Wardrobe Refashion - The Dreaded Mending Pile
January 21st, 2008 by 
mel
My first (though somewhat dull!) goal for Wardrobe Refashion has been to work through my dreaded mending pile… The pile stored in a bag, both out of sight and out of mind for the past year (or two) except on the occasions when I have added something to it. Well, I finally dug through the horror of my closet and all the other stuff (Dry cleaning…. Laundry…. Goodwill), to the very back, where the mending bag was stuffed - here it is among the other piles in all stages of sorting! (piles. Yes, I know… I have never once been accused of being a neat freak.)
The contents:
3 pairs of pants in need of hemming
3 sweater/shirts with underarm seam issues
1 tank sweater with underarm seam issues also
1 shirt in need of a button
1 pair of pants in need of a button (Tad’s)
1 dress in need of hemming
1 sweater with holes for mending (or frogging. Time will tell)
Not Pictured:
1 hanging blazer in need of a button
Once I saw this list and how minor some of the repairs were I was a bit embarrassed! But sorting through them got me motivated to take action, particularly this:
Do you see that (click for big)? It’s a STAPLE. When faced with a ripped hem at work, one must use any available provisions to prevent tripping all over oneself - whether those tools come in the form of scotch tape or staples (Staples work better if it won’t damage the fabric; I’ve tried them both.)
Hurray for hemming!
I started with the stapled pair since that seemed the most, well, ridiculous, and finished hemming all three pairs of pants.
Then, since I deemed it would only take another 5 minutes, if that, I returned a small button to the top of this blouse:
And then decided to tackle the underarm seams on this black turtleneck sweater - just shameful, I tell you. One side was a simple straight seam (albeit neatly mattress-stitched at a gauge of something like 20 sts/inch - Oh my eyes!), but the other required a crochet hook as well and some minor surgery!:
Then, since I got the most difficult one out of the way, I fixed the tank too!
Well damn - 6 down, 6 to go. That wasn’t so bad (Have I redeemed myself slightly in your eyes? My closet’s actually clean now - honest)!
I do have some other (more fun!) things planned for my 6 months of Wardrobe Refashion, but if I didn’t start with the mending pile, you can all guess where those nicely hemmed pants would be come June. Yep - still in the back of my closet.
Next up - The completed Sari-Scarf has been deemed too scratchy for my neck, but I have some re-fashioning plans to make it soft & wearable! The Remington Cardigan also saw some seaming and mending time this weekend and I expect to have a full report before too long.
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Now playing: Michael Cera & Ellen Page - Anyone Else But You
via FoxyTunes
From the soundtrack to Juno - What a GREAT movie! Highly recommended if you get the chance, check out Tad’s review for the scoop!
Posted in WIPs, Wardrobe Refashion | 
January 22nd, 2008 at 2:16 am
I can’t understand why mending is os hard to get done, when sewing and knittiong new things is so fun. I have the same problem, and I have the unmended clothes of four children on my shoulders too. Sight. I think I’ll go and follow your example.
January 22nd, 2008 at 5:16 am
Good for you. And I have the smae problem as well. Sometimes I am ashamed of myself for just knitting and sewing new things and letting the old ones take care of them selves…..
January 22nd, 2008 at 9:00 am
Well done! I also put off mending for years.
January 22nd, 2008 at 10:05 am
Don’t you feel better with that pile diminished? Guess I should get the staples out of my hems.
January 22nd, 2008 at 12:15 pm
You’ve put me to shame. I’ve been sneaking past my mending basket for quite a while now. I’ll have to get it out now and fix the few things that are waiting.
January 22nd, 2008 at 12:20 pm
don’t remind me of my mending pile! i avoid looking to that corner of my sewing room… i’d rather spend the time making something new, but of course from time to time it just needs to be done. well.. maybe… next week….
January 22nd, 2008 at 1:47 pm
Oh, I’m the same - I always face the mending pile with revulsion, and end up having quite a lot of fun ripping through everything in an hour. It takes a shockingly small amount of time.
I, too, am doing the Wardrobe Refashion for this year (thanks for turning me onto it) but happily for me I don’t have many clothes so am in need of making some more. So it will count for stashbusting as well…I’ll get through a fair bit of fabric this year.
January 22nd, 2008 at 9:33 pm
You’ve given me one more reason for loving what I do! Holes?? The elk and the trees don’t care about holes in clothing and neither do I–duck tape works wonders if it becomes necessary to repair! (I would add that this is a source of constant frustration for my neat and tidy mother!). Kudos though to you for having the initiative to start that project and get so far in one day!
btw–Juno was on my list to watch…after reading Tad’s rec, I may go this weekend!
January 23rd, 2008 at 2:19 pm
I am ashamed to admit that my mending pile has dust on it. Visible, probably measureable dust.
February 7th, 2008 at 12:10 am
OMG! Those bags DO accumulate in the closet. I can have a Goodwiil bag sitting in there for 6 months, EZ. My mending bag sits around even longer until I often break down and drop things off at the alterations place at my drycleaner. Sometimes getting out & setting up the sewing machine simply sounds too overwhelming.
Yeah for you and your promising start to Operation Wardrobe!
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