Made to Mend - Repairable textiles
Made to Mend: a reinforced tweed that allows easy and infinite mending, inspired by traditional darning. Made to Mend is also the name of our new clothing and accessories label.
Made to Mend products are designed for the future, in resistance to a fashion machine that manufactures clothes as disposables.
An idea led to experimenting with different weaves, in a quest to create a woollen fabric that can be mended time and time again, prolonging a garment’s life, and adding character to it.
This was all back in 2014. Heleen developed a woollen thread that is reinforced with an unbreakable recycled polyester filament and woven into a two colour plain weave. This type of weave makes DIY mending easy.
You can darn the Made to Mend reinforced tweeds. All their jackets and bags have a unique darned mark and come with a darning kit, allowing you to mend the item yourself when needed.
Just a few examples
Inspired by my Great Grandmother
When the past becomes the present: recreating the old darning patterns that my great-grandmother, Aaltje Jaspers, drew neatly in her notebook. She was a teacher of crafts, and little did she know she would one day pass on her skills to me through these drawings.
Made to Mend, Netherlands
PROFILE
MADE TO MEND develops repairable garments based on a new fabric structure of reinforced wool. Forever yours. Future proof.
Heleen Klopper is a product designer. Sustainability, repair and tradition are key concepts in her practice. She investigates the materiality of textiles in relation to the body and as a mediator between people and their environment.
Other projects she is working on are WoolFiller and De Nieuwe Huishoudschool.