I’ve developed my own darning mushroom!
Vintage darning mushrooms were hard to come by, and I want as many products sold in the webshop as possible to have positive ripple effects beyond helping us repair more clothes.
Others is the Salvation Army's fair trade concept. They provide jobs for people who would otherwise struggle to earn an income, and consistently prioritize ethics and the environment as much as possible.
These darning mushrooms are handcrafted by skilled artisans in Jessore, Bangladesh, from rain tree wood. Rain tree is extra environmentally friendly as it does not involve cutting down forests. Instead, these are trees cultivated in gardens and along roadsides and sold when a family needs extra income.
Because the darning mushrooms are handmade, there will be natural variations in appearance, wood color, and shading. It comes with a hangtag providing simple instructions for basic darning.
The darning mushroom is a combination of my preferences from the various vintage darning mushrooms I have used. It has a groove that you can choose to use to stabilize your work by attaching an elastic band or thread around it (not included, as it seemed unnecessary given that most people have elastic bands or threads at home). It is wider than, for example, the darning mushroom from Prym, measuring 7.5 cm in diameter. It has a rounded head but is quite flat on top, which makes it a little easier to weave the needle a longer distance at a time, and it can also be used to stabilize small holes in areas of garments that are not rounded in shape but are still used in sock heels and toes.
The handle is relatively thick and comfortable to hold.
The wood is untreated, like most of Others' wooden products, but you can choose to oil it yourself if you wish, depending on your own preferences! I oiled one of the samples with cooking oil and was very pleased with the result.
I hope you like it! And please feel free to provide feedback, because this is probably not the last wooden repair product I will produce with them! This darning mushroom can also be further developed for new production runs :)