World of Joy: mending

An Afternoon of Mending

Friday, September 25, 2020

I sat down one Saturday and spent the afternoon making a dent in my mend pile. It's a very satisfying use of time.

My ancient jeans needed further mending. I showed Andy and he said 'soon you'll be mending the mends', too late, that's exactly what I'd just done! As long as they fit and I can keep patching, I'll keep mending. I had to explain to my youngest nephew that the jeans were older than him, that they were once dark blue, without holes. I guess when you grow out of everything in a matter of months the concept of having an item of clothing for several years must be hard to wrap your head around.

I had a cardigan that had been sitting to one side for months after a hole appeared in the front. Not knowing how to mend it properly I just made it up as I went, used pretty thread and stopped when it felt done.

I folded my khaki maxi dress and left it on the floor overnight as I wanted to stitch the straps into place and in that time Socks bought in a mouse that nibbled it, and had a little wee on it too, just to add insult to injury (the mouse was caught in a humane trap and set free far from the house). I'd only worn the dress twice and was adamant that the little rodent wouldn't spoil it. I stitched some circles in similar colour thread so the holes wouldn't expand. It doesn't look too bad, and it's on the back so I can't see it anyway.

My skinny jeans needed some reinforcement around one of the back pockets. This is the first mend for them - probably the first of many. With interfacing on the inside for strength I added some overlapping stitches in white thread. I'm rather pleased with the result. I'm wearing them today for the first time in months.

I ripped the sleeve on my heart print shirt by simply pushing up the sleeve. This has been mended once already on the upper arm but it's hardly noticeable.

I then discovered a small tear on a summer top that I stitched to stop it getting any worse. I used white thread to try and keep it inconspicuous. And, after a few years, I finally mended a hole that was caused by catching my top on a door handle. The thread colour was a really good match so it's hardly noticeable.

With every mend I feel pleased that it's an item saved from landfill. Even if I were to put it into cloth recycling I have little faith that it would actually end up being recycled. If I can mend it and wear it a little longer, then I will.

I mended some rips on two pairs of Andy's jeans, and have five pairs still in need of repair!

When it comes to Andy's old work clothes - they all eventually end up threadbare, ripped beyond repair, and stained - I tend to pop them on the bonfire. After reading some stats on how little of our clothing is actually recycled I felt that burning them was a way I would know they wouldn't end up in landfill.

Anything of good quality will always go to a charity shop, or is listed on ebay, but Andy's old work clothes are good for nothing, and if I can't be certain that they can or will be recycled, on the bonfire they go. I often wonder if this is the right approach, but it feels like the lesser of two evils.

I still have a pile of mending to do, I've resigned myself to the fact that I'll never get to the bottom of it, but as long as I can do a little mend here and there, I'm happy.