Celia Pym
On Mending
On Mending
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Celia Pym explores the varied evidence of damage: how repair draws attention to the places where garments and cloth wear down and grow thin. These personal tales document the intimate damage caused to clothing by everyday use and the parallels with the consequent wear and tear on the body.
Since its sell out publication in 2022 On Mending has been reprinted and is one of our bestsellers. Celia’s work and the stories of the people she has worked with seems to touch a nerve with readers.
Textile language crops up in the body: mending language works on the body as well as on garments. We describe the body as mending after illness or injury – ‘I’m on the mend,’ someone might say if they’re feeling better. You might hear a doctor or nurse describe a broken bone as ‘mending well’, or broken bones are often described as knitting back together as the break heals. Pym is interested in exploring the varied evidence of damage, and how repair draws attention to the places where garments and cloth wear down and grow thin. These personal tales document the intimate damage caused to clothing by everyday use and the parallels with the consequent wear and tear on the body.
The artist Celia Pym lives in London and has been exploring damage and repair in textiles since 2007. Working with garments that belong to individuals as well as items in museum archives, she has broad experience with stories of damage, from moth holes to accidents with fire.
Mending work builds on what is left behind. It’s not replacing, or remaking, or cutting apart and putting back together, instead it is slow work that makes things better. It conjures an unhurried recovery or change. In textiles, the act of mending wear-and-tear, thinning cloth or accidental damage builds on what already exists, anchoring threads and yarn into the robust healthy fabric and filling in the holes or reinforcing the areas that are weak.
‘Darning is small acts of care,’ she says, ‘and paying close attention.’
Celia's latest book SOCKS Imaginative Mending is out now
Shipping & Returns
Shipping & Returns
We post our books in plastic free materials using Royal Mail. Please allow 5 days for delivery (though most will come sooner than that).
It’s only me, so please be patient. If I’m away I’ll post that online 😎 and there may be a hiatus.
Local pick up in Stroud: free
UK: £3.99
Europe: £12.00
US and Canada: £15
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ISBN: 9781912480586
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Let customers speak for us
from 35 reviewsCelia Pam’s sock project and her exhibition were exceptional. The talk was great. Love the book
It’s a lovely book with many perspectives into the flowering of artist blacksmithing over the last 50 years, highlighting the role of the remarkable Alan Evans.
I enjoyed the very fast and transparent Royal mailing process— it beat the time of much within-US mail!
V good prompt service
Well presented book, bought it to post to a friend overseas as you don’t seem to deliver outwith the uk
i find this book a jewel! i am in love with it, with the content and it is so well explained! just magnificent! Thanks a lot
Great book beautifully illustrated
excellent & inspirational book
Loved the heritage wooden darning mushroom! Now I need to go an do some Darning, not just admire the wood!
This book really does seem to encapsulate everything important about people, making and education. I absolutely love its easy-to-read format and it is chock full of gorgeous projects and photographs. Intelligent Hands has been super-informative and has inspired me to get on and use my own! I highly recommend this beautiful book.
This is an excellent book on the most important textile project of our times. The texts are engaging and interesting, and the pictures are lovely. The overall layout is gorgeous. A real treasure on my bookshelves!
Lovely book, beautifully made
Love this book wanted in hardcover and will continue to check. Its a keepsake! Amazing story about this dress and the women who helped create it!
Wonderful pictures. Great content.
An incredible accounting of a heartfelt and deeply impactful endeavor. I was captivated by the brilliance and evolution of the project, as well as the bridges being built by making space for women to come together and tell their stories. The journey is wonderful to witness and the power of what Kirstie and all who joined her have created will stay with me forever.
I really enjoyed reading the book!
Celia Pym
The artist Celia Pym has been exploring damage and repair in textiles since 2007.