February 14, 2026
Ariane Brunet-Juteau – Editor
Photo credits: Colleen Copeland
This Valentine’s special is not about black lace, silky red satin, sexy lingerie, ostrich-feather shoes, or cheap chocolate boxes. (Although… let’s keep the cheap chocolate boxes in. We’ll see where this newsletter takes us.)
Those clichés don’t exactly feel like our style. Or maybe they do…who really knows what happens behind closed doors?
But I’ve always been a woman who prefers to take the conversation sideways.
While scrolling through your posts in our FBK community, I had fun imagining what a denim upcycler’s Valentine’s Day might look like. And somewhere between worn knees, visible stitching, and beautifully patched tears, a theme emerged on its own:
Mending with Heart.
And I thought… this is us!
- Wearing denim, as usual.
- Patching holes with hearts.
- Making repair an act of love.
- Building intimacy through care.
- Finding pleasure in defying fast fashion.
- Celebrating love, with a hint of punk rock.
Here’s 10 denim upcyclers from our community (I included myself in the jam!) who mend with heart.
Happy Valentine’s Day, denim upcyclers!
Ariane xo
Amy Henderson Connolly
“I love to hand sew, machine sew, embroider a little, and I’ve recently learned to crochet so that I can add pieces to clothing. I’m actually very new to machine sewing and upcycling clothing. I only learned to sew a couple of years ago.”
Hippie Wild
“Upcycled stitched up heart jeans and antique coverlet from 1837”
Kat Martin
“Boro sewing technique is great for using tiniest scraps of denim. Boro is a Japanese technique and originally the Boro patchwork is made by hand-stitching. I have tried something similar using a sewing machine instead. It was really fun to make and result doesn’t look bad at all so I made a ree sewing tutorial on my website.” is
Christina Ross
“A couple of days ago someone posted their heart overalls and this inspired my hand stitched heart jeans. My first project”
Fotograaf Karmen Kärg
“ I very much love recycling and sewing is something i have learned myself. This technique is just as simple as forming a puzzle out of different pieces of fabric and sewing them together so that finally they form a complete coat.”
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Lori Archer
“These jeans were one of the first I upcycled. All of the stitching is done by hand because I didn’t have a machine. All the materials used were obtained from estate sales or were gifted by friends.”
Collen Copeland
“They are coasters made from a chambray shirt. Sewn the heart with my embroidery machine. I have Baby Lock Valiant 10 needle machine but these could be made on any single needle machine. The technique is called “In the Hoop” (ITH) appliqué. Both sides are the chambray denim with 100% cotton batting in the middle. The ones on the left have “crazy quilt” centres.”
Sarah Yeckley
“I continue creating pieces of my own brand of upcycled thrifted and distressed denim, called Puka Jeans. “Puka” means hole in Hawaiian. I hand stitch every patch, and each pair has a signature front thigh cell phone (or love note) pocket. The fabrics I use for the Puka patches are from discarded or thrifted Hawaiian fabrics. Oversized and comfy, sustainable, wearable art!”
Natalia Bronzey
“My mother’s cat ripped a hole in the knee of my jeans and that’s the story behind that heart patch.”
Suzy Sears Fulton
“Just finished this heart quilt using recycled denim from my friends son’s jeans she has saved for a long time. Credit for pattern goes to Blair Stocker wisecrafthandmade.com is
Spread the love 💙
I hope you all feel loved on this Valentine's day.
If you feel a friend or loved one would enjoy this newsletter, send it their way as a little Valentine’s thought.
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Warmly,
Ariane xo 💙
Would you also like to mend with heart? Here are the tools I prefer to use! 💙
