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Crafter shares before-and-after photos after using simple method to restore damaged shoes: 'Better than before'

"I really love how they look."

"I really love how they look."

Photo Credit: Reddit

There are many ways to showcase your personal style, from vintage clothing to bold makeup. Another way to upgrade your look and extend the life of your clothing is through visible mending. One crafter took to Reddit to show off their skills. 

One Redditor shared a post to r/VisibleMending to show how they repaired their favorite sneakers. The post has two photos: one showing the back of a pair of black floral high-top sneakers with a tear in each heel and the second showing leaf embroidery to cover the rips. 

"I really love how they look."
Photo Credit: Reddit

Visible mending is a way of repairing an item while showing off the method of repair. Embroidery and darning are popular ways of visibly repairing clothing. Kintsugi, explained by Traditional Kyoto, is a Japanese art form that uses gold to fix broken pieces of ceramics. Each repair method shows the item's history and the user's care. 

Repairing your clothing like this is a creative way to express yourself and your personal style while extending the life of your item. According to our guide, you could save more than $100 a year if you mend just a quarter of your clothes rather than buying something new. Plus, extending the life of your garments keeps them out of landfills and lowers our reliance on cheaply made fast fashion items. 

According to the EPA, landfills in the United States received more than 11.3 million tons of textile waste in 2018 — nearly 10 million tons of which were clothing and shoes alone. Working to reduce the amount of clothes you are tossing in the landfill will help decrease your carbon impact and keep money in your wallet. 

Commenters on the post were impressed with this repair. 

One person wrote, "Better than before."

Someone else said, "You're like a visible mending super hero."

Another Redditor commented, "I really love how they look like they really belong there."

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