Author: Mai Quynh

Darning is my hobby. I am willing to voluntarily invest time into this activity and do enjoy that time. I like to repair a piece of clothing and "rescue" it from being thrown away because it excites me to make something functional again and to lift it out of its broken state. The way I get there is the challenge that spurs me on: understanding the piece in front of me, using a suitable technique and seeing how things come together, row by row or stitch by stitch. Mastering this challenge and making the piece eventually wearable again really hypes me.

I don't "rescue" it for sustainable reasons and to produce less waste. Although this is a very positive side effect when I darn, it is not the prioritized purpose for me. Why do I tell you this?

The narrative

The narrative that I'm mending for the benefit of the environment and for sustainability reasons doesn't apply to me and therefore I don't want to use it (anymore). I never wanted to put sustainability into focus but it probably always resonated somewhere. One conversation stuck in my mind and I've been carrying an uneasy feeling with me ever since. Over the past few days, I have unraveled this feeling and came to the conclusion above.

The conversation

I had to introduce myself at a workshop and mentioned darning as a hobby. At lunch, a participant and I came back to the topic and he said that he wondered to what extent darning was realistic in everyday life. You don't find the time for such an activity and whether it's worth it. I don't disagree with him on any point. Nevertheless, I had the feeling that he was justifying the fact that there is no time to darn, to rescue. And this conversation had stuck to my mind and an uneasy feeling remained and I wondered how privileged I must be to be able to take time for this.

Time and money and value

There must have been times when darning must have been an everyday thing and where people were taught it for life. Times in which (a) there were not masses of clothing available and therefore clothing must have been more expensive due to the reduced supply; and (b) people did not have enough money to buy new clothes; ergo: the clothes they owned had to be looked after and maintained for as long as possible.

But nowadays (b) no longer applies because (a) no longer applies: there is a lot of clothing and clothing is cheap. In many cases, it is probably cheaper to buy new clothes than to repair existing ones. And we know that time is money. Clothes no longer need to be maintained in order to have wearable clothes in the wardrobe. In our world, darning for personal prosperity has become obsolete.

In general: time is time. With so many options for spending your time, I can understand if mending isn't exactly number 1 on the hit list. Or even in the top 50.

I'm sure that in other times, time was as valuable as capital as today and repairing your own clothes was work, just as it still is today. Today, where there is a constant feeling of time scarcity, who would want to do this work voluntarily if one no longer had to?

Not for the environment - for the fascination

For the environment? That would be honourable, extremely honourable. But at least I'm not going to tell you that. Because I'm not acting from that position. I do it for the sheer joy of darning in particular and repairing in general and, as a result, enjoy the individual rescue. It's a hobby. And one likes to make time for hobbies. Being able to live out a hobby is a privilege - generally speaking. In every respect - time capital, financial capital, mental capital.

Of course, I think it's a pity when things are disposed of even though they have a chance of having another life. In my opinion, the work behind every item of clothing should be valued - no matter how cheaply it was made. But I don't want to condemn anyone for that. Nevertheless, I still hope that more people find the same appeal as I do in darning/repairing. It doesn't have to become a hobby and be as much fun as it is for me. But if you're at least willing to give it a go and take the chance at some point, then that's already worth a lot to me. Alternatively, make somebody you know to try out 😛

Who knows which surprise is awaiting and how you or person X will feel once you checked out darning? 🎁

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This post is part of the series My darning life.