Visible mending and treadle sewing in Walthamstow
from the workroom table
Repair notes from a flat in Walthamstow: darning wool socks, patching work trousers, keeping an old treadle machine sewing, and a monthly mending table.
Walthamstow, north-east London · mending since 2021
Each note is written after the repair has been worn or washed at least once, so that it can say whether the mend held.
What people brought to our free monthly mending table in a community hall: split seams, hems, elbows, zips and one old bear, and why we teach instead of fixing.
Begun 22 August 2026 · 8 minutes to read
The cast-iron treadle that came from a neighbour's clear-out: loosening decades of dried oil, a new leather belt, learning which way the wheel turns, and a first seam.
Begun 8 November 2025 · 9 minutes to read
Heavy cotton work trousers from a neighbour who gardens on her knees: patching inside or out, cutting patches from worn cloth, the treadle for seams, hand stitching.
Begun 14 June 2025 · 8 minutes to read
How I darn the worn heel of a hand-knitted wool sock: finding the edge of the thin patch, choosing yarn, laying the warp, weaving across it and not pulling tight.
Begun 26 January 2025 · 7 minutes to read
I mend clothes by hand and on an old treadle machine in north-east London, and I write each repair up afterwards so that the next one goes a little better.
On the second Saturday of each month the tin goes to a community hall nearby, where anyone can sit down with a torn seam and be shown how to close it. Last note added 13 Sept 2026.