Mending pile... do you mend?

[WiddlinDiddlin]

Apparently I am odd for mending things - currently sat sewing up DP's jeans he has managed to rip in mysterious circumstances... all I got was 'I dunno'... they just exploded off him. Mentioned it to a friend on the phone and she thinks its odd, no one does that these days!

Anyway, do you mend stuff, am I odd for mending things, having a pile of mending to work through, saving bits of fabric for mending things?

(Before anyone leaps in, he can mend things, I offered because he was busy doing stuff I can't do.)

100% this - with the voice of my late Nana in my head saying "a stitch in time would have saved nine young lady!"

I mainly patch knees on various pairs of jeans and fix the hems on my DH's work trousers - god knows why they fall down so often.

Actually got an invisible mend, woohoo! He'd somehow torn from the bottom of the fly zip to about six inches down the inside leg... impressive and v little to stitch to - probably not suited to a visible decorative mend!

Told him absolutely NO action stunt ninja behaviour in those jeans now!

I do make mini stuffed toys when I am so inclined so hand sewing is not a big deal - I wouldn't say I am super duper neat but I can make it tidy, invisible where necessary etc.

There are things I wouldn't bother mending, but if I can do it in 10 minutes without too much faff and the item looks ok afterwards, why wouldn't I.

I am relieved to see so many menders!

Next question though - I am 42, I was taught to mend by Mother and Grandma (ok taught by mother, shouted at and given up on my grandma, she was not a patient woman and my stitches were visible thus FAR too large.. ).

Are younger generations being taught to mend, taught how to mend? If not, is that a bad thing, is so much clothing so cheap and naf theres no point?

Ooooh altering stuff, thats next level, I can't do that (mainly because taking in stuff is never an issue here, letting it out might be!), well done! 😁

I get the idea of darts and I can make them in the right places for the shapes of things I make from new (mostly teddybears, currently working on a plushy sea-slug... ) but altering existing ones to somewhere else is a bit more complicated!

I mend. Mainly DC’s torn knees and otherwise seams.

I’m not great at getting round to it, but I do mend some things. I wouldn’t bother darning socks but I do replace buttons, and make other repairs. I’m not particularly good at it but I hate having to get used to new clothes so I like to extend their life as long as possible.

I mend and I also take shoes to the cobblers for repair. I also iron clothes and clean shoes which I know is rare on MN.

I mend. I seem to be constantly darning jumpers. And sewing in name tapes, but that is not really mending.

I did some mending today! A pair of my trousers and DH pyjama trousers. The latter don’t have long left but he loves them. He’s just as good at sewing as I am so whomever gets there first does it.

Neither of us remembers learning, must have been quite young and I’m going to teach DD when she’s old enough. She likes playing with the sewing kit already.

I'm 60 (soon) and was taught dressmaking at school. Junior school was embroidery (boys too) and secondary was dressmaking. I do alter things too, if I'm not wearing something I try to work out why and change it. Sometimes it works. Sometimes not! I much prefer upholstery and soft furnishings though.

I've been patching up my favourite socks as they're getting holes in! I can sew on a button, name labels and Scout badges ... I'm very cack handed at it, but I am happy when I can do it. I recently bought a beautiful jumper from a preloved seller and it had the tiniest hole which I managed to mend so hoping it will last!

I do lots of mending, darning knitwear, machine darning jeans which can make the mend almost invisible if the thread colour is right, and small alterations too. Also make a lot of clothes! Which reminds me, I need to tackle my pile before it gets colder

I mend too! I have one pile. It consists of my ironing and mending for me and OH. We wear mostly natural fabrics so mending is easier.

I clean shoes, too!

I love it - I save newspaper specially to lay boots and shoes out on and can happily spend an hour or two doing it with proper polish, multiple brushes / cloths etc.

I take shoes to the cobblers too but I'm fussy with my shoes. I'll tackle some shoe repairs.
I had a pair of boots that had a bleach mark on them, and that £1 unused shoe dye that might be useful worked a treat. They are as good as new, near enough.

Yes.

Or at least I mean to. My grandmother had this darning egg I keep feeling sorry I gave away and I covet something called a darning loom from The Ministry Of Mending. God help me.

@WiddlinDiddlin, thank you!
DD is quite curvy and has a tiny waist (takes after me when I was younger - those were the days!) so often has to buy things which fit on the hips but are loose in the waist.
She's moved out now, so I probably won't be asked to do it again, but at least I know I can now.

I sewed my coat recently which was damaged in 2 places

I have a pile of old odds which I hope to make into something else

Oh, I forgot to mention I bought some 'old skool' trainers from an online store that sells seconds (mostly ones that have been on display) and were faded.
I bought some dye and after some careful painting (there were zigzag stripes sewn on), if I say so myself, they looked great.", and saved me ££s into the bargain. (<- Yes, this is a boast, not even a stealth boast... )
I was complimented on them more than once.

I don’t do much mending, certainly not socks or underwear. I tend to repurpose, but then I make clothes so I reuse all sorts of things! DD’s dresses become skirts and things like that.

I dislike mending but can and do do it. I am avoiding mending a pair of trousers lying next to me on the sofa as I write this.

i also iron too, and polish shoes old-style.

back in the day I would actually make my own clothes from time to time. We learned to sew at school, and I taught myself to knit.

in general I try to keep stuff (not only clothing) in good repair and usable for as long as I possibly can.

Yes. If it's not worth mending then it's not worth buying.

I wasnt taught to mend, my family always bought or replaced. I taught myself. Bloody love a ladder stitch for an invisible seam. What stitch do you use?

I'll re attach buttons and redo a hem but anything holey is just beyond me. I do like watching videos of people handsewing and mending though, very soothing, does that count?!

Yes! I mend anything that can be mended. This week it has been some woolly school tights of DDs, she fell over and they had a hole at the knee. I had some matching grey jersey, cut out a heart and blanket stitched it on. It looks cute and my thinking was that even if they are just “emergency” tights feom now on then at least we can get a bit more use out of them. But it turns out DD loves the heart and likes them better than the others! 😂

im passionate about mending. It’s a beautiful thing to keep an object in use for as long as possible. The earth has already used up so many resources to make that thing, the least we can do is use it and mend it until it is not usable anymore. I find it so sad that so many useful things get thrown away every day.

oh just remembered also yesterday we mended DSs wellies. They had been handed down from DD and had two big splits along the back seam (so no longer waterproof). I had been meaning to buy new ones but hadn’t got round to it. yesterday was wet and we were going for a walk in the forest. DH got the gaffer tape out and taped up the little wellies. DS was in some pretty deep puddles and had dry socks at the end of it! They didn’t look pretty with the gaffer tape but he is 2, he gives not a shit. He will grow out of them in about a month. And they were under his puddle suit anyway 🤷‍♀️. It showed me that it’s always worth trying to mend something!

@RealBecca Yup, ladder stitch, I learned it for soft toys, applied it to mendy trousers :D

Westend - yeah that counts :D