THREAD & YARN Our high-quality thread and yarns are the stuff of mending dreams! Wherever possible we try to bring you earth- friendly thread & yarn including pre-consumer waste yarns (deadstock yarns that have been saved from landfill), GOTS organic cotton thread and locally-produced yarns. Choose from super soft fine cashm ere yarns, mulesed-free merino yarns, naturally-dyed cotton thread and much more! Merino Yarn Cashmere Yarn Mohair Yarn Alpaca Yarn Cotton Thread Fine Thread Variegated Yarn & Thread Yarn - Single Cards Yarn Sets Shop All

A Brief History of Needle Making in the U.K Needle making in England began in the 16th century in various areas of London and grew quickly due to a rise in demand for heavily adorned garments. Soon, the needle making industry moved out of London and to the small town of Redditch near Birmingham. Redditch quickly became world famous for its high-quality manufacturing of hand sewing needles. ​ At its peak, Redditch produced 90% of the world’s hand sewing needles. There were more than 100 hand sewing needle companies employing 15,000 people by 19th century. The most well-known companies were: Henry Milward & Sons which began in 1730 and lasted four generations, and Abel Morralls started in 1785. By World War II Redditch was producing over 45 million needles a week! Sadly, no hand-sewing needle making companies now remain in the U.K. The decline began in the 1980s when world markets were flooded by low cost products made in the Far East. ​ If you wish to learn more then the Forge Mill Needle Museum in Redditch is well worth a visit! www.forgemill.org.uk ​ A Brief History of Pin Making ​ Since their ancient beginnings, prehistoric people used thorns as pins. In ancient Egypt, pins were crafted from bronze. The clothes of medieval Europeans were adorned with pins made from bone, ivory, silver, and gold. ​ Sewing pin manufacturing started in England in the 1700s. It is estimated that there were more than one hundred small domestic pin suppliers in England around 1760, mostly around the city of Gloucester. In those times the pins were made by hand. There were workers who specialized on the wire redrawing, straightening, cutting, attaching the head, sharpening the point, polishing and inserting in paper. ​ In the early to mid 1800’s, American inventors Seth Hunt, John Ireland Howe, and British inventors Lemuel Wright and Daniel Foote Taylor patented machines that produced sewing pins with a solid head from a single piece of wire. These events resulted in an end to the pin industry in England. By 1939 there were only approximately twelve manufacturers in the United Kingdom and now all are gone. All the pins stocked in the our shop are either manufactured in France by Bohin or in Spain by Folch. Both companies are well known for the quality of their pins.

The MM Mending Library We wanna make it easy peasy when it comes to learning how to repair your clothes. That's why we've put together this list to help you find the advice you need whatever level you're at...from beginners to advanced menders. Wear, Repair, Repurpose: A Maker's Guide to Mending and Upcycling Clothes by Lily Fulop Best for: beginners with no prior knowledge of textile repair! ​ ​ Modern Mending: The Craft of Clothes, by Erin Lewis-Fitzgerald Best for: a comprehensive intro to the full range of modern mending techniques for beginners and intermediates. ​ ​ Darning: Repair Make Mend, by Hikaru Noguchi Best for: those wanting to learn more creative darning stitches & techniques beyond the well-known basics. ​ ​ Joyful Mending: Visible Repairs for the Perfect Imperfect Things we Love, by Noriko Misumi Best for: another fabulous intro to darning stitches and more unusual mending techniques such as: needle felting, patchwork, rug hooking, and crochet. ​ ​ Mending Matters: Stitch, Patch and Repair Your Favourite Denim and More, by Katrina Rodabaugh Best for: learning how to repair your jeans including using Boro/Sashiko. ​ ​ MEND! by Kate Sekules Best for: reading about the history of textile repair, rise of craftivism and fast fashion issues. It also includes a wealth of mending advice! ​ ​ Visible Creative Mending by Flora Collingwood-Norris Best for: learning how to Swiss darn, Scotch darn and handle cuff repairs on knitwear. A beautiful book full of colourful mendspiration! ​ ​ ​ ​ The Mending Directory by Erin Eggenburg Best for: a wide selection of mini weaving patterns with how-to instructions and diagrams. ​ ​ Needle Weaving Techniques by Hazel Blomkamp Best for: more weaving pattern inspiration. ​ ​ Mending Life: A Handbook for Repairing Clothes and Hearts!, by Nina Montenegro Best for: learning about the environmental and human impact of fast fashion...why it matters to mend! ​ ​ Mend It: A Complete Guide to Clothes Repair, by Maureen Goldsworthy Best for: those wanting to expand their mending skills to a more advanced level. This was published back in 1979 and hasn't been reprinted so it can be difficult to obtain a copy! ​ ​ Visible Mending: Repair, Renew, Reuse The Clothes You Love by Arounna Khounnoraj Best for: another helpful guide to a variety of mending techniques as well as useful upcycling and zero waste project ideas. ​ ​ Embroidery on Knitting by Britt-Marie Christoffersson Best for: knitwear repair inspiration. ​ ​

Here's the lowdown to help you choose the right needle for your repair. Ballpoint/Fine Tapestry (Sizes:24-28) Ballpoints have a rounded/blunt point so that the needle does not damage fibres when passing through stretchy fabrics, which can snag easily. *For stretch jeans use Sashiko or cotton darning needle. Suitable for: darning, patching or embroidery mending light-medium weight stretchy, knitted fabrics e.g t-shirt, cashmere cardigan, leggings, sweatshirt, workout clothing, jersey dress (anything with Lycra/elastane stated on the clothes label). Chenille (Sizes:16-22) Chenille needles are ideal for mending thick fabrics and sewing in loose ends- they have an elongated eye for repairing with thicker thread and a sharp point. Suitable for: darning, patching or embroidery mending medium-heavy weight fabrics e.g denim jeans Crewel/Embroidery (Sizes:1-12) Crewel (Embroidery) needles are the same as a sharps needle but have a bigger eye so you can mend with thicker thread. Another option for mending some types of stretch fabrics. Suitable for: patching and embroidery mending light-heavy weight woven fabrics e.g a cotton dress, or light-medium weight stretch fabrics e.g. a t-shirt. Short Cotton Darners (Sizes 1,3,5,7,9) Cotton darning needles have an elongated eye for thicker thread and a semi blunt point to avoid snags when weaving through the fabric - perfect for mending smaller areas. Suitable for: darning, patching or Speedweve darning mending light-heavy weight fabrics e.g. cotton dress, linen top, sweater/hoodie, corduroy trousers, denim/jeans or a blanket. Long Cotton Darners (Sizes 1-9, 15 (4/0) & 17 (2/0) The extra length of the long darners make it quicker and easier to sew a straight line of stitches over larger areas. Suitable for: darning or patching larger areas or when sewing long lines of stitches. weaving on a mini Speedweve type loom. mending light-medium weight fabrics e.g cotton dress/skirt, viscose blouse, or linen trousers. Sashiko Sashiko is a simple but beautiful form of Japanese embroidery using the basic running stitch to create a patterned background. Originally, Sashiko was used as a form of darning to repair or add strength to worn areas of clothing or to create insulated double-layer coats. In the Western world it is now a very popular type of visible mending. Sashiko needles have: a larger eye for sewing with thick cotton Sashiko thread a sharp point to make sewing thick fabrics or multiple layers of fabric a little easier. are thicker which makes them less likely to bend when loading lots of stitches on the needle before pulling the thread through and are longer which makes stitching faster and straighter. Sharps (Sizes: 1-12) Sharps is the name for general-purpose hand sewing needles - they are short with a small eye and sharp point. ​Suitable for: patching small areas, sewing on a button, or fine sewing e.g. hemming or stitiching a seam. mending light-medium weight woven fabrics e.g cotton dress, linen trousers, brushed cotton shirt, polyester trousers, or silk blouse. hand sewing with Gutermann Sew All sewing machine thread or up to 2 strands of embroidery floss (dependent on needle size). Wool /Yarn Darners (Sizes:14-18 or 2/0-5/0) Similar to cotton darners but these needles are much thicker and have a larger eye so they are suitable for mending with yarn/wool. Suitable for: darning or patching larger areas or when sewing longer lines of stitches. weaving on a mini Speedweve type loom. mending knitwear or heavy woven fabrics such as denim. The MM Needle Guide Here's the low-down on one of those mending essentials. We want to do everything we can to help make mending a JOY and it all starts with choosing the right needle for your repair project.

Shipping & Delivery – U.K Orders ​​ Standard Delivery (orders under £5) = £3 (Royal Mail Tracked 48hr) ​ Standard Delivery (orders £5 - £25) = £4.50 (Royal Mail Tracked 48hr) ​ Standard Delivery (orders £25 - £90) = £6.50 (DPD - 2-3 days) ​ **All orders over £90 = FREE STANDARD DELIVERY (DPD - 2-3 days)** ​ Express/Carbon Neutral Delivery (orders under £90) = £7.50 (DPD - 1-2 days). ​ ​ After your order has been packed, you will receive an email notification with a Royal M ail or DPD tracking number . If you click on the number you can check the delivery status of your order. Please be aware it can take an hour or two before the tracking number is fully registered and any tracking information is displayed. ​ Dispatch times – most orders are dispatched within 3 working days (excluding weekends and bank holidays) provided items are in stock. Express Delivery orders will be prioritised. Your parcel will be sent to the delivery address provided at the checkout stage, so please check these details in your order confirmation email and contact us immediately if you identify an error which needs to be corrected. ​ Parcels usually arrive within 1-3 working days, but please be aware delays caused by Royal Mail are out of our control and therefore we cannot be held responsible if your order does not arrive within the above stated timescale. ​ If your order does not arrive within 4 working days from the date of dispatch, please contact us via email: info@ministryofmending.co.uk and we will investigate further to try and identify the whereabouts of your order. ​ Gift cards are delivered electronically and do not require shipping. ​ ​​ ​Shipping & Delivery – International Orders **We currently ship orders worldwide, with the exception of the E.U. following BREXIT** ​ Taxes and Duties: When you enter a delivery address outside UK you will not be charged UK VAT (20%)*, however you may be subjected to local import customs charges in your own country at the time of delivery. These charges are not included in the delivery cost. In this case you’ll be contacted by customs in your country to pay any duties/taxes and a handling fee before the parcel is released for delivery. It takes at least 48 hours for your package to reach you after it clears customs. ​ If you require an estimate of duties/taxes that may be applied to your order, then please contact us via email and we will be happy to help you with this. If you refuse to pay any customs duties/taxes due or fail to claim your parcel, this will usually be returned to us after a short period of time has elapsed (which can be up to 3 months). Once we receive your parcel we will issue you with a refund, minus any shipping costs incurred. ​ *With the exception of digital products – UK VAT at 20% will be automatically applied to these products in accordance with UK VAT regulations. Couriers: We primarily use Royal Mail, UPS (for most U.S orde rs) & DPD for international deliveries. Any shipping costs will be determined by the weight of your order and your shipping address - this is calculated automatically when you come to the chec kout.​ Dispatch: As soon as your order has been packed, you will receive an email notification with a tracking number. If you click on the number in the email (this is a link) you can check the delivery status of your order. ​ The majority of orders are dispatched within 3 working days (excluding weekends and bank holidays), provided items are in stock. We send parcels twice a week on a Tuesday (am) & Friday (pm) in order to keep trips to our local Post Office to a minimum and reduce carbon emissions. If for any reason your order is urgent please email us ( info@ministryofmending.co.uk ) and we will try our best to dispatch your order a little quicker.​ ​ Your parcel will be sent to the shipping address provided at the checkout stage, so please check these details in your order confirmation email and contact us immediately if you identify an error which needs to be corrected. ​ Estimated Delivery Times: Delivery to North America – 10-15 working days depending on your location. There may be unknown extra delivery times due to customs clearance. ​​Delivery to the Rest of the World (except the E.U.) – 15-18 working days depending on your location. There may be unknown extra delivery times due to customs clearance.​ ​ If your order does not arrive within 20 working days from the date of dispatch, please contact us via email: info@ministryofmending.co.uk and we will investigate further to try and identify the whereabouts of your order. ​ Returns If you have any questions about a product, please contact us via email and we will endeavour to answer your questions and provide further information where required. We make every effort to provide full details and a ccurate images for all of our products, however colours may vary on different monitors. Please be aware if you are looking for a colour match for your garment, then we do offer a sample service for all our threads and yarns. ​ Unused and unopened products can be returned in their original condition within 28 days of receipt of your order (this does not affect your statutory rights). Any goods being returned need to be in their original packaging. We highly recommend that you use a shipping service that includes tracking, or purchase shipping insurance to cover the value of the item/s you are returning. Unfortunately some parcels can get lost in transit and until we receive your returned item/s we cannot issue you with a refund. ​ In the unlikely event your goods arrive damaged or are faulty, please contact us via email: info@ministryofmending.co.uk to arrange a return/refund or exchange. We will reimburse any shipping costs incurred when returning damaged or faulty merchandise. We highly recommend that you use a shipping service that includes tracking, or purchase shipping insurance to cover the value of the item/s you are returning. Unfortunately some parcels can get lost in transit and until we receive your returned item/s we cannot issue you with a refund. ​ To return an item/s, you should sent it to: Ministry of Mending, 6, Kingsley Court, Fraddon, St Columb, Cornwall, TR9 6PD, United Kingdom. ​ Please be aware all of our digital products are exempt from our Returns policy - no refunds can be issued for these products. ​ ​ ​ International orders: If you refuse to pay any customs duties/taxes due or fail to claim your parcel, this will usually be returned to us after a short period of time has elapsed (which can be up to 3 months). Once we receive your parcel we will issue you with a refund, minus any shipping costs incurred. ​ Refunds Once your return is received and inspected, we will send you an email to notify you that we have received your returned item. We will also notify you of the approval or rejection of your refund. ​ If you are approved, then your refund will be processed and a credit will automatically be applied to your credit card or original method of payment within 5 working days. ​ Please be aware we do not issue refunds for any of our digital products. ​ ​ Late or Missing Refunds If you haven’t received a refund yet, first check your bank account again and the n contact your credit card company/bank- it may take some processing time before your refund is officially posted. If you’ve done all of this and you still have not received your refund yet, please contact us at info@ministryofmending.co.uk ​ ​ Exchanges When making an exchange, the customer must pay for all shipping costs associated with the return. If you need to exchange an item, please send us an email at: info@ministryofmending.co.uk ​ Packaging We carefully select our products and packing materials to make it as easy as possible for you to recycle or compost them such as: clear glassine packets, tissue paper, paper washi tape, paper bags and paper stickers. In fact, our custom paper stickers are made from recycled paper with a CO2 neutral, compostable & biodegradable permanent adhesive made from renewable materials - this makes them some of the most eco-friendly stickers out there! All orders are sent in a cardboard box or brown envelope and sealed with paper tape. Most of our boxes and envelopes are plastic free and made using sustainably sourced materials or post-consumer waste. We also work hard to save and reuse packing supplies we receive, so if you would prefer your order shipped in reused packaging materials then simply drop a note with your order at the checkout. International orders will have a clear compostable pocket taped to them, to accommodate additional paperwork required by customs. ​

Ministry of Mending Gift Card £10 Give the gift of choice! Perfect for when you just can't choose, and you know they'll love being able to pick for themselves Valid for anything in the MoM shop - delivered by email to be used online ... Read more Value £10 £25 £50 £100 Quantity Buy Now

PRIVACY POLICY ​ SECTION 1 - WHAT DO WE DO WITH YOUR INFORMATION? ​ When you conduct a transaction on our website, as part of the buying and selling process, we collect the personal information you give us such as your name, address and email address. Your personal information will be used for the specific reasons stated above only. We receive, collect and store any information you enter on our website or provide us in any other way. In addition, we collect the Internet protocol (IP) address used to connect your computer to the Intern et; login; e-mail address; password; computer and connection information and purchase history. We may use software tools to measure and collect session information, including page response times, length of visits to certain pages, page interaction information, and methods used to browse away from the page. We also collect personally identifiable information (including name, email, password, communications); payment details (including credit card information), comments, feedback, product reviews, recommendations, and personal profile. We collect such Non-personal and Personal Information for the following purposes: To provide and operate the Services; To provide our Users with ongoing customer assistance and technical support; To be able to contact our Visitors and Users with general or personalized service-related notices and promotional messages; To create aggregated statistical data and other aggregated and/or inferred Non-personal Information, which we or our business partners may use to provide and improve our respective services; To comply with any applicable laws and regulations. ​ How we communicate with you? We may contact you to notify you regarding your account, to troubleshoot problems with your account, to resolve a dispute, to collect fees or monies owed, to poll your opinions through surveys or questionnaires, to send updates about our company, or as otherwise necessary to contact you to enforce our User Agreement, applicable national laws, and any agreement we may have with you. For these purposes we may contact you via email, telephone, text messages, and postal mail Email marketing (if applicable): With your permission, we may send you emails about our store, new products and other updates. ​ SECTION 2 - CONSENT ​ How do you get my consent? When you provide us with personal information to complete a transaction, verify your credit card, place an order, arrange for a delivery or return a purchase, we imply that you consent to our collecting it and using it for that specific reason only. If we ask for your personal information for a secondary reason, like marketing, we will either ask you directly for your expressed consent, or provide you with an opportunity to say no. ​ How do I withdraw my consent? If after you opt-in, you change your mind, you may withdraw your consent for us to contact you, for the continued collection, use or disclosure of your information, at anytime, by contacting us at info@ministryofmending.co.uk or mailing us at: c/o Rebecca McLaughlin, Ministry of Mending, 6, Kingsley Court, Fraddon, St Columb, Cornwall, TR9 6PD, United Kingdom. ​ SECTION 3 - DISCLOSURE ​ We may disclose your personal information if we are required by law to do so or if you violate our Terms of Service. ​ SECTION 4 - WIX ​ Our company is hosted on the Wix.com platform. Wix.com provides us with the online platform that allows us to sell our products and services to you. Your data may be stored through Wix.com’s data storage, databases and the general Wix.com applications. They store your data on secure servers behind a firewall. ​ Payment: If you choose a direct payment gateway to complete your purchase, then Wix stores your credit card data. It is encrypted through the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS). Your purchase transaction data is stored only as long as is necessary to complete your purchase transaction. After that is complete, your purchase transaction information is deleted. All direct payment gateways adhere to the standards set by PCI-DSS as managed by the PCI Security Standards Council, which is a joint effort of brands like Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover. PCI-DSS requirements help ensure the secure handling of credit card information by our store and its service providers. ​ SECTION 5 - THIRD-PARTY SERVICES ​ In general, the third-party providers used by us will only collect, use and disclose your information to the extent necessary to allow them to perform the services they provide to us. However, certain third-party service providers, such as payment gateways and other payment transaction processors, have their own privacy policies in respect to the information we are required to provide to them for your purchase-related transactions. For these providers, we recommend that you read their privacy policies so you can understand the manner in which your personal information will be handled by these providers. In particular, remember that certain providers may be located in or have facilities that are located a different jurisdiction than either you or us. So if you elect to proceed with a transaction that involves the services of a third-party service provider, then your information may become subject to the laws of the jurisdiction(s) in which that service provider or its facilities are located. As an example, if you are located in Canada and your transaction is processed by a payment gateway located in the United States, then your personal information used in completing that transaction may be subject to disclosure under United States legislation, including the Patriot Act. Once you leave our store’s website or are redirected to a third-party website or application, you are no longer governed by this Privacy Policy or our website’s Terms of Service. ​ Links When you click on links on our store, they may direct you away from our site. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of other sites and encourage you to read their privacy statements. ​ Google analytics: Our store uses Google Analytics to help us learn about store visits and the pages being viewed. ​ SECTION 6 - SECURITY ​ To protect your personal information, we take reasonable precautions and follow industry best practices to make sure it is not inappropriately lost, misused, accessed, disclosed, altered or destroyed. If you provide us with your credit card information, the information is encrypted using secure socket layer technology (SSL) and stored with a AES-256 encryption. Although no method of transmission over the Internet or electronic storage is 100% secure, we follow all PCI-DSS requirements and implement additional generally accepted industry standards. ​ SECTION 7 - COOKIES ​ Here is a list of cookies that we use. We’ve listed them here so you that you can choose if you want to opt-out of cookies or not. -ForceFlashSite, Sessional, Used by our website provider when viewing a mobile site (old mobile under m.domain.com) it will force the server to display the non-mobile version and avoid redirecting to the mobile site -smSession, Persistent (Two days or two weeks), Used by our website provider to identify logged in site members. -XSRF-TOKEN, Sessional, Used by our website provider for security. -svSession- Persistent (Two years), Used by our website provider to identify unique visitors and tracks a visitor’s sessions on a site. -SSR-caching, Sessional, Used by our website provider to indicate how a site was rendered. -smSession, Persistent (Two weeks), Used by our website provider to identify logged in site members. -TS*, Sessional, Used by our website provider for security. - TS01*******, Sessional, Used by our website provider for security. - TSxxxxxxxx (where x is replaced with a random series of numbers and letters), Sessional, Used by our website provider for security. - TSxxxxxxxx_d (where x is replaced with a random series of numbers and letters), Sessional, Used by our website provider for security. - __utma Cookie A persistent cookie – remains on a computer, unless it expires or the cookie cache is cleared. It tracks visitors. Metrics associated with the Google __utma cookie include: first visit (unique visit), last visit (returning visit). This also includes Days and Visits to purchase calculations which afford ecommerce websites with data intelligence around purchasing sales funnels. __utmb Cookie & __utmc Cookie These cookies work in tandem to calculate visit length. Google __utmb cookie demarks the exact arrival time, then Google __utmc registers the precise exit time of the user. Because __utmb counts entrance visits, it is a session cookie, and expires at the end of the session, e.g. when the user leaves the page. A timestamp of 30 minutes must pass before Google cookie __utmc expires. Given__utmc cannot tell if a browser or website session ends. Therefore, if no new page view is recorded in 30 minutes the cookie is expired. __utmz Cookie Cookie __utmz monitors the HTTP Referrer and notes where a visitor arrived from, with the referrer siloed into type (Search engine (organic or cpc), direct, social and unaccounted). From the HTTP Referrer the __utmz Cookie also registers, what keyword generated the visit plus geolocation data. This cookie lasts six months. __utmv Cookie Google __utmv Cookie lasts “forever”. It is a persistant cookie. It is used for segmentation, data experimentation and the __utmv works hand in hand with the __utmz cookie to improve cookie targeting capabilities. ​ SECTION 8 - AGE OF CONSENT ​ By using this site, you represent that you are at least the age of majority in your state or province of residence, or that you are the age of majority in your state or province of residence and you have given us your consent to allow any of your minor dependents to use this site. ​ SECTION 9 - CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY ​ We reserve the right to modify this privacy policy at any time, so please review it frequently. Changes and clarifications will take effect immediately upon their posting on the website. If we make material changes to this policy, we will notify you here that it has been updated, so that you are aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances, if any, we use and/or disclose it. ​ QUESTIONS AND CONTACT INFORMATION If you would like to: access, correct, amend or delete any personal information we have about you, register a complaint, or simply want more information contact our Privacy Compliance Officer at info@ministryofmending.co.uk or by mail at: [Re: Privacy Compliance Officer] Ministry of Mending, 6,Kingsley Court, Fraddon, St Columb, Cornwall, TR9 6PD, United Kingdom ----------------

VARIEGATED THREADS & YARNS Our entire collection of reclaimed variegated yarns are sourced from local textile mills in the U.K & across Europe. From super fine merino wools to chunky textured nylon blends, we're confident you'll find something extra special for your next visible mending project. Remember, with the help of some thread wax most of these yarns can be split down to create a finer weight yarn if required. Fine Light Medium Chunky Variegated Thread Shop All - Variegated

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