Socks: The Art of Care and Repair - Celia Pym at NOW Gallery, Greenwich Peninsula, London

Celia Pym - John, Dad, Kent

 

Recently I went to see Celia Pym's "Socks: The Art of Care and Repair" at the NOW Gallery on Greenwich Peninsula in London.  This is Now gallery's 2024 Fashion Commission, focusing on sustainability through the act of mending and repair through darning.  I read online that over 21,000 million pairs of socks are made globally every year and also, globally, 92 million tonnes of textile waste goes to landfill.  Clothes are discarded on a whim, including socks perhaps with only a small hole which could easily be repaired.  Come to the NOW gallery and there are socks aplenty for you to have a go at mending, darning and stitching.  Learn a new skill or improve an old one and maybe that will inspire you to take "care" of your clothes and make your contribution to a more sustainable future.  Now Gallery certainly hope so!

Celia Pym - Family & Friends Mended Socks 2024

On display is a newly commissioned artwork, by Celia Pym, of socks from her friends and family that she has mended, visibly, in colours to suit their personality.  The patterns of wear thus stand out for us to see.  Celia's creative practice embraces damage and repair and the care that is involved in mending.  In fact Pym says "It is a small act of care to mend a hole in your sock, or the sock of someone you love. Mending is an action that changes the thing in front of you.  It doesn't erase the damage but makes the story of a sock, or any mended garment, more interesting. A spot of bright colour or a scar line that indicates an act of care."

Celia Pym -Family & Friends Mended Socks 2024 (detail)
Clockwise from top left - Hope, Mum, Kent (long); Bill, Friend, Gothenburg (blue); Karin, Friend, London (yellow); John, Dad, Kent; Takeshi, Friend, London (single sock); Jane, Friend, Derbyshire (navy); Agnes, Niece, Kent (grey) ; Jan Jan, Friend, London

Socks stitched by the Surrey Square Primary School Community

The exhibition doesn't just include Celia's sock mending.  What makes it even more interesting is that it includes 488 socks stitched by the Surrey Square Primary School Community in South East London using "warehouse waste" socks (socks with small imperfections that couldn't be sold). The socks came from J A Swift, a family run business in Hathern, Leicestershire established in 1895. Children, staff and families practised their sock darning and stitching in a series of 26 workshops that Pym organised between April and July 2024.  We are told that "The project encouraged resilience in being able to mend something; creativity to play with colour and yarn, and a feeling of care for yourself - for your clothes, the environment, and importantly, the clothes of other people."  

Yellow socks stitched by Year 2, green socks stitched by Year 3

I love this involvement of the community and passing on sewing skills to a new generation.  Many of the children didn't know what darning was, had never seen a needle and didn't know how to use one.  

Red socks stitched by Year 1, pink socks stitched by Reception, purple socks stitched by staff

The colours of the socks represent the year groups involved from the white of nursery children through to black of year 6 with the staff's purple socks distributed among them. 

White socks have been stitched by Nursery age children

There were pictures of beaming children proudly holding up their stitched socks and some of the artwork they had done for their stitched socks.  All the children and staff who had taken part were named.

Visitors' Mends

There were plenty of resources there to have a go at darning and stitching yourself and you could leave or take away your work.  I left mine.

My mend 

There are also a number of bookable events associated with the exhibition.  Take a look here. It's on until 9 March 2025, so you've got plenty of time to pop along!  It's a small but joyful exhibition. Do go if you can.

Greenwich - clockwise from top left:
Yinka Shonibare - Nelson's Ship in a Bottle outside the National Maritime Museum; the Royal Obervatory & Flamsteed House, Greenwich Park; Trinity Hospital Almshouses; the Old Royal Naval College

There isn't a cafe in the NOW Gallery but there are plenty nearby.  The nearest tube station is North Greenwich on the Jubilee line.  There's plenty to do in the vicinity.  There's an art trail round Greenwich Peninsula with over 17 pieces of art. After taking a look, we walked to Greenwich along the Thames footpath. Much of Greenwich is a UNESCO World Heritage Site with the Old Royal Naval College, the National Maritime Museum, the Royal Observatory and the ship - Cutty Sark to name a few significant sites.

Greenwich Peninsula - clockwise from top left:
Damien Hirst - Demon with Bowl; IFS Cloud Cable Car; Richard Wilson - Slice of Reality; Uber Boat ride.

Later we got a Uber Boat by Thames Clippers back and took the IFS Cloud Cable Car across the river.  It made a great day out.

Revive Your Wardrobe

Wearing a dress dyed navy & stitched

(Dyed with Dylon Machine Dye)

We all have clothes in our wardrobe that we quite like but somehow they don't get the wear they deserve or we might be trying out Second Hand September, promoted by Oxfam, in a bid to take a more sustainable approach to our wardrobe.  By buying second hand, we can take a stand against fast fashion and reduce our carbon footprint. And if you have bought something second hand from a charity shop or one of the increasing number of online resale sites (e.g. Vinted, eBay, Thrift+) it may turn out to be not quite what you'd hoped for. So, do you donate the currently unsuccessful garment to your favourite charity shop, or sell it again on a resale site? 

Perhaps try a different approach...

Dress stitched to cover marks

Dress & stitching then dyed navy

If you don't like the colour but the item is otherwise great - think about dyeing it. There are a number of important things to bear in mind here. Firstly, think of colour mixing rules. If the garment is red and you dye it blue it will end up purple. If it's yellow to start with, it will turn a shade of green and so on. If the fabric is patterned you will probably still be able to see the pattern after you dye the garment...

Check pattern is still visible when overdyed with navy

If it has top stitching, this may not dye as the thread is often synthetic. Will the colour you are dyeing the garment look good if the topstitching stays the undyed colour? Also, it is quite hard to get a true black.  Garments dyed black will often come out a dark grey. Will you mind? 

And very importantly, are you using the right dye? Cotton, linen and viscose turn out very well when dyed in the washing machine with Dylon machine dyes and you don't need to add anything else. It won't cover bleach, and stains and faded areas may still remain. You can dye the above fabrics and silk, ramie, wool and cashmere using RIT All-Purpose dye which is an alternative dye product. If you are dyeing synthetic garments you would need Rit DyeMore for Synthetic Fibres. Dyeing a garment, or even better several at a time, has a number of more sustainable advantages over buying new ones through waste reduction, increasing garment longevity and reduced environmental impact and water use.

Two tops dyed black (dark grey result) & shortened

I have used Dylon in the machine many times very successfully. Usually I save up a few things that I want a particular colour so that I get the best use out of a dye pod. I have dyed trousers, tops and dresses which I have gone on to wear much more than if I'd left them the colour they were. You can use RIT in the machine too but it's more of a palaver than Dylon. I have used RIT very successfully in a tub to dye wool and cashmere and been pleased with the outcome.

Cashmere cardi dyed from bright orange to khaki using RIT All Purpose Dye

It may not be the colour of a garment that's the problem, it may be something to do with the fit. I often find things are too long as I'm quite short and have successfully shortened several tops and trousers so they are a length I am more comfortable with. I have even done this with jumpers where I have cut off the bottom, picked up the stitches and knitted a new edging at a better length. This is more complicated than just stitching something up but if you are a knitter or know one who could help, this might be an option for you... 

Jumper - Bottom and sleeves cut off & re-knitted to be shorter

Maybe it's something cosmetic about a garment. Perhaps you just don't like the buttons. These can easily be changed. In fact you might already have some suitable buttons in your button tin, or might find some in your local charity shop or haberdashers.

Shirt dyed from cream to black (dark grey result) with Dylon. Original plastic buttons replaced by mother of pearl buttons from my stash

Finally it might be that a mend that is needed. Your garments might have a hole or be wearing thin. This too can be easily remedied with a patch, a darn or some reinforcing stitching. Or perhaps you need to cover up a stain, or some marks which you could again do with some decorative stitching or add some patches. You might want to consider whether you want to go down the route of visible mending or the more traditional route.

Stitching on trousers backed on the inside with fabric where trouser fabric is wearing thin

Apron with patches & stitching, Boro style, to cover a stitched design I didn't like

If things are a little big you might be able to take them in or use one of the alteration services that many towns and cities have.

I often combine several of these techniques and you could too and give your wardrobe a whole new lease of life without having to buy anything new!

And if you want to read about one of my visible mending projects, click here.