Before lockdown began, I decided I wanted to improve my mending skills. So I bought this wonderful book, filled with interesting stitches and detailed instructions…
Then I decided I needed a biiiig mending project. One I could repair slowly and practise on over time.
Thankfully, lovely Elaine at Cash Palace Emporium is as unable to walk away from vintage textiles as I am. Although even she was fooled this time, as this beautiful 80 year old pure wool shawl of fine Kashmiri embroidery was folded into a tiny package with only an undamaged portion showing. When she got home and opened it up, there were more than a hundred holes in it, some of them several inches across, and a couple large enough to put a hand through. I bought the piece from her at Rozelle Markets for $10 (and only because I insisted on paying something for it – she wanted to give it to me for free). I brought it home and gently washed it by hand and hung it out to dry.
I tried marking up the holes but soon ran out of safety pins…
The first thing I did was visit The Sewing Basket in West Ryde to pick up some gorgeous Appleton wool for mending. I was overjoyed to subsequently discover that they’d been donated by my friend Andrew’s parents…
Then I tracked down the perfect darning mushroom. I have a collection of these now (are you surprised?) but this one is my current favourite. It’s a good size and weight, comes with a detachable handle, and is hand-turned by a craftsman in Western Australia from local timbers. I find it really comfortable to hold in my left hand while I’m sewing with my right. If you’re interested, here’s a link to Roy’s Etsy store. And please remind me to show you my darning mushroom collection sometime!
And I was off!
The damage to the shawl was so extensive that I backed large sections of it with reclaimed white silk, saved from a torn vintage kimono, also from Elaine. I machine stitched some of the more damaged areas to stop the whole shawl from disintegrating. The plan is to mend or embroider over the machined sections…
I practised English darning, Scotch darning, seed stitch, buttonhole, honeycomb and chainstitch darns…
It’s all pretty messy but huge fun and I’ve been learning a great deal…
Then, I decided I needed a dragon. So I found a pattern at Urban Threads for $1 (wonderful website if you’re an embroiderer) and transferred it to some wash-away interfacing I had in my stash…
Her name is Penny! She’s quite well camouflaged on the shawl, except for her metallic green eye and gold-trimmed wings…
I was going to wait until my shawl was finished before showing it to you, but I’ve just realised that it will never be finished. It’s so old that new holes are appearing as I mend. That’s not a bad thing, because I love an ongoing project!
Are you working on anything at the moment? I’d love to hear about what’s keeping you entertained at this time! ♥
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
This is so beautiful. I love Penny, she’s like a private secret she’s so well hidden. And there must be dragons in the mountains of Kashmir.
I’m perfecting various sourdough breads in locked down New Zealand. At first the flour was in very, very short supply, but it’s come on stream in 20kg sacks and I now have plenty for a couple of months. Gorgeous Ciabatta, though wet is surprisingly easy to make, and is wonderful for popping in people’s letterboxes on our daily walks.
A DRAGON……Brilliant :) Yes, there be dragons haha What an undertaking, good luck over several months!
I often visit Roy’s Etsy store and I have some of his wooden creations
His workmanship is beautiful!!
Such a beautiful ongoing stitching for a future memory this scarf is, almost like an exquisite whimsical diary.
btw thank you for Roy’s etsy site, I’ve just purchased a dibber! I feel quite blessed ⚘
A beautiful project. We continue our pre-covid19 project of frugal and fabulous living well… It’s like we have been practising for something like this. My Tafe distance education Permaculture studies, background reading and watching continue, as do garden and kitchen activities. There’s almost always something in my mending pile… but I haven’t found a creative mending project… yet… maybe after I get back out and about at op-shops and markets. It is so satisfying to be able to amuse ourselves with very little.
Wow! What a wonderful project. The dragon is so unexpected & cheeky & adds a whimsical touch. Hope you get to wear it one day.
That is beautiful Celia! I love the addition of Penny too. Such intricate work, you must be very patient.
Inspired! Love the Urban Threads link. I just put my sewing machine away after making a bunch of masks. Now back to the hand sewing. <3
I’m now rather sad I only have prosaic things to mend; I’d love to restore something beautiful to use, but there’s nothing around the place that needs a *serious* mend. I almost never darn anything; the Husband dislikes darned socks, he says they feel ‘lumpy’, and in this climate we don’t wear wool very much, so my mending tends to be more patching than anything else…
Wow Celia I am so impressed at your darning prowess
What a lovely project and beautiful vintage shawl to
practice on. I really am not up with all the different styles of darning, I just darn the way my Mum taught me, sort of, but I do have a well used darning mushroom which I should use more often. Thanks for the inspiration. Pauline.
I used to love mending. I can remember getting socks out of Mum’s rag bag (we don’t seem to have those nowadays) and mending them all.
What a fabulous job.
Love it to pieces. You have so many projects to keep you busy for several more years
of isolation.❤️❤️❤️
I thought you just winged the dragon (no pun intended) I didn’t realise it was a transfer – duh!!!! My darning is rubbish – I’m afraid it’s a case of all the gear and no idea :)
You need to buy that Japanese darning book, it’s brilliant!!
It looks as though you’re having great fun. Must admit that I grab every pair of trousers that my grandchildren have worn through so that I can patch them but the pair of Bill’s trousers that need shortening have languished untouched for months. Have you visited the Knitting Reference Library website? Not just knitting but all sorts of other old books to read like The Woman’s Book – “contains everything a woman ought to know” https://archive.org/details/knittingreferencelibrary
Ooh no, but thank you for the link! I’ll have a look!!
I am always in awe of your enthusiasm and optimism. And who else would embroider a dragon on a vintage shawl?!😂
It was GOING to be a hedgehog first but I changed my mind. I might still have to add a hedgehog, I think. 🤣
Great idea!
I love how her name is Penny – I name every major appliance in my kitchen, my car, and house plants. It gives them life and keeps me amused. :)
You are inspiring as usual, Celia.
A wonderful shawl, and really lovely mending work – especially the dragon. I do hope you manage to finish it and it doesn’t become ‘all holes’ entirely, leaving you with just the mending!
Thank you so much I have been hunting for a darning mushroom for a long time.
What an inspiring project Celia, I love the hidden dragon.
I love you dedication to making it unique and useable!
I love it! I need to improve my mending/embroidery skills. Thanks for the inspiration. :)
I am learning to Tunisian crochet. I also decided to crochet a flower Garland with as many different types of flowers as I can find recently.