Mending

I feel am still just learning to sew.  I've been mending for years though.  I can fix something much easier than I can create it.  But, practice makes perfect so maybe I'll get there yet. 

Matt works in a warehouse setting and is consequently pretty hard on his clothes, pants in particular.  Patching the holes in his pants has probably saved us quite a bundle.  It is also pretty satisfying to turn something torn and broken into something useful again. 

That said, I am pretty good at procrastinating on my mending.  In fact, I've had it happen where I ended up scrapping several pairs of Matt's pants that were in the mending basket because by the time I got to them the pants no longer fit.  I keep thinking I should build a mending day into my household routine, but it just hasn't happened.  I need to work on finding more time for sewing projects in general.

In any case, when I noticed Matt coming home with a big tear in the seat of his best pants (in the sense of comfort and fit, not in cost) last week I knew I should bust out the sewing machine sooner rather than later.  An unexpected by-product of this motivation was that I rediscovered a jumper-style dress that I'd forgotten even existed.  I'd torn it over the summer.  Mended it...poorly I guess....and then promptly ripped it again.

I wish I owned more dresses so I was instantly keen to fix this one for real this time.  The problem is really one of design-to-Beth incompatibility I think.  The dress has a split up the front up to right below the knee for ease of walking.  However, in my running about, walking, cycling, gardening, and whatnot I must take it too far and caused the fabric to tear in matching holes where the split stops.  I guess I put too much pressure on it. 

The twin holes, with brown first attempt mending thread visible, after having a piece of grey corduroy pinned to the inside.

I went back and forth over the area with a zig-zag stitch, several times.

Then I hand sewed a little strip of flower trim saved off a dress I loved years ago to camouflage the rather messy looking--but strong-- zig-zag stitches.

Ta Da! 

I've worn it twice already and even got a nice compliment on the flowers!  (So I guess their camouflaging effect worked!)  Its cool, a new dress for me... that isn't new.  Mending rocks!