Ready for a sustainable new year? It’s fun to make or buy something new, but in order to preserve resources we need to take care of what we already have. Make each item or garment last, and be ready to care for it during its entire ”lifetime”.
Also, mending can be fun, I promise!
Sure, it might seem a bit bonkers to spend time and effort mending storebought items that are easy and cheap to replace. However, while fast fashion is cheap it is not sustainable.
But never fear, no one is going to force you to mend storebought socks. You’re just as welcome here if you’d prefer to put your effort into caring for your own lovingly crafted items.
No matter your level of skill or ambition you are welcome to the craft along!
ajabarber https://instagram.com/ajabarber?igshid=3w04ajglb13y
Writes about sustainable fashion, and on her Patreon she also helps people buy better. A lot of inspiration and food for thought on the instagram too.
January challenge - New year, new skills
Try something new! Mend in a way you haven’t tried before. Or try something new when maintaining something you already own. Find a tutorial and try it out!
February challenge - Visible mending
Sashiko? Embroidery? Kintsugi? Big happy patch in a contrasting color? Make the mend the focal point.
March challenge - Pretty up the leftovers
Raid the fridge or your craft stash and make something awesome from leftovers.
April challenge - Maintain what you have
Take care of what you have before there is a problem. Wash your clothes before putting them away. Freshen up your furniture. Give your wooden utensils some love. Take care of that stain before it becomes permanent. (Or just embroider something fun over it, I’m not the boss of you.) Whatever needs some extra love and care right now.
May challenge - Face your old nemesis
You know that one item that’s been sitting in the mending pile for ages. Yes that one. Go deal with it!
June challenge - Share your skills
Share the link to your favourite tutorial OR create your own mending tutorial for Lettucecraft.
August challenge - Back to school/work
Do you need a new whatsit or could you mend or spruce up something you’ve already got?
September challenge - Make a plan
Sort the mending pile/basket/what have you and try to decide on an order to do things in. What would you like to have mended first? What can wait? Are there items you can fix at the same time?
October challenge - 10 minute challenge
It literally would take you 10 minutes to fix, at the most. So why has it been sitting in the “to be dealt with”-pile for mumble mumble months/years/decades? Do the thing!
November challenge - Beyond fixing?
Sometimes it’s not possible to mend, but try to turn it into something useful. Can you use it to mend something else? And if it’s truly reached the end of its lifespan it’s perfectly ok to toss, or recycle if that’s an option.
December challenge - Festive mending
Decorate the mending pile with tinsel, do some holiday inspired mending, or something completely different?
I also tried something new the other day. I’ve been wearing my Fallout Christmas sweater as often as possible in December and one cuff was starting to fray a little. I wasn’t sure how to mend it but luckily a question about a similar mend popped up in a Swedish knitting group I’m in. One of the answers linked to this tutorial:
Perfect! I read it through for inspiration, even if my cuff wasn’t that badly worn away.
All done, with som improvised stitching along the edge of the new cuff since I obviously wear it a lot in that spot. I didn’t have a dark blue acrylic yarn so I picked a blue that was fairly close to one pattern colour.
I know, that was a lot of shoutiness. But I really love visible mending. And I have a thing for long sleeves. And contrast colors??? Whooo -wheee. All my synapses were firing!
I’m going to the snowy mountainous BC interior tomorrow & found an excellent McKinley coat at the thrift store that is just perfect. The elastic cord had come out of the hood & the bead was lost, easy fix! There’s an oil stain on one pocket but otherwise it is mended as good as new. Score!
I’ve been wearing that super warm coat here in the snowy mountains, it’s great!
Today my sister gave me this fantastic charcoal merino cardi that had some separation at the back collar. You can barely make out the fix around the right shoulder seam. Good as new & keeping me toasty.
