Material I mend, maybe (5)
I believe the answer is:
denim
'material' is the definition.
(type of fabric)
'i mend maybe' is the wordplay.
'maybe' indicates anagramming the letters.
'i'+'mend'='imend'
'imend' anagrammed gives 'DENIM'.
(Other definitions for denim that I've seen before include "Tough cotton fabric" , "Fabric used for jeans" , "Hard-wearing material seen in jeans" , "Hard-wearing blue fabric" , "Hard-wearing clothing material, twilled cotton" .)