DARN

Darning

Because – darn it! – what do you do with a hole in your favourite trousers or sweater? You repair it! From its starting point in the embroidery samplers and endlessly mended shirts in the museum’s textiles collection, this exhibition reveals the beauty of careful darning, and the emotions that go with it. For several centuries, embroidery and darning lessons were the most important components of a girl’s education. Every stitch had to be executed perfectly, time and time again. Looking at the samplers, we admire the young makers and appreciate the blood, sweat and tears that went into their work. With increased prosperity and the advent of fast fashion, the art of mending is being forgotten.

Handicrafts

There are entire generations of people who can’t even sew on a button, but making and repairing your own clothes is now hip again. A surprising number of contemporary fashion designers and artists are taking inspiration from ‘old-fashioned’ crafts like knitting, crocheting and darning and incorporating them in their creations. That working with your hands can have a therapeutic value is obvious from the objects made by people with psychological problems. Within the walls of a psychiatric institution, handicrafts offer solace and a form of protest.