I don’t know much about Japanse culture to be honest, but I did watch Marie Kondo like everyone, and what I liked in that series and what she said was typical of Japanese culture, is that she was so respectful of material items, even when some were going to be thrown away. I know it irked some people but that part was most inspiring to me.
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For this I used IKEA Skydd, it’s a white mineral oil that’s food safe.
For wood with no food contact I guess it’d depend on what I wanted to accomplish. For our countertop we used some kind of oil/varnish that hardened the surface.
This is a wonderful idea! I have some nice smartwool socks that are starting to get holes (thanks dogs) that I need to mend.
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This is pretty cool. This falls into a change I have decided on making for the next decade or more.
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I’m into this! We were just talking about the amount of clothing that goes to the landfill the other other day.
I love the look of visible mending and started on a pair of jeans. Then the hole on the other side ripped bigger and I set them aside to mend. I’m getting inspired to take them out and stitch them up so I can wear them again.
I would also love to learn darning.
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I have one of those…only after years, the handle and legs are gone…I repurposed it to hold some stamps and inks…I used an old purse strap to make a new one so I can move it about…I love it and hope to give it many more years of life…
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I have had at least 3 of those things found at the thrift shop over the years. With legs, without legs, a mini one. I gave each of them away, I love the way they look but they are just not that functional for me.
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I love this thread! I did some mending last night, including a torn seam in a shirt, a button on another shirt, and the nylon strap handle on my cello case. I frequently use mending to improve goodwill finds; it’s amazing that people will get rid of something instead of fixing it! I’m pretty sure that’s what happened with the shirt I put the button back on, and it even came with a spare.
The challenge is chasing my handsome roommate around to give me things to mend before they become so damaged they end up as garage clothes.
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I have an entire basket of clothes that need mending or altering 
, and this year I really only want to use what I already have, so I’m in! I’m looking forward to learn some new skills too.
And it coincides with two of my current ‘obsessions’ as well: the ecological movement on the one hand in which we need to take care of the remaining limited resources on our planet and historical sewing on the other hand in which repairing, altering and piecing together were normal parts of clothing manufacture.
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I have a sack full of my own handmade socks that need darning! Thanks for the reminder!
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Smart idea using the purse strap! Also a good way to recycle. It’s still gorgeous. Mine looks brand new because my grandpa restored it after his retirement. It’s next to the sofa in the living room and it always holds my current embroidery/crochet project as well as darning wool. But I actually like it when there’s some wear and tear, it shows it was used a lot.
I do all the laundry in our household and as Mr. Imma has two jobs that are both hard on clothes I mend clothes nearly every week. For someone with an office job I still create lots of mending work, I guess I’m just clumsy. It happens fairly often that I want to make big steps in my pencil skirt and the seam above the split rips open.
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I really need to mend more of our clothes. I have an ongoing collection of stuffed animals in my studio as our dog will chew on them if the kids leave them out. I’ve stitched over eyes, reattached limbs (often they are now shorter), put in more stuffing. They used to get really upset when Birdie chewed things up but now they know that I can fix them. When I explained to my daughter, Lily, that it wouldn’t look like new she said that it was okay, that it was like a scar, just like we get. 
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This is pertinant to this discussion. 
Go Prince Charles. 
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Oh gosh - that sewing caddy is gorgeous!
I have a bunch of old clothes sitting in the bedroom - I want to use them to make a dog bed and crazy quilt. Anything of decent quality, if we don’t donate it, I take some things to work for those patients that come in and have no clothes (either they were lost or had to be tossed) and may not have any friends/family/resources to get them some. I have been reusing Jim’s jeans to make sturdy bags. I like the idea of embroidering over holes and stuff for shirts and sweaters. But for socks, it really depends - since I am on my feet so much, my feet are super sensitive and get painful easily, and I can really feel any bumps easily - I used to darn socks, especially my favourite ones, but I can’t stand the pain from any protrusions now.
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I can’t even wear my own knit socks…I feel the texture too much! If I do, I wear a thin pair of nylon socks underneath…they are very smooth but have a bit of tooth to them so the knit socks don’t slide around…I only mend my own knit socks, which is why I have a book of extra yarn on embroidery yarn wrappers. I haven’t had to mend any so far since I rarely wear them.
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Great idea for a craftalong, I have items to be mended on my to do list all the time that I constantly just put off working on. This group will be a great motivator to keep me on my game!
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I only mend hiking socks. Store bought socks are usually so thin they are impossible to mend. I’ve got some sock wool in my stash and have knitted socks before but they end up wonky.
I have made a quilt out of used jeans and it’s on our bed all winter long. It’s super comfortable because of the weight. The batting is a cheap fleece blanket. I’ve also made an apron from used jeans for Mr Imma. The latest used jeans project is faux cathedral windows quilt blocks. There may be pictures in the dead place but I’ll take new ones this week. Never say to people you’re crafting with old jeans because people will dump dozens. Especially don’t tell your friend with a husband and three adult sons at home!
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I follow Tom of Holland (my favorite visible mender), and I appreciate your own sweater work. Good stuff.
\m/
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@geekgirl you boro the heck outta that sucker and keep on truckin!
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I have had a jean cathedral window blanket on my “to craft” list for over a year. I keep telling myself to finish other projects before starting a new one though. Looking forward to seeing pictures of yours.
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