My Month On the Mend (excuse the pun)

The past month, for the most part, has been spend mending. I was quite forthcoming about my lack of enthusasm about doing mending and alterations but I have to tell you quite honestly it was quite the relaxing activity this month. And at times challenging. Being homebound this month, the various mending projects kept me occupied and gave me something to do while icing my knee. I needed that. I couldn't have asked for a better distraction.

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Mending had always been part of my life. I grew up in a household, pre-fast-fashion, where if something could be fixed, you fixed it. I remember Mama R darning our socks when we were kids. Do many people do that anymore now that clothing has become so cheap and easily replaceable?

I'll admit my own mending pile got out of control as time passed and I neglected the work that needed to be done. Until now.

I am one of those people who prefers to sew something from scratch before wanting to mend what I already have on hand. Crazy, I know. Since some of the items in my mending pile were things that I actually made. As the mending pile became smaller, it just seemed so silly that I let it get out of hand. And as the mending pile became smaller a sense of pride filled its place. Could it now be that I used to be one of those people? I think it might be so.

Changing buttons on that shirt and changing that dress into a tunic was just as satisfying as making something from scratch. It felt good knowing that I played a teeny environmental part when I was darning those holes in an unblogged tee-shirt instead of throwing it away or tossing it into the donate box. It is now perfect for sleepwear.

Now, I will admit that I still have a lot to learn when it comes to doing alterations, refashioning and mending. There is an upcoming post about a purple silk shirt to illustrate that point. And that is fine with me because learning is fun, as long as I'm learning on my own stuff. I will admit I did have a good laugh at some of my goofs and silliness along the way. Did you know that a hard boiled egg works just as well as a darning mushroom? Silliness, but it worked. It is like a whole new world of sewing techniques to learn and explore.

I might be hooked. Who knew that could happen?

Happy Mending!