Whilst I don’t do New Year’s Resolutions, I do have a “theme” in mind for 2022: Mending.
I’m going to try and write more Mend It Monday posts, and I’m going to try and be more creative with my mends… I promise it won’t all be about darning! In addition, of course, in the new shop we will be selling mending supplies and equipment and we’ll be teaching courses on mending (once the upstairs is not divided by a very unhelpful partition wall!), so I should have lots to share to inspire you.
However, my first mend this year is a simple bit of patching. I have some lovely soft, organic cotton nightshirts, but the oldest of these has started to wear, and the side seams at the bottom edge had begun to deteriorate. The seam on one side just needed restitching, but on the the other, the fabric had torn and so a patch was needed. Since this is a garment that only gets worn in bed, I was only interested in a functional mend, so I couldn’t be bothered re-threading my overlocker with a more appropriate colour.
I found a scrap of cotton jersey, cut out a patch and secured it in place with a zigzag stitch. Then, I anchored the ragged edges of the original fabric with more zigzag stitching, before finishing the bottom edge with my overlocker.
It’s not the most attractive mend ever, but I am hoping that it will keep this garment useable for another year or two.
Do you have any creative plans for the New Year? Is mending on your list of things to do?
The Snail of Happiness 
deborah @ the magic jug
/ January 3, 2022Snap! My word for the year is mending. Planning to work through the big pile of clothes waiting for me, plus all sorts of other bits and pieces lying around the house (jewellery, household items…). Learning new skills and developing old ones along the way. Plus mending relationships including my relationship with my allotment. Feeling excited at the prospect.
Looking forward to following your new venture too. Happy 2022!
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The Snail of Happiness
/ January 3, 2022Yes – the less tangible stuff is important too and relationships (with people and things) are so important, and do require work.
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katechiconi
/ January 3, 2022I have just mended two of my home-made face masks. We’re now required to wear them everywhere inside public places, not just in shops, so making sure they were in good shape became important. I also have a small pile of clothing to deal with… as always! I like your idiosyncratic nightshirt repair.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ January 3, 2022I’m sorry to hear that you are back to wearing face masks everywhere, but at least your country seems to be in a better position than we are in the UK. Here we are all having fun with our regular lateral flow tests – sigh.
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katechiconi
/ January 3, 2022And here, lateral flow tests, or Rapid Antigen Tests as they’re called here, cannot be had for love or money at the moment… It’s a supply chain issue; big country, small population. Our infection rates are rocketing because we’ve become a bit complacent, I fear. Still, at least our death rate is still tiny. Queensland had only 7 deaths last year. Still, 7 too many.
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Going Batty in Wales
/ January 3, 2022I have a big pile of mending awaiting attention. I meant to tackle it over Christmas but…..
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The Snail of Happiness
/ January 3, 2022Now, that’s a feeling that I know.
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Wild Daffodil
/ January 3, 2022Mending and finishing are my watch words. The mending pile behind the sofa and All those WIPs!
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The Snail of Happiness
/ January 3, 2022I’ve been quite good in the past couple of years about finishing things, although there are still a few lurking in corners! I’d dearly love to finish my rag rug now, but it’s still dragging on – I think I’ve done about 75%.
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cedar51
/ January 4, 2022I’ve not planned on true mending – more about getting some piles of ephemera and fancy objects to be come new art works – either books or something else.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ January 7, 2022How lovely. I really like the creation of beauty from bits and bobs!
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Rainbow Junkie
/ January 4, 2022I mended, or should I say reinforced the weak patches, on a pair of socks recently and I do have some other things that I could mend or patch but my priority this year is to use up some of my burgeoning stash.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ January 7, 2022Reinforcing is so much better than mending… it’s just a challenge for me to act in time before the hole develops!
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Rainbow Junkie
/ January 7, 2022I was lucky with these; I just happened to notice as I was folding them to put away. I’m not very good at darning and reinforcing so it made it so much easier.
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