Weir founded Mend House in 2020, a series of repair programmes with a mission to decrease waste within the fashion industry. Mend House offers clothing/textile and jewellery repairs, where customers can send in their pieces to be mended or revitalised. You can also attend one of their clothing repair workshops which are run across the UK.

 The workshops are small and intimate, with around 10 guests. Attendees bring in their cherished pieces and learn different techniques to mend them, including introductory sessions to Sashiko, darning and more advanced visible mending. Each workshop has a different focus area.

 Visible mending has become a popular way to honour a tear or stain and can be done using minimal equipment at home. At Mend House, responsible practise and supporting locally are two of their key values. They suggest looking at Scottish Borders based, Collingwood Norris for an amazing array of threads which are appropriate for mending most materials. For traditional Sashiko yarns, please see the links below. 

 https://upcyclestitches.com/store/Sashiko-Thread-c22185099https://www.japancrafts.co.uk/store/c86/Fine-sashiko-threads#/ 

 Mend House’s tips for mending: 

 - When mending, there are so many different types of needles you can use depending on which fabric you’re mending! For mending cotton, you want sharp, long and strong needles. But for mending your grandads guernsey jumper, using thinner and longer needles will help. Merchant and Mills has Saskia’s favourite darning needles. 

- When unravelling thread, use an arm’s length maximum! Otherwise, the yarn will get tangled when you’re mending! 

 - Set aside time for mending and put on some music – links to Mend House mixes are below. 

MEND HOUSE MIX 1https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7b9iFcsVocpBXzLa9a3ccH?si=dbc42eeea00a4756MEND HOUSE MIX 2https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5LjqZk2gPYb9O0qDRJS23Z?si=a410637686d44b98 

Mend House has three upcoming London based repair workshops. Guests will all be given an Agua de Madre drink on entry! 

 ‘Mending at the Block’ 

Wednesday 24th April: 6.30pm – 8.30pmDe Beauvoir Block, 92-96 De Beauvoir Road, London, N1 4EN 

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/867347257997?aff=oddtdtcreator 

 ‘Art’Mending Part 1’Friday 3rd May 7pm – 9pmArt’otel Hoxton, 1-3 Rivington St, London, EC2 3DThttps://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/865507264527?aff=oddtdtcreator 

 ‘Art’Mending Part 2’Friday 7th June 7pm – 9pmArt’otel Hoxton, 1-3 Rivington St, London, EC2 3DThttps://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/865517434947?aff=oddtdtcreator