To Hell & Back: Weaving Curated Vintage and Visible Mending in Walker’s Point

Whether you’re willing to go to hell and back for some quality vintage, or at least to Fifth Street and back, Nate and Andrea have you covered.

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Andrea Dolter’s memories of sewing her own dresses for high school dances are still fresh in her mind. “If people find out you have a sewing machine, they’re always asking you to hem their pants,” she jokes. While studying at MIAD, Dolter built the practices of mending and upcycling into her artistic craft. When Dolter’s fiber arts skills converged with partner Nate Fleege’s flea market and thrifting know-how and mechanical engineering dexterity, To Hell & Back was born: a combination curated vintage shop and sewing studio.

The shop specializes in trendless and durable styles: denim pieces, leather jackets, t-shirts and more. Their vintage collection features clothing for all genders, though they carry a more prominent men’s assortment. Dolter and Fleege particularly aim to curate a collection that spotlights the lives of garments, displaying pieces with unique wear and tear.

To Hell & Back recently moved from a small basement space to a more spacious storefront on the corner of Fifth and Pierce. Dolter remarks that the previous space allowed them to establish and grow their practice at a good pace. “It had a unique energy to it—kind of like a speakeasy vintage shop, you had to be adventurous to find it.”

Now, the shop gets a lot more foot traffic. “This version of the store is very accessible; it’s bright, it’s big,” Fleege says. “Windows and a front door were really the biggest selling point,” Dolter adds with a laugh.

They note that Fifth Street is a sleepier retail strip than other Walker’s Point blocks, but that To Hell & Back is one amongst a wave of local businesses re-energizing the area. “It’s a very supportive and welcoming neighborhood,” Fleege remarks.

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Dolter and Fleege in the new To Hell & Back location. Photo by Carly Koz

Bringing Garments New Life and Supporting Circular Economies

To Hell & Back promotes sustainable shopping ideas through their clothing repairs program. They specialize in denim repairs—“anything from small holes to totally thrashed pieces in need of restoration.” They use a darning machine that mimics the weave of denim to produce a very fine repair, though the team also emphasizes the art of visible mending. The idea is to prolong the life of a garment you already love while creatively highlighting the lifespan it has already “lived,” echoing sustainable arts practices like kintsugi: the Japanese art of repairing broken ceramics with gold lacquer, making the brokenness of the object beautiful.

Dolter comments on the small but mighty community of visible menders across the country. “Not a ton of shops offer mending services. Part of this is about educating people on the value of this practice. I want it to mean something to you to care for this garment, because it does take a lot of time to fix these things.”

Even the shop’s name reflects this practice. Dolter explains: “We named the shop To Hell & Back because it really captures the spirit of the vintage pieces we work with. Most of what we find has been worn, loved, maybe even a little beat up—but that’s what makes it great. We get to bring those items back to life so they can be appreciated all over again.”

Their logo, created by graphic designer David Bramson, depicts Charon, the Greek mythological figure who ferries souls across the River Styx. “We loved the symbolism of guiding things from one life to the next, which ties in perfectly with what we do.”

Community Engagement

To Hell & Back not only offers mending and repair services but also provides a space for community members to hone their craft themselves. January 2026 will mark the one-year anniversary of their fiber arts club, Purl Jam. The club meets every third Thursday of the month (in the next-door community art space run by Var Gallery, “The Drawing Room.”

It functions as a sort of open office hours where community members bring in anything from beginner’s knitting projects to intricate and delicate repairs. It’s a space where people with any level of fiber arts experience can work on projects collaboratively learn, ask questions, questions, and connect with one another. “Even if that’s the one time a month you pick up your project, at least you’re making progress!” Dolter emphasizes. The duo anticipates that participation will increase as the winter goes on, as the cold weather encourages Milwaukeeans to pick up their hobbies once again.

They are excited for potential future collaborations, such as festivals and “shop-hops.” As they settle into their new space, their doors are becoming more open to cooperative projects with fellow business owners and artists.

Dolter expresses great hope for the future of the shop, as well as for the future of artists in Milwaukee. “Everyone goes through their own version of “hell,” and we all find ways to come back from it. [Our shop’s] name reminds us, and our customers, that revival is always possible, whether it’s clothes or people."

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