What have you mended recently?

[Simpler at Fifty]

I mainly mend socks with embroidery thread. When DH was working I was patching his jeans often. I also used to shorten the sleeves on his Tshirts. I miss some of that. I have been a long time sewer and enjoy mending as well as sewing for myself.

[decemberlov]

A pair of PJ pants that split up the side. My little one is working on a little bag that shes making from an old pillow case, she's having so much fun sewing it

[Florence]

Does it have to be textiles?

Heavens, No! It doesn't have to be textiles! Mending, fixing, repairing, whatever it takes to make something useful again.

[AmeliaJane]

I replaced the battery in a watch and the nose pads on my glasses. I was very nervous about the glasses repair--they are very expensive--but felt highly empowered when I was done. I know that an optical shop would have done the repair for very little but the nose pads always seem to come off at really inconvenient times (like Christmas Eve) and it is nice to know how to fix them!

[CathyA]

DH will waste money on stuff, then keep an article of clothing that is in shreds and try to repair it.
He has a ratty old hooded sweatshirt with a broken zipper. He bought a replacement zipper for it. I think zippers can be hard, so I haven't attempted it yet.
I shouldn't complain about his sweatshirt.......I have some clothes that are even worse, and I keep wearing them (without repairing).

[cindycindy]

Fixed a hole on an inside pocket of my purse. Why is that material always so darn flimsy anyway? My keys and/or my pen worked a hole big enough to let things slip inside, and it took me about a week to figure out why my stuff was missing!

I just mended the inside of my purse, as well. Usually, the outside strap goes first.

[Lainey]

Related to this, a while back I read of a teen's act of kindness. She wanted to volunteer at the homeless shelter but wasn't sure what she could do. By chance she ended up mending a torn jacket for someone, and then the others started bringing her their torn clothing too. So it became a regular volunteer gig for her to spend some time just quietly fixing their clothes for free and they were very grateful.

[nswef]

I repaired my around the house sweater! It is not wearable in public..but it is warm and convenient and most places are still good- just needed to fix some holes under the arm and along the sleeves. So, looks strange, but is mended!!! I also put a patch- again not beautiful or wearable in public- on my husband's mowing jeans. Thanks for this thread.

[BarbieGirl]

My kids wear sweatpants a lot! I like them because my two youngest can share them, whereas in jeans/khakis they wear different sizes. Anyhow, the seams come loose, the pockets get torn so I mend them. My kids clothing budget is minimal since I use a lot of hand me downs.

I also superglued my youngest sons sole of his sneaker back together. He still got a new pair, but I was able to glue it together until the weekend when I was able to buy him new ones. I had $30 dollars in Kohl bucks, plus a 15% off coupon. Was able to buy his shoes for around $30. One thing I always do is buy them nice sneakers. They usually get a new pair every six months.

[Selah]

Does sending things out to professionals for mending count? I don't sew (and probably never will learn), but I now live in a country where it's easy to find professional seamstresses who will mend and alter clothing at affordable prices. Over the past six months, I have sent out three blazers, one top, two jackets, and three pairs of pants for repairs. This enhanced my wardrobe considerably, since I'd been avoiding wearing those pieces the minute they needed repairing! One friend gave me a beautiful leather jacket that didn't fit her anymore, and it had hardly ever been worn. It didn't fit me well, either, but the seamstress took in the back and shortened the sleeves, and for spending about $30 on alterations, I now have a sharp black leather jacket that looks very high-end!

I also sent out two pairs of shoes and a purse to an excellent local cobbler (a seriously old-school craftsman from the Ukraine), and they're now like new.

I also had the batteries replaced on a bunch of "fashion" watches I had let run down. Now that I'm wearing them, people are oohing and ahhing, saying "oh, did you get a new watch?" Some of these watches are 15 years old!

Finally, I am getting a clock repaired. I had to special order the replacement part from America (for a German clock), but now the local clock/watch mender is taking care of it.

It feels great to take care of your things. It makes them last longer and look better, and you develop a real awareness of what you have, instead of just discarding your things with the seasons.