Any faults in the final product can be repaired by mending. Prior to more advanced machinery, fabric was draped over a mending table and carefully inspected for faults. Quick eyes and nimble fingers were needed. Repairing faults was a highly skilled manual operation. Any knot or thickness had to be removed without affecting the quality of the fabric and mending had to be invisible. In the 1930s to make the day pass faster, popular records were played to the factory workers in the mending room. The top of the table is propped up to make it a well-lit surface over which bolts of fabric were unrolled to check for faults. Menders repaired them with invisible hand stitching. Each weaver stitched a coloured thread in the selvage to show the start of their shift, therefore if mistakes were found the company could easily find who was responsible. This table was used by Gail Morris in the 1960s. Large wooden table with tilted top. mending table, wool processing, fabric, textile industry

One of thirty eight photographs from a photo album featuring images of the Returned Sailors and Soldiers Woollen Mill in Newtown, Geelong. The images were taken between the 1960's-1970's by Norm Holroyd who worked at the mills. They were developed in his own private dark room and kept at his home for private viewing. The Returned Sailors and Soldiers Woollen Mill operated as a self-sufficient co-operative, funded and run by World War I veterans using their War Gratuity Bonds. The facility functioned as a complete raw-to-finished assembly line where raw fleece was brought on-site to be scoured, carded, dyed, spun into yarn and woven. It specialised in heavy worsted cloths, high-quality tweed, and its signature "Retsol" and "Monarch" pure-wool travelling rugs, later adapting its machinery to blend natural wool with artificial fibres as mid-century market demands shifted.Black and white photograph attached to cardboard backing with sticky tape. Image shows a wooden table with woollen fabric. Backing card has four holes in left side.back: [handwritten] 36r. s. & s mill, returned sailors and soldiers mill, newtown, geelong, world war i, soldiers, veterans, co-operative, textile industry, woollen mills, wool, worsted cloth, tweed, retsol, monarch, travel rugs, machinery, factory, working life, norm holroyd, photo album, photography, design, fabric

Photograph was found by a friend of the donor. Rear of photo has a stamp for "Ritter-Jeppesen Studio, 111 Lonsdale Street Melbourne", which would indicate that it was made between 1940-1962. Image appears to be of staff working at mending tables in an unknown woollen mill.Black and white photo attached to a light brown backing board. Photo shows women seated at desks in an unknown woollen mill, presumably working on 'mending' cloth. Roof appears to have a sawtooth design.

This photograph shows the interior of the Valley Worsted Mill in 1923. The mill was first established at this time, and the photo shows the interior after tooling up but prior to the mill actually commencing operation. This photo is one of 31 in total and shows the mending room, with the sloping tables which held the cloth to be mended. The donor worked at the Valley Mill for many years. This mill still exists in Swanston Street, Geelong and is now being used by Melba Industries (an Austrim-Nylex company) to produce Jumbuck Nylon wool packs.Interior of Valley Worsted Mill, c.1923.valley worsted mill, mending