“If it’s not worth mending, it’s not worth buying” … so says my friend Sarah, and I have to agree.
We all know that over-consumption is destroying our world, and that a major way to combat this is to buy items that last, to value them and to repair them. With that in mind, I have decided to embark on a series of blog posts dedicated to mending. I’m not guaranteeing that I will manage to post every Monday, but I will do my best to share my mends on a regular basis… feel free to join me.
So, here is number 1…
I knit my own socks and having taken hours to make a pair, I’m determined to give them as long a life as possible, so a sock darn is an easy win. This took me about 30 minutes and will extend the life of this sock by several years – now that’s a good investment of time.
The Snail of Happiness 
Going Batty in Wales
/ February 17, 2020I don’t enjoy mending and since most of my clothes come from charity shops, get worn and worn then go for gardening clothes and finally when they are stained and tatty I feel no guilt putting them into my recycling stash. However the stuff I knit is another matter! I think that knowing how much work goes into making something makes it easier to treat it with respect and feel inclined to mend it. I shall look forward to seeing future posts and perhaps they will push me to tackle the pile of things on the spare bed waiting for attention – mostly only a small repair but easy to put off.
LikeLiked by 2 people
nanacathy2
/ February 17, 2020I like mending clothes- any excuse for hand sewing. Look forward to seeing your mends. Neat darning btw.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ann Pole
/ February 17, 2020Yes, I agree. My darning is no where that neat! But I do darn, and mend, and re-purpose. The rule with socks is to mend it twice before it’s gone too far. After that the sock is usually too thin to bother with.
But 2 old quilt covers, organic at that, are a different matter. They were not cheap, and were meant to last for years. However my lovely hubby seems to rot fabric in short time. It’s the top edge, the but tucked under the chin. First repair was to fold in & resew. Next 2 repairs involved adding about 2′ of new fabric on the underside, that added another couple of years. Once they ripped again, further down, I gave up.
As a result we now have 8 new pillowcases, 6 hankies (with fabric for more) and the really rotten stuff I ripped into squares to make little coal dust sachets for a friend who has more dust than coal!
LikeLiked by 1 person
The Snail of Happiness
/ February 17, 2020And, of course you can compost cotton.
LikeLike
Ann Pole
/ February 21, 2020Eventually! Though it is quicker than wool or leather.
Now coal is being fazed out, I need to get on and get this ladies coal dust used up. We are not saving any more, she has more dust than coal so we are quietly putting it in the garden bin, as I gather that is the correct way to dispose.
LikeLike
tialys
/ February 17, 2020I must admit to hating doing repairs or alterations but I’m with you on the need to make what we have last as long as possible. Maybe if I put my mending in plain sight rather than tucked away in a box, I would do it. Although that hasn’t worked for my ironing 🙄
LikeLiked by 1 person
The Snail of Happiness
/ February 17, 2020I have been much better at mending since i created a mending kit. I can’t remember who suggested it, but it was definitely someone here. It has a darning mushroom, scissors, darning wool, needles, embroidery thread, fabric scraps, mending tape and other bits and bobs in it and means that everything I need is to hand. Perhaps I’ll do another post about it… I’m sure I wrote one years ago, but it’s probably time to revisit it.
LikeLike
tialys
/ February 17, 2020You lost me at ‘darning mushroom’ I’m afraid.
LikeLike
Laurie Graves
/ February 17, 2020Yes, yes! I’m with you and your friend Sarah. I am not at all crafty, and my mending is always clumsy. No matter! I wear the clothes anyway. I work at home, and my husband does not care if my mending is clumsy. Neither do the cats. 😉
LikeLike
Kim
/ February 17, 2020My daughter used to moan about me mending clothes. She’s changed her attitude entirely now and is giving me tips on sustainable living. I’m one proud mother 😊
LikeLike
thecontentedcrafter
/ February 17, 2020Excellent! I still repair and darn, though I’ve never had a mushroom. And there is very little to do these days as its only me and I’m easy on clothes…… but now and again it does sit a while before I get around to a more intricate repair.
LikeLike
The Snail of Happiness
/ February 17, 2020My sister gave me the darning mushroom as, for some inexplicable reason, she had two. It’s ever so useful – I was surprised how much easier it made sock repairs.
LikeLiked by 1 person
katechiconi
/ February 18, 2020I’m coming late to the post, mainly because for some reason it didn’t show up in my reader till this morning! I’m with you, as you might have guessed. As I write this, there are two pairs of the Husband’s work pants waiting to be mended. I also have a mending kit, but it’s a bit different from yours, in that it consists of a variety of patches, recycled from work pants past help, strong zippers, fluoro orange thread, orange and blue buttons (any guesses about his work clothes?), and heavyweight navy thread. It’s all kept in a basket in my sewing room so that once I’ve washed the offending items I can get straight on with it instead of faffing about and putting it off. As he drives a truck, the seat of his pants takes a beating, the seatbelt wears and eventually rips his shirtfront, he hardly wears out his socks at all, but he refuses to wear mended undies as he says it’s uncomfortable and chafes. Fair enough….
LikeLike
arlingwoman
/ February 18, 2020I have some skirt hems that need attention. Not to mention some sock toes before they actually get holes. Thanks for the reminder!
LikeLike
anne54
/ February 18, 2020No surprise to know that I enjoy doing the fancy mending, like making patterns on the legs of my very worn jeans! I also find that some of my jumpers have holes, and I have enjoyed mending those. I like the idea of Mend It Monday.
LikeLike
Nice Piece of Work
/ February 19, 2020The last item of clothing I mended was a pair of jeans belonging to my daughter’s boyfriend. He’s worn them for a while but now the denim has worn away (in a different place). I’m going to tell him to get with the style trend and flaunt those holes!
LikeLike
deborah @ the magic jug
/ February 19, 2020I completely agree. Recently I’ve taken to including any mending as part of the ‘doing the washing’ task, instead of letting it sit for ages. I’m almost through the backlog and hope to keep up with it. For the first time ever I’ve fished out the darning mushroom my mother in law gave me decades ago and like you will be using it to mend my home-made socks. Am loving the images I see on Instagram as #visiblemending, and wondering if my needlework will ever be as lovely as some of those I see there- definitely a place to go for mending inspiration!
LikeLike