Craft Luire                        
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CraftLuire makes use of recycled materials to visibly mend damaged garments of sentimental value, reviving them by creating detailed and mindful designs. Respectfulness to the environment and resources crucially inform the ethos of this project. Because of this, all design decisions fit within the zero-waste design principle. This project is inspired by the local environment, with materials and primary visual inspiration all coming from Scotland. As someone who has grown up on multiple rural Scottish islands, my history and ties to the land adds scope to my design process in both the imagery and decision-making behind materials used. For this, loom offcuts and discarded local wool have been sourced. This includes fibres from Johnsons of Elgin, Harris Tweed, Garvald and wool from the crofters on the Isle of Lewis. The gathered garments being repaired are either ones that are handed over with a commission to mend, or unwanted garments. Everything is either ethically sourced or waste from Scottish businesses that will create a theme of circular design within the project. The visuals that inspire the collection link in with my values, as the colours, shapes and patterns are all taken from photographs captured on the islands and historical imagery found while researching. CraftLuire involves weaving, tapestry patches, knitting, and needle crafts (such as embroidery, darning and duplicate stitching). Not only does this prolong their wearability, but it also enhances the garments, adding to their story and bringing back a sense of value by treating them as pieces of art. I use CraftLuire to share skills and bringing awareness to the visible mending and the folk fashion movements, all while exploring themes of recycling, mending and renewable fibres. This way, I honour the garment’s story, repairing them with shapes and colours that reflect their history, and keeping sustainability at the forefront of all decisions.


^{Contact: withloveluire@gmail.com}   →  About

         →  Craft Luire

This jumper is my father’s, making this repair incredibly personal and even more so as he was the person to teach to how to sew all those years ago. My father is a crofter, spending his days tending to his sheep and taking care of his potato fields. This can be messy work, meaning that this jumper has been through a lot, getting caught on sheep’s horns and fences, causing a lot of wear and tear. I used shapes found in the landscape and Scottish darning within my mending, as a nod to his love of his craft.

→  Seumas’s  Jumper

This jumper was left to me by my honorary grandfather. He was a sailor and a crofter throughout his life, so I chose to use the natural hexagon shapes found in the geology across the Isles to commemorate him. Making use of offcuts from local weavers to mend the damaged areas with duplicate stitching, I brought his beloved jumper back to its former glory.      →  John’s Jumper 

This delicate cashmere jumper takes the word pre-loved to the extreme, belonging to my grandmother, then my mother, finally making its way to myself. Full of holes and remnants of my childhood repairs, it was time for a fresh start. For this repair I took inspiration from the scrolling seaweed carvings found on the Isle of Iona to create this felted design.           →  Matriarchal Line

For this repair I had total freedom, as Zeina was just excited to see what I came up with. I knew from her note that these jeans meant a lot to her, so I had to find the perfect way to repair them that is cohesive with her style. I dipped back into my collection of drawings and decided to make use of the seaweed imagery once again, using running stitches and a patch to create a gentle repair.  

→  Zeina’s  Jeans

I discovered this shirt many years ago in a charity shop and even then, the fabric had already started to wear away. Eventually I packed it away with the intention to repurpose the intact areas of silk. For the repairs, appliqué seemed to be the best way to achieve a clean look, and I decided to use naturally dyed silk to patch the areas, using hydrangea imagery, inspired by the plants that trail down to the machair.  

 →  Lucie’s Shirt

As these gloves had no story, I had no constraints on the design. So, I went with using a pink that continued the theme from the shirt’s repair. As the damage travels along the hem and the seams I chose to use Scottish darning to halt anymore damage appearing from wear. I kept the rounded shapes found across CraftLuire, using sheep wool yarn sourced from Garvald Makers’ offcuts.  →  Anonymous Gloves

Repair Workshops →  Alice’s Leather Jacket & Saskia’s Shirt