Make and mend is an old naval term for an afternoon off, or more specifically, an afternoon without ship’s duties when sailors could make or mend their uniforms since they were not issued with them in the early days.

Not surprisingly then, that when Ann Wakeling started her sewing business in Aviemore in the 1970s she called it ‘Make and Mend’. She mended lots of things and made lots of others including this fabulous ventile mountain jacket. Ventile had been invented during World War 2 in an effort to increase the survival time of pilots who ditched into the sea. It worked and greatly increased the survival rate. The cloth was popular after the war and still has a following 60/70 years later. Recent trials have compared it favourably with Gore-Tex and other modern, alleged, waterproof materials.

Lovely little timepiece. Thanks Ann.