Mending Club: Polka Dots
This is one of my favourite shirts, polka dot, comfy, light weight, good for layering. I wear thermals underneath it in winter. Well, I did. It has lived in the mending basket for the last year. It is a very light cotton, like a handkerchief, and after much use it tore under the arms. Today I have managed to put one patch on. I used fabric from a pair of Rosy's old shorts, which are a similar weight to the shirt. I love polka dots and I love paisley, so now I have both on one shirt! It needs three more patches, as I have just discovered it has worn under the arms as well.
I also rather like the reverse side of the patch. Very boro. I will maybe do the next patch this style.
Very excitingly, for this week's Mending Club, reader Madeleine has shared some of her own mending, along with her new mending tools. Who knew that you can get darning tools for glove fingers and large tabletop darning mushrooms for bigger items? Here is Madeleine's post and here is the mending book she recommended to me in her email. Thanks so much for sharing your mending tips, Madeleine, and I would love to hear from anyone else who would like to show us their mending projects.
To end, this is why I did not finish my mending project today. It was already in use.
Let us know what mending projects you have in hand this week. Or what you wish you would mend. What favourite piece is sitting at the bottom of the mending basket? I can only say I am thankful for peer pressure, or this shirt would still have been there for another year at least..
Comments
what a lovely scrap of fabric you've chosen for your patch. Aside from a veritable mountain of socks waiting for mending (for the second or third time), I pulled out a pair of woollen leggings this morning to find moth holes and ladders, which I believe were there last year when I washed them and put them away!
So now I'm trying not to go into mending overwhelm and determined to do better next time. I'm going to do the leggings today and I'm going to try chain stitch as inspired by my darning book. In an ideal world, I will mend one item after lunch each day before I start work. I will let you know how that goes!
Thank you for linking my mending post, Jo. I hope people will come over and say hello and feel free to ask questions.
Madeleine
The holes in my leggings are fairly small, with narrow runs coming off them. I thought I'd improvise and gently pull the sides of each hole/run together with a simple stitch or two and then do a line of chain over the ladder and some little chain snails over the holes. They are cream coloured wool leggings for wearing under clothes and in the past when I've just stitched that sort of underwear with cotton they got a sad, poverty-stricken look about them. So I thought some cheerful patterns with embroidery thread might be better.
When I was at uni I used to just pull the sides of holes together on a garment and then embroider a flower over it (ie embroider a French knot for the centre, then daisy stitch the flower).
Madeleine
Also can I just say your fabric choice is perfect and like you I think both sides of your mend look fabulous.
cheers Kate
Be well,
Patricia
Well done you on the sock darning, and fixing the bag. What I love most about mending is that it gives you clothes back, and in your case, a bag. It's like going shopping without leaving the house:)
Patricia, oh, that sounds very cute, actually. I am reinforcing the seams on the underneath of the sleeves of my shirt right now, and it is very fiddly. I don't know how many times I have sewed the sleeve together already! But I really want my polka dot shirt back..
https://pca.st/episode/570112a6-7c2c-4c34-8ea2-5da53056aa36
Cheers Kate