“If it’s not worth mending, it’s not worth buying” …
This week I have a couple of mends to share. The first is a very simple seam repair. I’ve had this vest top for about 30 years and this is the first mend that it has needed. I really like the fit and I’m thinking of using it as the basis for a pattern to make a couple more. Anyway, it’s fully functional once more.
Then we move on to something I rather enjoy mending, but don’t own myself: jeans. I love the fact that denim lends itself so well to boro mending, but I detest wearing jeans. Fortunately jeans are Mr Snail’s preferred leg-wear, so there are plenty to keep me going. He’s quite happy for the mending to be visible, so I chose a red thread for this mend:
I also noticed that the bottoms of the legs of this pair of jeans were fraying and one had a split, so some quick zigzagging on my sewing machine and a bit of overlocking, and they were tidy again.
So, have you mended anything this week? If you’ve written a post about mending recently, do share a link to it – I love to see how other people manage to extend the lives of the things they own.
The Snail of Happiness 
Ann Pole
/ February 24, 2020Arrows. I’m – OK, not mending but re-furbishing, some arrows. And that is only because it’s raining!
LikeLike
The Snail of Happiness
/ February 24, 2020I think refurbishing counts as mending… it’s certainly extending their lives.
LikeLike
Ann Pole
/ February 24, 2020I do need to mend some of Steves work trousers though. Been patching ‘down under’ for a while. I bought 1 new pair on Saturday, so I’ll now use one of the bad pair to repair the second. Now I have raw material, I’ll dismantle one and insert a new section.
LikeLike
The Snail of Happiness
/ February 24, 2020I love using scraps from past projects for the boro mending… bits of familiar fabric peeping through the mends is rather nice.
LikeLike
Ann Pole
/ February 24, 2020It’s not bits of fabric I worried about peeping through… !!
LikeLiked by 1 person
The Snail of Happiness
/ February 24, 2020Snort!
LikeLike
tialys
/ February 24, 2020God bless the overlocker I say.
I have noticed a big, gaping hole in the knee of Mr. T’s ‘gardening’ jeans – so called because he forgets to change out of his good jeans when he goes out in the garden and they very quickly become yet more ‘gardening’ jeans. I have been thinking about trying a bit of boro on them but it will not be yet.
LikeLike
The Snail of Happiness
/ February 24, 2020I rather enjoy the hand stitching. To begin with I fretted about getting the stitches even, but now I don’t worry and just remember that I’m creating something unique.
As for the overlocker – yes it is brilliant for strengthening and tidying up edges. Most of Mr Snail’s older jeans have overlocked leg-bottoms now.
LikeLike
Helen
/ February 24, 2020I’d not heard the term ‘boro’ but have a pair of jeans which need a bit of such. I had been wondering how I bound preserve them for longer, as they are so comfortable – now I just need to source some material to do the job. Does this material need to be denim?
LikeLike
The Snail of Happiness
/ February 24, 2020You can use any robust material as the base for the stitching – some of the stuff I have done has used a bright fabric to show through the hole. It just needs to be strong enough to cope with lots of stitches.
LikeLike
Helen
/ February 24, 2020Thank you!
LikeLike
Going Batty in Wales
/ February 24, 2020I hadn’t heard of boro either! Though I have done it sort of in the past using the machine to stitch too and fro. I usually have to do a great big patch to get to fabric strong enough or I just end up mending the mend! Actually most of my jeans go for scraps not because they they have holes in but because they are so stained or paint spattered!
LikeLike
The Snail of Happiness
/ February 24, 2020I have persuaded Mr Snail that multiple mends will eventually create a unique garment… as with this jacket, for example: https://46fjj12eeht73lsxezcqpvlt-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/boro-kimono.jpg
LikeLike
Going Batty in Wales
/ February 25, 2020Oooh! Nice!
LikeLike
tinaor
/ February 24, 2020I like what you’ve done here – I hope hubby does too. I would love to have a partner who would appreciate a fancy repair job on his clothes – unfortunately I just know he’d prefer them ‘plain’. Working on his colour choices – I made a bright blue hat once – but he sticks to an old black plain one!
LikeLike
The Snail of Happiness
/ February 24, 2020He’s very happy with the whole ethos… mending is part of our way of life here
LikeLike
Laurie Graves
/ February 24, 2020I still have a sweater that awaits mending. Soon!
LikeLike
cedar51
/ February 24, 2020I mostly don’t worry, if I can get them together, I just roughly stitch them up – and yes they look like someone who had never welded a needle and thread…I actually realised a few months ago, it didn’t matter!
BTW I don’t like wearing jeans either – in my 20s loved them, now….no.
LikeLike
nanacathy2
/ February 24, 2020Once I have washed a duvet cover I used last week for a grand child I need to replace one of the poppers.
LikeLike
katechiconi
/ February 25, 2020I have mending, but it’s waiting at home for me! Two pairs of the Husband’s work pants have gone in the usual place and need patches from my stash of appropriate patch materials. I have the process down to a fine art, having mended so many tears in exactly the same place…. Perhaps I’ll join you for Mending Mondays when I return in mid March?
LikeLike
The Snail of Happiness
/ February 25, 2020I’d love you to join in. It was great to see a mend from Jill this week too. I think if we can show people that mending is just a ‘normal’ activity, it might become a bit more common. I’m also encouraging Mr Snail to post his mends – he repaired the storage heater in the living room this last weekend, but he doesn’t think it’s interesting enough to write about because it was simply a reset of the thermal cut-out… considering a new heater would have cost over £700 and calling out an electrician would have been at least £60, I think it’s a very interesting thing to share!
LikeLike
katechiconi
/ February 25, 2020Yes, definitely include Mr Snail’s fixes; some of them are extremely fun and idiosyncratic. I don’t think I’ll be able to show anything before I get back, having only scraps and grey thread with me, and nothing that needs mending (so far!), but you never know… I can definitely kick off with those work pants, which will probably become a regular feature!
LikeLike