Week 29: Boro, a Japanese mending technique

Boro is a Japanese mending technique where textile items are mended with scraps of cloth sewn over the tears or worn out places. Boro mending strengthens the entire textile with added pieces of fabric sewn onto the piece.

I love the philosophy of Boro that nothing should be wasted. Boro stitchers repair items with scraps that would have been sent to the landfill. Also, it embraces our imperfections: none of us are perfect, and neither of us are defined by our “stitches” only. That made me really curious to find out more about the Boro technique and what repaired items would look like.

The Boro workshop I attended, was part of a day aimed at people with a chronic disease and centered around the central theme of ecology. It was nearly free since they provided for lunch and it was in a beautiful botanical garden where I had been only once before.

More about the workshop: I liked sewing raw stitches by hand and choosing between different matching scraps of fabric. What I don’t know, however, is what my adult son will think about the way I repaired his trousers. Furthermore, I am not sure if our society that worships perfectionism is ready for clothes repaired with the Boro technique. It’s a pity though, since it’s about the philosophy that nothing and no one is ever perfect, which is beautiful!