Mend and maintain for a sustainable 2020

Yes! I want in, too! Currently trying to pick the best way to mend a hole in my jeans…I hope your friend shares, Mare - I could use some inspiration. :slight_smile:

Haha, I do this almost daily in my house. My one daughter now asks me to stitch stuffies even when they don’t need it! There’s a Peppa Pig with random pink stitches along random seams just to pacify her. :wink:

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I think you would all enjoy this blog - someone who restores damaged and/or vintage stuffed toys. (Mostly for function, not like, antique restoration)

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I love how they include a heart of the original stuffing!

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Does anyone know a good way to repair chipped rims of coffee cups? I have 2 recent dishwasher casualties and hate to not have them in rotation but the dang chips are right exactly where you would put your mouth. If I can’t make them back into safe drinking vessels I’ll use them for kitchen herbs in the window, but i’d like to fix them if possible.

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While doing laundry last week I managed to catch a hole in my husbands undies while it was still small, so I decided to do something about it. It’s been sitting in my craft room since then, but after finishing a swap package I gathered my darning supplies.

Ta-dah! There was no way I was doing black on black so husband chose red embroidery floss. I still haven’t located my darning mushroom so I used a small plastic container. Only stabbed my finger once :stuck_out_tongue:

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Ace Hardware sells it…a little goes a very long way…about $14 a tube…there are also other similar products…

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I had never heard of that stuff! Need to check if it’s available in my country. I have tons of chipped mugs and plates.

I shouldn’t have knocked wood when complained a few days ago that my work skirts often rip open right above the split when I make a funny movement, because it happened again yesterday. That will be my next thing to mend.

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Perhaps you could strengthen the area with some fusible stuff? When I make a skirt with a split, I make a nice triangle at the seam to prevent splitting…

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I darned my first sock!
Perhaps you can see it, but there was a hole in the sock and now not anymore more!!!
Yay! I don’t have some fancy darning egg thing so I just used my right hand to hold the sock!

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That is a really cool and functional piece of furniture.

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Here’s a cool way for you to mend holes in your clothes using embroidery!

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Thanks, AIMR, I’ll definitely check that stuff out.

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I do mend and repair a lot of things, but it is my very least favorite thing to do. And with four kids, there is always something that needs fixed! I have had some creative fixes for patching jeans, lengthening pants, or hiding stains in the past. I know I can do it. Maybe I will feel less grumpy about it hanging out here and feeling the positivity. Currently, I have several wool socks (of mine) that need darned and I accidentally shut my wool cloak in the car door a few weeks back and made a puncture. I love my cloak, so I’d better fix that before it turns into something worse. Can’t remember who said it up there, but it’s a good plan to keep the mending pile within easy reach! That might motivate me a little more.

Also, I think I’d better teach my kids how to sew on their own stupid buttons so that I’m not left with all of the mending tasks. My second daughter is actually pretty good about attempting to repair her own things.

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Wow I just remembered that I have this device (a different brand) and I never realized how it could be used! I will try it on my chipped plates and report back.

And good mend @Riechan! I wouldn’t have guessed that there was a hole!

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I bought some cool stuff that was like clay on Grommet…it worked great to repair split handles on pots and even repaired a knife handle…but for the life of me, I can’t remember the name. They sent samples and you could buy a small pack in all different colors…so many cool products are available to us all so repairs can be easier…

As a matter of fact, there is a button hole kit that requires no sewing…it works almost like a stapler…as long as it is repaired, does it matter if it is sew on or not?

As a kid, I repaired a lot of my own things with an actual stapler, masking tape, glue and string…we did not have tons of money so things got repaired a lot…

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Thanks, will look into that! Another option is to maybe make the split a little bit higher but I’m not sure if that’s possible without revealing too much.

My mum has that button stapler thing that I’ve used for coat buttons but there’s a little metal thingy on the back of the fabric (like a jeans button) so that may not be comfortable for all clothes.

I learned to mend quite young too as my mum didn’t always have time for it. My grandma visited our place all day every Sunday and she had health issues so she just sat in her chair all day and knitted/darned for us and showed me everything. She passed when I was 12 and that’s when it became mostly my job. I never minded doing it, I still don’t.

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@SewJill Hey you… this is the post I told you about. :wink:

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Sounds like sugru.

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YES!!! That’s what it was…

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I know. Because I’m pretty sure I backed a Kickstarter & I love that stuff, there’s still a great knife in the drawer with a customized grip.

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