Same. Most of Vivienne’s things are “hand-me-downs” from former dogs. She’s been given lots of toys, but we also still use toys we’ve had for years! Her kennels have been used for 4 dogs!
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I registered for this free sweater mending class. I’m not sure I need instructions but having a designated time might help me to actually get one of Rob’s sweaters out of the mending pile & onto his bod.
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I finally got tired of waking up with my PJ top coming unbuttoned during the night…annoying me enough to make me finally just sew the placket shut! It’s stretchy fabric so it will easily fit over my head!
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I’ve done that to a couple of mine too. They are both loose and knit fabric anyway.
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Firstly, this months challenge:
There was a February challenge that I might have forgot to post…
Secondly, look what I just got!
It’s a small mending loom with two wood inserts. One is round and one is oval. I can’t wait to try it out!
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I finally have a contribution for 2025. I never remember to take pics or post here with my mends, probably because I think most are not textiles. ANYWAY, this only-one-year-old bathmat that was not cheap in the first place was fraying around the edges. So frustrating! I picked up a grey Moda solid with a similar undertone a few weeks ago and finally made a bias binding with it a few days ago. I got the last of it sewn this morning. It ended up looking less like a mend than I thought it would.
It was an utter PITA to wrangle this thick, heavy thing while sewing! Glad it’s done.
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I use lingerie bags for a lot of things in our washing machine and a few have had zipper failures; either the pull or the zipper itself. I finally fixed two this weekend. I had the zippers already and then made some binding tape with stashed scrap. They’re certainly more bulky than the originals, but I bet I’ll get a few more years out of these now. The zippers are definitely better quality!
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I read a really interesting article in the newspaper today (no link, because it’s in Dutch) and it was about one positive aspect about the current global trade war: it will be financially way more attractive to repair things, rather than buying new stuff. And once people get used to repairing things, maybe they’ll prioritize buying fewer, but higher quality items that are easier to repair even after the economic situation changes.
I think that article does come from some position of privilege, because for a lot of people, a lot of their income is eaten by more or less fixed costs such as mortgage / rent payment, student loans and health insurance, and they buy their clothes from Primark or similar cheap chains for financial reasons. More expensive products for them will just mean they might not be able to afford to replace things when necessary. But for a lot of people, it’s absolutely possible to buy fewer, better quality items and the whole trade war will make them more conscious of that option. In general, I think there are more than enough clothes in the world that we could close all garment factories indefinitely and it will take years, maybe decades, before people will literally not have anything to wear. It’s not that long ago that the average person maybe had two or three outfits instead of the dozens that we have in our wardrobes now.
For myself, I don’t have a ton of clothes and I don’t often buy new, but when I do, I have two long-term favourite brands. Both are designed in the Netherlands and made in Europe from as sustainable as possible-materials. I typically buy one or two new outfits per year (mostly office outfits). For my off-duty hours, I tend to wear the same things until they wear out, and they’re often either hand-me-downs from family, thrifted or sewed by me. Fabric is typically sold in open-air markets here and unfortunately, a lot of them are not transparant about where the fabrics come from. But we all know that many fabrics come from countries with a much lower living standard than our countries.
What I think is also a huge plus about those two brands that I typically buy from, is because they’re designed in the Netherlands, they are designed to fit the average body in this country. Chains like Zara and Mango, who are from southern Europe, typically design outfits for the average body in their country (of course) who are typically a bit more petite than we are. The average Dutch woman is around 5’7" so even if the garment is your size (in width) the sleeves and pant legs are often way too short.
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I was listening the public radio show where there was discussion about the increase in prices will likely lead to people mending their clothing rather than replacing, which will lead to fewer items being donated or otherwise resold. So fewer 2nd-hand options available and likely an associated increase in the prices of 2nd-hand clothing.
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That’s also another way of looking at it, it sounds like a valid argument. During the pandemic when the supply chain issues with new cars happened, used cars suddenly also increased in value. I know someone who sold their used car, that they’d driven for a few years, for a higher price than they had originally paid for it.
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I think it’s going to take a looooong time before the general American public starts mending their clothes. Added to the lack of skills, desire, or mindset, the original quality of the clothes is so low that it’s near impossible to mend them.
It will be interesting to see how this all plays out.
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I agree with this for the fast fashion stuff absolutely. I think the 2nd-hand situation is going to occur for quality vintage and designer things that can currently be found. I think it will effect resellers more than people shopping for themselves.
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Ok, first. Better late than never:
Interesting discussion! It reminds me off Terry Pratchetts boots theory
It’s more expensive to be poor, because then you can’t afford the choices that’ll be cheaper in the long run.
The problem is not people buying the cheap clothes because that’s what is affordable. The problem is fast fashion chains churning out garments at a rate no one needs or can hope to be able to use.
I’m in the ”use it til it falls apart” camp… but I still need to look somewhat presentable at work.
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I think buying clothes here in the USA is more about being bored and wanting to try new trends. Shopping is no longer just a necessity; it is a social event. I really don’t think mending clothes will catch on either. It is going to take a lot more than a price increase. People that don’t have a lot of money will still continue to buy clothes from cheaper stores or thrift stores before mending them. Those who tend to spend money on clothes will find a way by giving up something else. It is going to have to be a total mindset change.
We are a throwaway society right now.
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Just in time for me @Annchen ! I was looking at my shoes yesterday night and my two pairs of winter boots look terrible. They need a really good polish. I also have one pair of sneakers. I’m not a huge fan of sneakers but these are nice enough to wear under a dress (yellow suede) and they are really comfortable. But they’re starting to look stained and the shoelaces are damaged. I’ll need to figure out how to clean them so I can wear them for another summer.
I also need to take a hard look at my work bag. It’s probably 6 years or so old, and it was expensive when I bought it (Samsonite brand). It’s great because it’s a laptop bag and purse in one, and it’s not ugly like most laptop bags. But the handles (faux leather) are fraying and apparantly you can no longer get replacement parts from Samsonite. They are easy to replace (buckle strap) but I need to find some sturdy, matching and nice-looking material.
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Art from ocean trash, beautifully horrible.
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Today I went to put on my bra and the stitching in one strap failed. So I sat down and sewed it back up so I could put it on. I also made the bra, but that’s another story.
I often feel strange in my own culture (the US) because my mom raised me to make and fix everything myself and my peers did not grow up that way. Growing up with her, we didn’t call a professional or throw something away until we had taken a few stabs at repairing it ourselves. My husband is similar and most of his jobs over the span of his adult life are some kind of repair work. (We’ve been curious about the trade wars and the bike repair business too.)
One thing I love about making my own bras though, is how easy it is to repair them. When the straps wear out, I have a box of new strap elastic and I just replace them as needed. So far that’s all that has needed fixing with them until today.
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I took my purse to the cobbler on Friday and I picked it up yesterday, the repair was only €16,50. It’s a leather bag and around 15 years old. I spent a fortune on it back then, it cost €150 or something, which especially then was a lot of money to me. I’ve used it a lot over the years, but it’s still in very good shape. I’ve been reasonably careful with it and the bag is just good quality. I also still love the way it looks. But last week the side seam broke, and the zipper pull fell off. To fix it, the side seam on the other side had to be opened to put the zipper pull back on. I mean, I can do that, technically, but I’m not experienced in sewing leather bags and I didn’t want to do a bad job. So I went to the local cobbler and his price was more than reasonable. I was also raised to try on my own first, but I’m glad that this time I went to a professional immediately.
I think bikes, like cars, are one of the few things that even in a very consumerist society, people still automatically think of fixing, rather than replacing. Obviously that has a lot to do with the replacement cost, but I think fewer people are having their washing machine or fridge repaired now compared to 10 or 20 years ago, and those also aren’t exactly cheap.
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Where we were living before, the town was mostly government scientists with large salaries and many people would upgrade their high end bikes instead of fixing them, so we got to see a lot of expensive bikes that we normally wouldn’t see AND when someone didn’t want to bother selling them we were occasionally just given really nice bikes. It blew our minds and reframed for us how a lot of Americans at least look at bikes. We spent many of the cold slow months doing minor repairs on these bikes and then selling them. Sure did help with affording the cost of living there. Now we live in a much more economically diverse and old fashioned in some ways town, so I think people will fix a lot more and keep bikes a lot longer here.
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