2021 Sustainable mend-along

Don’t you just hate when they do that? The one thing that was a safe thing to buy, and then all of a sudden after 10+ years they change the cut a bit, the fabric gets cheaper… and then one time there suddenly was a bunch of 4 or 5 2" washing tags in each one, ridiculous! That one they stopped doing though.

I would have been here much earlier, but it took me until today to read through all of the posts of last year’s thread.

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@Whistlefish If this is still an issue for already worn out pairs, what I did for my two most worn pairs of pants recently was find the same-ish fabric and sew two fairly big circles over the areas. Fairly easy fix and keeps well. The circles overlapped a bit over the crotch seam. It doesn’t show much when I’m wearing them, but I guess I’ll be giving those two a dye bath because next to the patches the rest of the pants now is more grey than black…

Then again I like sewing circles onto stuff. I may do some more mending like that. I have previously sewn big colourful circles on a black fleece jacket to cover up an embroidered (chinese?) symbol because I have no idea what it says, but the jacket was cheap and so comfy! And I patched my work apron with little circles taken from the apron itself because I shortened it too.

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I still haven’t tackled this problem…I’m scared. Lol. I think you’re right though…I think a circle may be the way to go when I finally do it.

Martha blew out another 2 weak spots and I was all set to retire her but now i’ve somehow managed to lose my one pair of “real” jeans so I cant. Guys, did Martha do away with the competition??

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Wow. You just put Martha on blast.

Savage.

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Has anyone mended something like this or knows of a good video tute for it? Pics:


I made a post in textiles/ discussion but then thought i should pose it to you mending gurus directly.

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How to repair a crochet blanket

Down at the end of the piece there is a blogger that talks about more vintage pieces…good luck…it is beautiful and worth repairing the best you can, even if you just sew the pieces to stop further damage…

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Thanks!

I have a crochet repair project I’ve been meaning to tackle for a few years and I’m just a bit intimidated by it. I can crochet but I’ve never repaired crochet before. It’s filet crochet like yours @AntBee. I guess one advantage of that is that the pattern is not too complicated.

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Love this thread!! I am mending a crochet bag for a friend of a friend. Its her favorite bag and my friend knew I could fix it.
Also, today I’m making a trip to the kids school. They are off to daycare for Easter egg hunts and decorating while I start day 1 of a glorious week off! Their teacher knows my son lights up when there is a box! Kids eyes are like saucers then he slinks off with any box left about! She just unpacked their spring reading materials and was like I have a pile of stuff for Sam to create with! So I am going to grab it for him and looking through the clothing table.
They go to a small Catholic School and all the parents sent in any clothing they no longer need and others go through and replenish their uniforms. Other than a polo with the school logo embroidered on it, none of their uniform pieces are unique just black or kahki bottoms, white, green or black polos, black gray or green sweats/shorts for gym and black/green or gray t-shirts for gym. So though these are basic pieces you can pick up for only a couple dollars at any big box store we instead collectively recycle them. I have some dress shoes, cardigans and stockings to add to the pile and need some uniform shorts and shirts for the summer.

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What a fantastic way for communities to share and help recycle outgrown clothing that others can use! I think it also teaches children that there is no shame in owning hand me downs…I always thought it was fun to hunt for bargains and to make use of things others discarded…children can be instilled with these values instead of the throw-away and everything new headset many have!

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That’s a great initiative! Great for a sustainability point of view and it will also be a great help to parents who may be struggling financially and would rather not have everyone know about it.

Thanks!
I have this blanket here and another all crochet granny squares that are on the table for this weekend. Figuring out the fabric/yarn mix has been stalling me. Hopefully by the end of the weekend both will be back in rotation.

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I have a blanket I made over 30 years ago from a kit…my husband used that blanket in his tv spot, letting the cats sit on it, etc. I have had to patch it using different colored yarn because the kit is no longer available and there was not enough yarn to repair it over the years…some day, the original will only be a square…lol…normally, I would toss it, but…hubby would probably dig it out of the trash…sigh

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That is so sweet of his teacher! My older son is the same with boxes.

And, that reminds me…I have a bag of school uniforms to drop off for his school’s ‘closet.’ 🤦 I’m going to have to wait until after the Easter break, now.

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I have a granny square afghan that my aunt gave me a few years ago after my grandmother passed away. My grandmother crocheted it (I knew she crocheted, but in my entire life, I never once saw her making anything!) but it has a few holes in it. When I got it, I didn’t have the skills to attempt fixing it, but I think I could give it a shot now.

And, this is a mend I did several years ago that I’m especially proud of. A coworker’s dog snatched her friend’s cherished, sentimental zipper pouch right out of her purse, and had mangled the zipper before they could rescue it. Fortunately, none of the fabric was damaged. So, my coworker asked if I could repair it. I did end up pretty much deconstructing the whole thing (it has an orange silk lining), but it looked as good as new when I finished it!

Zipper and friendship repaired!

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You are not only a good friend but the repair is flawless!

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Beautiful repair job! Can’t even tell. And I love the cheery green zipper you put in. :two_hearts:

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Thank you both! I was hoping to find a green that matched the original just a bit better, but I couldn’t find one in the limited time I had. I was hoping I’d be able to repair it without dismantling the entire pouch, but honestly, the pouch ended up better in the end- some of the stitching on the lining was starting to fall apart, so the pouch should last even longer!

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A friend of mine asked me to repair a vintage apron that she had used for years and years. To be honest, it probably should have been trashed. I knew it meant a lot to her so I took it apart, and basically remade the entire thing with newer fabric, and sewing what was left of her apron on . It was way more work than I had intended, but, like you said, it should last for many more years and maybe get passed to her daughter.

I know we are people who can’t just do it part way…and they need never know…it is what we do!

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I’m sure everyone will be shocked- shocked!- to know that I never got to the afghan mending that weekend, nor this one. (Clutch those pearls!) Here’s hoping I can get into it sometime this week. I have 2 that need mending and I want them back in their proper spots in the house!

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