Laura applied in April 2023 for help with a 1:1 course to learn clothing repair and mending techniques. Her aim was to use these in her work, to enable sustainability and clothing repair within tailoring and pass the skills on to others, encouraging a circular approach within the fashion system.

‘Boro (more accurately ‘Boro boro’), meaning ‘rags or tatters’ is the art of repairing fabric using scraps and stitching. A source of shame in Japan for many years, the fabrics are now highly prized and can fetch significant sums. Boro work follows the British wartime tradition of ‘make do and mend’ but was used out of necessity in Japan to prolong the life of clothes and bedding due to extreme poverty and the scarcity of textiles.’

 

 

Laura said:

“I feel as though I achieved more than I set out to. I came away learning and having a go at all the techniques I wanted to learn. I made notes, took photos and videos, so I could go back over the process in my own time at a later date. I found Rob to be very encouraging and open to sharing his practice and advice on how to move forward. He also provided written instructions after the training, with a step by step on how to do each technique, just in case any steps where missed. Additional books were recommended, so I could move my own practice forward. Overall, I really enjoyed my training, I feel like I learnt lots of new skills and achieved what I set out to do within the original training plan.”