Molly Rooke: Darn Good Studio

From her base in central Exeter, artist Molly Rooke runs Darn Good Studio, a creative clothing repairs initiative with a strong focus on slow fashion and sustainability.

What do you do?

I run a creative clothing repairs studio with a focus on visible mending that celebrates the histories of our clothes. I teach mending workshops across Devon to share these skills and help spread the message of slow fashion and sustainability.

How did you get started?

I started Darn Good in March 2022, after teaching myself to darn during lockdown. My background is contemporary fine art, which had explored climate change and the environment through embroidering over images of the coastline. I fell in love with mending and working more with my hands, and enjoyed the act of repair so I decided it would make a good business.

Who do you work with and why?

I work with a range of communities and organisations. I currently teach small mending classes at Bunyip Craft in Exeter, MAKE Southwest, Mend Assembly and Studio Kind. I think the focus of sustainability is beneficial for any institution wanting to demonstrate a commitment to counteracting climate change and the human impact on our planet. In my residency at the Custom House on Exeter Quay at the start of March, I’ll be running more community-led activities with children and parents, sharing quick mending ideas and tips in the hope of helping to reduce household costs for families.

Name one thing that would make your life easier as an artist or arts organiser.

I would love a darning machine that fixes jeans super quick! It’s basically an industrial sewing machine made for denim repair.

And what keeps you going when things get tough?

I think knowing that I am doing my part for a sustainable future, no matter how small an impact that might be. And chocolate hobnobs.

Talk us through a favourite project or piece.

My favourite piece lately has been a red toast cardigan, which had already been repaired in several places by its owner. I then matched the colours she had used and repaired the holes with a Swiss darn (otherwise known as duplicate stitch) which recreated the knitted pattern but in a various shades of green yarn.

What does the next year look like for you?

I’ve got heaps of workshops lined up, which I’m really excited to teach. I’m expanding the range of courses that I offer and I’m in the process of developing more community-based workshops such as mending for parents (and carers / guardians) and making mending kits to sell. My residency at the Custom House has made me really think about mending as a creative act and exploring how to exhibit the mends rather than just returning them back to clients.

What’s been the best moment for you in the last year?

Launching Darn Good in March 2022 felt like such a big achievement, and it’s felt like it’s gone from strength to strength. Workshops are selling out, I’m gaining clients from across the country, and it’s getting people talking about slow fashion.

In what ways are you helping to put Exeter on the cultural map?

I hope that I am sharing the great work that we’re doing to be a more sustainable city.

How do we find out more?

Website: www.darngoodstudio.co.uk
FB: darngoodstudio
Insta: darngoodstudio

Coming up:

On the Mend with Molly Rooke of Darn Good Studio in association with Honeyscribe at Exeter Custom House

Residency 3-12 March | Exhibition 3 March – 8 May

Molly Rooke will host a series of workshops accompanied by an exhibition featuring examples of exquisite repairs celebrating the art of visible mending and darning as creative radical acts. She will be setting up a mending studio in the beautiful Long Room from 3-12 March, where she will share skills and inspire visitors to see how damaged clothing can be transformed, and encourage us to find beauty and new life in our loved and well-worn clothes. 

A mindful mending drop-in session for the Bloom festival at Exeter Phoenix in May. Details tbc