Visible Mending

Patching up loss and disappointment can make a life that is not simply bearable, but beautiful.

When Arounna Khounnoraj was growing up in Canada, her family did not have much money. Her mother was a seamstress, so she made and mended all of Arounna’s clothes. Her mother was so skilled with a needle and thread that no one could see the repairs.

“I remember when she would mend the clothes, she would make them very invisible,” recalls Arounna. Her mother did this because there was a sense of shame associated with wearing mended clothes. Arounna says, “Kids would tease you because they would be like, ‘You can’t afford a new pair of jeans.’”

Today, Arounna is a Canadian fiber artist. NPR reports that she mends her own clothes, but not in the manner that her mother did. No, she does the exact opposite. Instead of trying to hide the repairs, she practices a style known as “visible mending.” With this approach, “you use noticeable threads, fabrics and decorative techniques to show off your mend.”

Visible mending...