Personalising Threads

Customising, mending and making by hand have always been more than practical skills. Across history and across continents, they have been ways to repair what we own and to pass on knowledge about living well with less.

From the careful darning traditions of Sweden to the vivid Tenango embroidery of Mexico, these practices span the world. Wartime rationing and Britain’s “Make Do and Mend” campaign made mending a national duty. Japan’s Kintsugi turned repair into art. And personalising what we own, from embroidered kimonos to African American quilts, does more than make something useful. It tells stories of heritage and resistance, and builds a lasting bond between people and the things they keep.

Stitching Stories

Quilting and Culture

Personalising what we own is one of the oldest ways to express identity, values and belonging. In African American history, quilting holds a special place. Quilts were always more than bedding. Through pattern, colour and symbol, they carried family histories, cultural memory and quiet acts of resistance.

Textile artist Bisa Butler carries that tradition into the present. Her life-size quilted portraits of people of African descent transform fabric into vivid storytelling, layered with pattern, symbolism and detail.

Through her work, Butler honours the legacy of African American quilting while giving it new life, turning it into powerful visual storytelling that speaks across generations.

The Beauty of Repair

Kintsugi and Beauty

Rather than hiding the break, Kintsugi celebrates it, making the damage part of the object’s history. A related technique, yobitsugi, goes further, joining fragments from different pieces into something entirely new. Repaired objects were traditionally valued more highly than before they broke.

That philosophy, embracing flaws and making them beautiful, translates naturally to textiles. Visible mending turns repairs on garments into marks of resilience and character, linking art, making and sustainable practice in a single thread.

Wartime Wisdom

Make Do and Mend

During the Second World War, both Britain and the United States introduced rationing, asking citizens to use food, clothing and everyday goods sparingly to support the war effort.

In 1943, Britain’s Ministry of Information launched the “Make Do and Mend” campaign, complete with a practical pamphlet, encouraging people to repair, alter and repurpose clothing rather than throw it away. What began as wartime necessity became a cultural movement built on resourcefulness.

That spirit lives on today in repair workshops, thrift shopping and upcycling, all of which cut textile waste and encourage a more thoughtful relationship with the clothes we already own.

Hidalgo, Mexico

Tenango and Vibrant Storytelling

Tenango embroidery comes from the Otomí (Hñähñu) communities of Tenango de Doria in the state of Hidalgo. It is known for its bold colours and dense stitching, filled with local plants, animals and scenes of everyday life. Passed down through generations, it is both an art form and a way of telling the story of a place and its people.

Maker Spotlight

Elvira Clemente Gómez

At her home in Santa Monica, Tenango de Doria, Elvira Clemente Gómez shows a piece depicting life in a coffee-producing village in Hidalgo, a vivid example of how this embroidery records the world around its makers.

Tenango artisans often add personal touches such as names, dates and symbols to clothing and homeware, so that each piece carries its own story as well as its community’s.

New York

Atelier Jolie and Community Creativity

At Atelier Jolie, artist-in-residence Simon Ungless prints onto vintage and deadstock garments, mending and reworking old pieces into something new. The aim is to change how we see fashion, and how much we consume.