A Kintsugi Mend for Quilter on Fire
- Radha
- Sep 27, 2025
- 2 min read
This North Face hoodie was cut off my friend Brandy (aka @quilteronfire) by search and rescue after a mountain bike accident earlier this year. When she asked if I wanted to do something to bring it back to life, of course I said yes.
But I didn't want to do an invisible mend, or even a fun patch repair. I wanted the mend to add to the story of the garment.
I shared a video on social media when I received the garment and someone mentioned Kintsugi, the Japanese art of repairing broken objects with gold, and it just clicked. Kintsugi is about highlighting the flaws and the damage rather than hiding them. It's about resilience, and it seemed so perfect for this project.
I highlighted the jagged edges where the sweatshirt had been cut, because they were so cool, rather than making everything straight and even. I made bias binding out of super lightweight denim (because denim) as a way to attach the ragged edges back together without having to make the sweatshirt smaller.
I waited a couple weeks for someone to donate gold trim to SCRAP, and when this gold elastic appeared I snatched it up. I hand-stitched the gold on top of the denim bias tape and added small loops as a nod to activewear details you often see in the market.
The repair was sent back to a then recovered and smiling Brandy in BC. The process took over 2 months, but it wasn't one I wanted to rush.
Brandy told the story from her side: "A mountain bike mishap left me with broken ribs and a rescue story featuring firefighters, paramedics, an amazing SAR team, and the kindest hospital staff in Sechelt, BC."
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