On the Mend

Who likes to buy jeans that are intentionally distressed, ripped, and full of holes?  This blogger thinks that's pretty stupid.  In our home, clothes need to be tough and they need to last.  A lot of mending is done to repair rips.

Having a blue-collar breadwinner means the haus frau must be diligent in maintaining his clothes.  The man could mend, but as a lefty, it's pretty difficult.  Plus, his wife has willingly accepted the role of domestic diva.

This pocket had ripped and been mended once before.  The second repair looks just about as sloppy as the first.  Big deal.  The important thing is that it will help get many more wearings out of this pair of jeans.  Spare fabric was used to add a little extra strength.  The actual tears were mended underneath.

Wrangler jeans aren't expensive and they fit "Breadwinner's" (his new nick-name) body the best.  They also hold up very well to hard work.   Pockets get a lot of abuse, so fixing a small hole when doing the repair work on the tear made sense.  Looking for problems like this while doing laundry can be helpful.

Before undertaking any mending effort, it's worth it to examine the entire piece.  This pair had the crotch previously stitched back together.  The job was holding up, but some of it was beginning to go.  It made sense to tackle both repairs at the same time.  It's worth it to check the entire garment before starting -- who wants to spend time on one repair, only to discover that there is another problem that can't be fixed?

If the garment is too far gone, it needn't be tossed either.  It can be cut up and used as a donor for other repair projects.  Or it can be sewn into something entirely new.

One need not be a real seamstress or tailor to do this kind of repair work.  It's worth having needles, threads, etc. on hand to salvage damaged pieces.  It saves a lot of money and will help clothes last longer.