On the Mend

It was a big week in the US. We have been waiting for this inauguration unlike any other. While the conditions that led to President t***p still exist and must be addressed – he is no longer in power and that is a big deal. Now the mending can begin.

A collection of my stitching supplies so I can easily access them.

Part of mending for me is seeing everything as a work in progress. We cannot mend if we view something as ruined once it has a tear or a stain. Those things are going to happen regardless of how careful you are. It helps to see it as an opportunity to stitch, patch, or even reimagine it as part of something else. It’s a rejection of fast fashion.

A fun colorful patch to keep these pockets useful.

There are three things in my mending pile this week: a scrub top from work and two pairs of kid pants with holes in the knees. I started with the scrub top. While working last weekend, a pencil poked through this pocket. After searching through my scraps for a close color match – and not finding the right thing - I decided to go with embroidery floss alone in a favorite stitch, Sprat’s Head. This took about 2 minutes to complete and will hopefully last a long time. No need to buy a whole new top for one small hole.

Sprat’s Head is a great stitch to reinforce a small hole.

The doggie leggings are hand me downs from one of my oldest to my youngest kiddo. I love the memories jogged by seeing a new kid wearing these beloved pants. A simple lightweight denim patch will keep them going for another year or more.

A quick denim patch keeps these beloved leggings going for another kid.

I love these little jeans, and my kid chose the fabric to use for a patch. This is a super fun print, which will make the jeans that much cuter in my opinion. You can try to match the fabric you are mending, but I really love the opportunity to add some personality here. It really gives your clothes a custom look.

This colorful patch adds a lot of personality to this pair of jeans.

I tend to use the same simple stitch for patches. I would like to expand my mending stitches with patches, but sometimes pandemic brain says: no. So, Blanket Stitch it is. Always better to mend using what you’ve got (supplies and mental energy) than to not mend at all.

Blanket Stitch is so simple to do and a perfect way to attach a patch.