Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Oh My, Oh My, Oh MENDING!!

Clothing repair and renovation is one of the tasks about which I procrastinate the most. While I find it satisfying to save items that would otherwise be tossed out, I find the mending process quite time consuming (I'm not exactly the most skilled seamstress out there, which probably doesn't help in the speed department).

So, let's just say I've been ignoring my mending basket for (ahem) quite a while now. I knew there were a lot of items in there that would be needed for the spring and summer season, so yesterday I finally dared to assess the situation:

Yikes! I didn't have a mending "pile", I had a mending *mountain*! After taking a few deep breaths, I decided I better dig through and prioritize the items that would be most needed for the upcoming season.

Things still look kind of imposing post-prioritization, but I think I can actually get through this pile in the next month or so, and we'll be good to go until the fall.

What's there:
-Five (yes, five!) pairs of my pants that have gotten a bit "floodish" but otherwise still fit okay; I'm planning to turn them all into capri-length pants.

-Three of my boys' swimsuits, which all need seams repaired. One of them also needs some new elastic cording put through the waist. These should be pretty quick to do.

-A pair of my younger son's pants that needs the butt repaired.

-Two pairs of my husband's pants that are frayed and/or torn near the cuffs. These are both slated to become shorts.

-A couple of T-shirts and pairs of shorts that need minor seam or hole repair.

In addition, several of the black items are on the faded side. I'm planning to try dyeing them with some RIT dye, (plus a couple of other items I have hanging around that aren't pictured). This will be my first time using dye, so I'll let you know how it goes!

I also need to do some repairs to our spring and summer quilt (at the left in the first photo). We received this as a wedding gift nearly 15 years ago and some of the quilted pieces have started to come loose. I shudder to think how long this might take me, however I really want this quilt to last as long as possible so I've got sufficient motivation to get it done.

Anyone else out there with a mending mountain? I'd like to think I'm not the only one!

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