Visible Mending: Barn Jacket

Studying Japanese mending seemed to open up a whole new world for me, and I wanted something to experiment on. I had just the thing in mind, too, my old barn jacket. At one time, this denim jacket was my favorite fall and spring work jacket, and I wore it for years. It has a warm fleecy lining and the outer fabric is denim, which I love because it wears well and isn't prone to getting straw and hay stick in it (a huge plus when one works with barn animals!). Gradually, it got torn here and there, and the cuffs began to fray.

Lots of small holes on the jacket front and sleeves.

But it wasn't until it got a big tear in back that I stopped wearing it. 

Big rip in the back.

By that time, the denim was badly torn, worn, and stained in too many places anyway. The jacket wasn't even fit to donate to the thrift shop, and I decided to discard it. I went so far as to cut off and save all the buttons, but I just couldn't bring myself to throw it away. Instead, I buried it in my mending box.

I pulled it out a few years ago when I needed a mending project for a Permies SKIP merit badge. SKIP is a free online program at permies.com, for learning homesteading and permaculture skills. That link will tell you all about it and what's offered, so here, I'll just add that it's an excellent resource for learning, documenting, and sharing a wide range of skills. In this case, I was working on the first textiles badge and needed to sew on a patch. The jacket was perfect.

A series of tears on the underside a sleeve.

Even then, I got a bit creative in stitching down the large patch.

As I worked on it, I remembered how much I liked this jacket. But there was still a lot that needed mending, so I stuffed it back into the mending box and forgot about it for several more years. Until I was stuck inside due to inhospitable winter weather and came across several interesting YouTube videos about visible mending. I pulled the jacket out again and gave it another look. It would be a good canvas for learning and experimenting!

The next time I was at the thrift store, I found some patching fabric that I liked. Actually, it was a pillow sham that I got for $1. I took it apart and gave it a good pressing. Perfect. 

Then I made a start. The biggest tear was first, although it wasn't too bad when I spread out the jacket and laid the pieces back in place. 

The lining was in good shape, so I sewed the torn parts onto the lining with sewing thread and drew out my top stitching lines with a fabric marker.

From boro, I learned that it's okay to have patches and stitching overlap, like the patch above, which I added to support the pocket.

From sashiko, I find the concept of working only in running stitch intriguing. I like the mental challenge of figuring out my stitching path with the fewest cuts and knots in the thread.

Once the creative ideas started flowing, I added some embroidery to my first sleeve patch (and patched a few more holes). 

Jacket right front with two patched tears.

I stopped thinking about simply covering holes and tears, and began to think more about the overall affect on the jacket.

Below is a patched and embroidered hole on the other sleeve.

In the first picture you can see the hole in the left sleeve.

One problem that developed was because the outer jacket fabric and the lining have different fiber contents. That means they shrank at different rates! It wasn't terribly noticeable before, but the patches and embroidery cause the denim to pooch out in some places.  

On the one hand, this is just an experimental project on a barn jacket, so, so what? But it was a challenge and I wanted to rise to it. As Bill Mollison, the Father of Permaculture says, the solution is in the problem. I thought about this and settled on a sashiko design that I thought would work.

I smoothed out the outer fabric as evenly as I could and pinned it to the lining. Then I added lines with my fabric marker.

With variegated embroidery thread, I'm working a pattern that will distribute the denim more evenly over the back of the jacket without puckering.

A problem becomes a design element! The result will be a quilted look that stabilize the fabrics. 

Another problem is that, apparently, I don't have full ownership of the jacket. 

What's a human to do?

Between mending my jacket and some knitting, my cold and rainy days are interesting and productive. Maybe I'll be able to wear the jacket again this spring. 

Visible Mending: Barn Jacket © January 2023

by Leigh at Leigh's Fiber Journal

Related Posts:

Mending: Visible

Japanese Mending