Mend and maintain for a sustainable 2020

It should be much sturdier now. It really doesn’t show that much on the outside!

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Alright, I washed a load of jeans the other day and set aside all the ones with ripped knees. I can’t dawdle too long on the repairs because my kids will start hounding me that they have nothing to wear. I’ll let you know if I get through the pile successfully!

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A quick and slightly boring mend for today - the elastic on my pajama pants was very stretched out and no longer held them up. I had to seam rip off the decorative bow and some stitching in the back, pull the elastic out, and thread in a drawstring attached to a big paperclip.

Amazingly, I found this coordinated hem of jersey knit that I had cut off of a dress a few months back. And yet again I am rewarded for never throwing anything out. :smirk:

I might shorten them later, but for now I just folded the ends back and sewed them down.

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This turned out wonderfully invisible! I’d very much appreciate a tutorial, I have a much loved hat that has developed a hole and I have no idea what to do about it.

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This is our beach bag. The zip pull fell off the end. :disappointed:



I hate trying to fix zips and it would have been tempting to leave it without a zip, but it probably wouldnt have been used much without the functionality of having it close. I really like this bag, it’s nice and roomy, so the thought of not taking it to the beach, since it didn’t close made me sad.

I managed to get the zipper pull back on, eventually and stitched the end up with 6 strands of embroidery thread to match the leaves on the bag. (I have some ‘natural’ heavy duty thread from teddy bear making somewhere that would have been practically invisible, but I couldn’t find it and anyway this makes the effort seen!)


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Nice save! The color matches the bag well and look like it should be there!

Do you have thread left? Maybe you could braid some and attach it to the zipper pull to make it look like it was done that way!

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That’s a good idea, I have heaps, it was a new skein. :blush:

It’s inspiring to see everyone’s mending projects. A favorite sweatshirt got an L-shaped tear in a sleeve. This is my less than pretty mending. It took 3 hours due to arthritis in my hands. Jan. Challenge!
stitchSleeve1

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I looks like a heart!

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Good job! Putting the zipper pull back on is such a pain; I had to do that with a pair of my daughter’s pajamas last week. But the feeling of victory once you get it on there! :trophy:

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Alright, I did manage to repair all the holey pants, but the kids swiped them up as soon as I was done, so no pictures. I’ll have to wait until they come back through the laundry! :laughing: Oh, and I guess my oldest daughter thought she needed to get in on the deal because as soon as I had finished my big pile, she tore her jeans. :woman_facepalming: Gonna work on those today…

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I do this…Fix a zipper hack

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That’s kind of amazing! Do you think it would work on a zipper that’s already in clothing? Or on the bag as in mellybelly’s case?

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It is just a spare hand to hold the slippery zipper thing…you can also use the fork tines to open up the zipper pull so it is easier to slide…if you make the Raccoon Pouch, you actually take apart a zipper and use only one side and then have to put it back on…I have made a few of those with no problem

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Sewed three buttons back onto clothes this weekend, which in my world is domestic goddess territory. :sweat_smile: Let’s ignore all the ironing I have not done this month.

I have a couple pairs of wool or wool blend trousers from the thrift store, which came with some small holes which aren’t fraying yet. I hope I get around to mending them before they do fray…but I have to make myself do the ironing first. :slightly_smiling_face:

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So far all I’ve fixed this year is a pair of underwear, but bookmarking this to follow everyone else’s mend/maintain journeys and to remind myself to keep my own up as well!

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For a while there I was having such trouble, I thought I was putting it on backwards! Had to go and consult a pair of pants with a zip to check, but no, it wasn’t backwards, it was just me. :rofl:

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I think it would have worked well for my bag, definitely.

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Right?! It’s funny; I cross-stitch, so I’m no slouch with a needle, but buttons just suck my will to do anything.

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There are few things I hate more than sewing on buttons and I was practically born with a needle in my hand. I need to seriously figure out how to attach a button using a sewing machine - I know it can be done.

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