![Jac+Jack's Darning Project knitwear was inspired by Virginia Wilson's artistic flair for jumper repairs.](/content/dam/images/g/v/k/s/3/r/image.related.afrWideArticleLead.940x529.gvkrso.png/1492729775078.jpg)
Art consultant Virginia Wilson splits her time between her inner-Sydney apartment and her family's farming and cattle property near Forbes, a five-hour drive from Sydney in the central west of NSW.
On weekdays she's in the city, working with architects and property developers to help facilitate public art for large developments, but on weekends you'll find her amid the cows and sheep at Droubalgie, where a favourite winter pastime is darning the jumpers of family and friends.
"The boys are often quite careless with moth-hole prevention so I darn their jumpers using colourful wool I have on hand," says Wilson. "It is an incredibly satisfying process, because you begin with an item that has lost its wear because of a hole and you end up with a piece that you adore because of a colourful and decorative repair."
One of Wilson's vibrant darning efforts caught the eye of a friend, Jacqueline Hunt, co-founder of Sydney fashion brand Jac+ Jack.
![Virginia Wilson on the front porch of her farm.](/content/dam/images/g/v/m/q/5/l/image.imgtype.afrArticleInline.620x0.png/1492478787389.jpg)
"There is something beautiful in taking something you love to wear and making it new again," says Hunt. "I asked Virginia if she would be open to working with us to share this idea with others and fortunately she said yes."
Indigenous inspiration
The result is the Darning Project, a collection of limited-edition Jac+ Jack knitwear pieces designed by Wilson and embellished with colourful patches and sleeve extenders using techniques traditionally employed to repair and restore well-loved jumpers and knits.
"Virginia's work reminds me of a time past, yet her skills and how she applies them are modern," says Hunt. "She has a very innate sense of style and it translates through everything she does."
Inspiration for the collection, including four women's and one men's style, came from the soft sculptures exhibited by artists from the Yarrenyty Arltere town camp in Alice Springs, whose work Wilson encountered at the Aboriginal & Pacific Art gallery in Sydney several years ago.
![The Darning Project knitwear was also inspired by the soft sculptures made by the Yarrenyty Arltere artists of Alice Springs.](/content/dam/images/g/v/k/s/3/x/image.imgtype.afrArticleInline.620x0.png/1492119654717.jpg)
"They are unique in a crowded art scene; kooky, funny and very relaxed," says Wilson. "They dye old blankets with gum leaves and bark, and then embroider those earthy colours with very colourful wools, adding feathers, hand embroidery and beads to make soft, stuffed sculptures of an animal, person or something in between. I immediately bought one myself and sold a couple to some of my clients."
Initially run as a training program, the Yarrenyty Arltere initiative developed into an art centre enterprise in 2009, and is now a not-for-profit, Aboriginal-owned and managed organisation. A percentage of the sale price of each Darning Project garment will go towards supporting the Yarrenyty Arltere artists, whose unconventional use of colour and form informed Wilson's approach to her range for Jac+ Jack.
"At first I tried to match the darning wool to the jumper wool, but then, taking inspiration from the use of colour in the soft sculptures, I started to choose wildly different colours," says Wilson.
Indian initiative
![Jac+ Jack's Darning Project knitwear features colourful extensions and patches.](/content/dam/images/g/v/k/s/3/u/image.imgtype.afrArticleInline.620x0.png/1492119666733.jpg)
The knitwear was produced in collaboration with Chandroti, a not-for-profit initiative based in India established in 2002 to empower local women. Named after the small village where it is based, in the foothills of the Himalayas, Chandroti gives the village women the opportunity to learn new skills and earn money while working from their homes. It employs more than 100 women.
Hunt shares a special connection with the organisation, having lived in India for several years and worked with the Chandroti women on previous Jac+ Jack initiatives.
"The products they make are so beautiful and customers really respond to them, plus the women are able to earn money that makes a big difference to their family and to their own self-esteem. So it's really a transaction that works for good."
Jac+ Jack has worked with Chandroti for eight years, and Hunt says the Darning Project was a natural fit. "The women are so highly skilled with their knitting that darning patches to duplicate Virginia's work was an easy step for them."
![Jac+ Jack co-founder Jacqueline Hunt is proud of the Sydney fashion label's connection with Chandroti, a women's ...](/content/dam/images/g/v/k/s/3/q/image.imgtype.afrArticleInline.620x0.png/1492119689853.jpg)
She says the results for the Darning Project tie into the overall nostalgic theme of her knitwear this season.
"This season for knitwear we really wanted to channel the nostalgia and sense of cosiness of the well-worn sweaters and jumpers that you love. The idea of darning and breathing new life into a favourite piece just fits so well with that, and what Virginia came up with is very special."
Wilson would like more people to discover the joys of good old-fashioned darning.
"I hate to say it but it's easy," she laughs. "Plus if you want to stay toasty warm for winter, these jumpers are perfect."
![The collection comprises four women's and one men's style of knitwear.](/content/dam/images/g/v/k/s/3/t/image.imgtype.afrArticleInline.620x0.png/1492119712166.jpg)
The Darning Project collection will be available at the Jac+ Jack Paddington and Bondi stores in Sydney and the Armadale store in Melbourne in May.
AFR Contributor