Mend and maintain for a sustainable 2020

your patches are so neat. I really like this look.

1 Like

I love the different colored scrappy patch look!

Iā€™m a little behind, but I did this in January, so I hope it counts! I have no idea how she did it after wearing it only once, but my daughter tore a hole in her shirt, so I used a piece of scrap fabric behind the hole and I just started stitching around it while watching television.

6 Likes

I think both mends add personality and color to some somber colored clothing!

@Wulfā€¦your mending is as nice as your boro and embroidery stitching! Little pops of color ā€¦

@meowari nice saveā€¦almost looks like you added a little galaxy to her sweater of hearts!

1 Like

Here I am, finally able to post what Iā€™ve had in my phone for awhile!

This is DHā€™s Cabella hoodie-they are not cheap, but he was going to throw it away because it got some kind of grease stain that wouldnā€™t come out.


(Itā€™s a bad photo, itā€™s a dark olive green. And yes, our Xmas decorations are still up.)

This is what I did with my favorite rainbow thread over the grease spots:

I was going to get fancy and try to embroider a heart, but it was too difficult, so I basically just did a # over the stains. I threw it in the wash, and hopefully there are no more stains I missed.

7 Likes

Nice save! My DH gets coffee stains on just about everything he wears but his white t-shirts are the worse yet the easiest to get out (bleach pen)ā€¦He might go for some mending but probably not rainbowā€¦ :Dā€¦at least on the grey, a little color is not going to hurt! Besides, visible mending is now fashionable!!!

2 Likes

image image I had an all-cotton bobbin wound and the sewing machine on, so I finally fixed the bag for microwaving potatoes in, which had developed some holes.

7 Likes

All the mending in this thread makes me happy! I havenā€™t touched the mending pile in a while, but Iā€™ve got two clothing items I really want to fix next. I think the main factor standing in my way is that I want to do a good job cause I love the clothes involvedā€¦ It makes it harder to start!

2 Likes

I have to research that!

I actually started on my mending pile today, I had to fix my work apron really badly. Shortened it a bit to get fabric for patches, swore a lot because I was running out of good sewing machine needles, and because I chose to just sew on circle patches. The smallest was less than an inch in diameter. I am definitely not good at sewing little circles when I canā€™t see a line to follow, but I was in a hurry. Things Iā€™ll remember for the other apron: Color on the right side with vanishing marker, less pressure on the foot.

It looks like this now:

7 Likes

The circles were a good idea, even if they were a pain! I will remember that!

I am making new curtains to fit my husbandā€™s music studio. It is fabric I bought probably ten years ago! I was able to cut out the lining, which is black out lining, out of the old curtains and will use themā€¦but now I am left with what to do with the still good fabric of the curtainsā€¦I have cut out three grocery bagsā€“rather large ones from just a single panelā€¦and there are three more panelsā€¦

1 Like

Hey, I actually tackled one of the two clothes I talked about in my previous post!

Itā€™s an old sweater my aunt gave me. I think she used to wear it when she was a kid and then passed it on to me, but Iā€™m not sure. It still fits, but a shoulder seam has started to give up. I figured I better fix it before it gets worse.


It could probably be done pretty invisibly, but I went for a blue thread to match the print.


Tiny stitches to close and reinforce the seam and a bigger star/flower/blob in the tricky point where the seams met. I used two strands of the embroidery thread.

The sweater is drying since I removed a small stain on one arm while I was at it. Iā€™m excited to be able to use it again!

11 Likes

What a fabulous rescue! You can tell by the old Mickey that it is an older piece! How nice to have this and be able to wear it once again.

1 Like

I like the stitching over the top of the repair! Thatā€™s a nice idea to turn it into a focal point rather than hide it.

2 Likes

Are there tiny holes like that all over the place or are they pretty much concentrated in one area? If itā€™s on sleeves, could you make the garment into short sleeved? Or maybe remove the sleeves altogether? I donā€™t know how badly you want to save this. Since the fabric is floral, maybe make some small flower-shaped patches? Once, when one of my daughters got a hole in her dress, I crocheted basically the center portion of a doily and patched it with that. Not sure if you crochet, but a garden of little crocheted flowers might look cute.

2 Likes

Thatā€™s most of it, but thatā€™s the front of the skirt. I think Iā€™m just tossing it in with the knit scraps for now; part of the problem is that she doesnā€™t want me to change the drape or make things ā€œscratchy.ā€

2 Likes

I donā€™t know if this should go here, so if it needs to be moved, mods, please do:

For anyone that lives on Long Island, NY (I donā€™t know if itā€™s all of New York State or not.), a plastic bag ban is going into effect in March. Stores will no longer be allowed to sell plastic bags.

Iā€™m posting this because anyone who is crafty enough to make his/her own bags, might want enough time to make them before the ban goes into effect.

3 Likes

I reattached the fleece lining to my mitten (and its mate!), since I could no longer ignore the fact that I kept jamming my hand between the layers when Iā€™d try to put them on. I love the care label, because it would never occur to me to try and iron mittens.

10 Likes

Homemade bags would make great gifts to friends and family! I have made a few of them this year, first for the LGT swap and then some more and itā€™s really fun and quick to do and a great way to use up scraps. In my country, free plastic bags were banned a few years back, you can still buy them but Iā€™ve noticed that this has already significantly reduced the use of plastic.

2 Likes

Did anyone see the visible mending article in the March 2020 issue of Better Homes and Gardens? looks like itā€™s going ā€œmainstreamā€ which is rather fun, in my eyes anyway.

Maybe darning mushrooms will be easier to find ā€œin the wildā€ now! (Iā€™ve been wanting one for a whileā€¦)

I think it fits. Repurposing something into a shopping bag would definitely count.

Funny, once I started mending I just kept going the other dayā€¦


The green patch is old and a bit worn and the other darns are new. I am skilled in slicing holes in my socks with my toes apparentlyā€¦ It feels so dumb to throw them away for a tiny hole so I darn my favourites and especially comfy socks if theyā€™re otherwise in good condition.

7 Likes