30 October 2026
Top 6 best second-hand stores in Antwerp
- COSH! Member Publicity
- City Guide
- Reuse
Author: Roosmarijn van Soest, Naaierij
Photography: Lotte van Uittert
After working as a tailor for a number of years, I’ve seen all kinds of clothing damage. Big holes, tiny holes, worn patches, broken zips, stretched buttonholes, ladders, snags, and the list goes on. After so many repairs, you can draw quite a few conclusions, and you also learn where most problems occur.
When customers used to bring clothes in for repair at our shop, we almost always asked: “Would you like the repair to be visible or invisible?” It’s actually a slightly odd question, because when you’re given that choice, most people naturally go for invisible. If I could make the hole disappear, the decision would be easy. But as much as I’d love to magically let the hole disappear, sadly I can’t. And so it usually led to an interesting conversation. You could see the question marks appear above people’s heads.
In the first Naaierij series on shop.cosh.eco, we cover hand-sewing repair techniques, including different ways of visible mending. Discover the videos here.
Visible or invisible?
Unfortunately, you can almost never make damage to clothing completely disappear. You can try to hide it as much as possible, for example by stitching over it in the same colour thread. That may make the repair less noticeable. But chances are the repaired area will then look like a stain or damage and will then draw attention to it as a result. Even if you try to blend it in with the same colour, you’ll never get it back to its original state completely, and I think that’s a missed opportunity.
Mending clothes, changing mindsets
A hole means something is broken, and a stain means something is no longer beautiful. But what happens if we look at it differently?
There’s so much you can do with it. A repair is an expression of your creativity. It’s a reason to look for a creative solution and to make something new within certain limits. It’s a way to show your identity and make a garment unique and your own, a form of self-expression. You don’t have to say goodbye to a garment you love, and you create sentimental value by putting time and love into it. On top of that, by choosing repair, you extend the life of your clothing.
Visible mending
With visible mending, you deliberately choose to make the repair stand out. At Naaierij, we see it as an opportunity: a challenge to turn it into something unique and special. Embroider over a hole or a stain, put a big, beautiful patch over a tear, or darn a hole with contrasting darning wool. You can really go all out. Look at the design of the garment, the material and its story, and choose an option that suits your style and the piece. Why always hide repairs when you can turn them into a story, a memory or a one-of-a-kind piece?
Wabi sabi
Wabi sabi is a Japanese philosophy that emphasises the beauty of imperfection, transience and simplicity. It’s about appreciating the temporary nature of things and finding beauty in the imperfect. Wabi sabi can show up in every aspect of life, from nature and architecture to clothing and art. It teaches us to embrace imperfections, such as cracks in an object or materials that age. Sashiko and kintsugi, for example, are techniques for repairing imperfections and embracing them aesthetically. This philosophy is an inspiration for visible mending.
Make it a design choice
These days, I try to embrace visible mending even more, not just by embroidering a little flower over a hole, but by zooming out and looking at the complete garment. I take a good look at the item and the person who will wear it and use that information to find a solution. What suits the design of the garment? Can I find a solution that becomes part of it? One example: a customer came in with a long-sleeved top that had a hole in the back. An odd place for a hole and for a repair. I zoomed out and looked for a beautiful, matching fabric in a different colour, but in a shade and material that went well with the top. Instead of just covering the hole, I chose to place a stripe across the whole back as a patch. The hole was gone, and nobody who saw her walk by would think: “Hey, was that broken?”
See a hole as an opportunity
We’ve become so used to seeing damage as something negative, but try turning that around. The next time you tear a garment, catch it on something or find moths in your woollens, try to see it as a chance to turn it into something special that suits you. A hole doesn’t have to mean the end of a garment. It can also be the start of something new. Not because we have to make everything more beautiful than it was, but because we get to discover how many possibilities are still hidden in what we already have. That makes visible mending more than a technique. It becomes a new way of looking at clothing.
Discover the Naaierij x COSH! video series here
