Laine Saint-Pierre mending wool from Sajou in France is lovely stuff - ideal for darning socks and other thin to medium-weight knitwear, and for embroidery.

It has four thin strands (similar to embroidery thread) and is made from a blend of wool and nylon (similar to sock yarn) for added strength. You can also combine it with sock yarn when knitting socks to reinforce heels and toes.

The threads are smooth, soft, matte and colourfast and wash well. Use one or more strands depending on the thickness of the garment you're mending.

Note: the sock pictured here and worn by me in Modern Mending the book was darned using all four strands of Laine Saint-Pierre in colour 506 cherry on a Speedweve darning loom. If you're creating a woven darn with multiple strands without a Speedweve, I recommend weaving with the eye of your needle to prevent weaving through the wrong threads and getting lost in a darning maze. Or try a non-woven darn, such as honeycomb darning.

Each discovery assortment contains 12 cards of mending wool with 10m of each colour; choose from vintage, modern, spring or autumn colours.

• assortment 1 (vintage) colours: 218, 360, 450, 484, 596, 615, 618, 645, 690, 762, 835, 945
• assortment 2 (modern) colours: 305, 310, 387, 534, 538, 586, 605, 626, 740, 785, 800, 868
• assortment 3 (spring) colours: 100, 327, 380, 414, 444, 555, 602, 603, 700, 722, 746, 802
• assortment 4 (autumn) colours: 377, 422, 435, 456, 492, 536, 542, 696, 731, 843, 878, 916

Made in France from 50% wool / 50% polyamide, wound onto cardstock and packaged in a sturdy cardboard Laine Saint-Pierre storage box.

Laine Saint-Pierre mending wool is also available in individual 10m cards and a collection box of all 96 colours.

For a special, locally made mending yarn, try Mend it - limited-edition upcycled mending yarn.

If you’re darning cotton or other plant-based fibres, try Scanfil cotton mending yarn or Cottage Garden Threads embroidery thread.

For a thicker mending yarn that doesn't separate into strands, try Scanfil mending wool. 

For an even thicker option if you need to darn chunky, hand-knit clothing, I recommend using knitting yarn instead (not available here; ask your knitter friends for scraps or support your local yarn shop!).

Want to see how it’s done? Modern Mending the book includes 32 pages of darning instructions and 18 pages of hand-stitching instructions, with photographs and illustrated diagrams.

Holiday update + shop closures

14 December 2023 (5pm AEDT):
Last orders for Christmas delivery in Australia

HOLIDAY BREAK: 14 December (5pm AEDT) to 2 January
Orders placed during this time will ship on 5 January.

10 January 2024 (5pm AEDT):
Last chance to order before the big break

BIG BREAK: 10 January (5pm AEDT) to late February / early March 2024 (tbc)
This shop will shut for at least six weeks (no purchases can be made during this time).

Read on for details...

 

HOLIDAY BREAK (December 2023)

2023 orders close at 5pm on 14 December, and I’m planning to be back at work on 3 January. During the holiday break you will be able to place orders as usual, but postal orders will not ship until 5 January. Gift vouchers will be available for purchase 24/7 and delivered automagically by email.

BIG BREAK (January/February 2024)

It’s time for the ELF herself to check in for repairs! I’m having major surgery and will need at least six weeks of recovery time, with lots of rest and no heavy lifting (including shop orders).

After 5pm on 10 January I will disable the shop checkout; you will be able to browse but not purchase anything (including gift vouchers) until the shop reopens in late February or early March – once I've made a full recovery. Mailing-list subscribers will be notified when the shop reopens.

 

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Weekly dispatch

This shop dispatches orders once a week so I can do alllll the things – including running this shop and running after two tiny tots – and enjoy my life. Your patience and understanding are greatly appreciated.

Place your order by 5pm Thursday Melbourne time (AEDT/AEST) for dispatch by Monday.
(NOTE: I drop off most orders at my local post office on Fridays, but I'm told they don't physically leave the post office and start making their way to you until Monday.)

Shipping carrier

I ship via Australia Post because it’s reliable, trackable and carbon-neutral. 

If you select Express Post at checkout, it will speed up Australia Post's delivery timeframe but won't speed up my process.

After your order has been packed, you will receive an email notification with your Australia Post tracking number, which you can use to check on the delivery status of your order.

International customers: click here for current Australia Post international delivery timeframes.

Shipping fees

I don’t offer free shipping because there is no such thing as free shipping. Someone has to pay the cost for postage.

Shipping is currently a flat rate of $12 within Australia ($17 Express Post); international shipping is calculated at checkout. Gift cards are delivered electronically and do not require shipping. 

International shipping

I ship worldwide with the exception of the UK, due to VAT regulations that came into effect on 1 January 2021. If you are in the UK you can order the UK edition of my book from your local bookshop.

Local delivery

Customers in Northcote, Thornbury and nearby suburbs (subject to capacity) can select local delivery at checkout. Local delivery is extra-slow and coincides with my pram-walking/kid-wrangling schedule, up to one week after purchase. ٩(｡•́‿•̀｡)۶

I choose to reuse

When shipping orders my first priority is to reuse packaging materials whenever possible – boxes, padded mailers, cardboard, paper, tissue paper, bubble wrap and egg cartons from neighbours, second-hand shops and recycling centres. I cannot guarantee the materials used to ship your order will be plastic-free for this reason.

My tags and labels are stamped by hand onto compostable paper tape or preloved cardboard packaging.

I buy recycled packaging

If I don’t have suitable second-hand packaging to use for your order, my next priority is packaging made from recycled materials. It's important to me to support Australian companies making good products from our recyclables, and to make sure that material gets a second life.

Tape

I use compostable, gummed kraft-paper tape to seal my parcels whenever possible. I have a second-hand tape wetter that I love, purchased from my local op shop. Gummed paper tape is available at most art-supply shops if you want to make the switch yourself!

Express Post orders will have official plastic "Express Post" tape added.

International orders with many items will have a plastic pocket taped to them, to accommodate additional paperwork required by customs.

Individual product packaging

Every item for sale on this website has its packaging components listed and in most cases photographed, so you can make an informed decision.

Upstream packaging

When I speak to my suppliers I specifically ask that my orders be supplied to me without plastic packaging, whenever possible, to avoid waste and single-use plastic. This isn’t always possible, but I’ll keep asking, forever.

Here's how one of my suppliers has my name recorded in its database: