The Lost Art of Mending
Posted by Gail | Filed under Thinking Out Loud, This & That
When I was getting Baby Girl ready to go off to university a couple of years ago, one of the things on my Must Teach Her list (along with how to clean a toilet) was how to mend her own clothes. I like mending. It’s not because I’m cheap. Really. It’s NOT. It’s because I can’t stand the idea of throwing out something simply because there’s an open seam, a missing button, or some other small flaw that a needle and thread, new button, and strategically placed patch will easily fix.
Once upon a time our grandparents even mended socks. It was called darning and they did it because it was cheaper than buying new. Now, in our very disposable society, it’s so cheap to buy new that we’ve lost the desire and the skills to fix our stuff.
We hardly ever mend our clothes anymore. It isn’t worth our time and effort. So we turn button-less shirts into cleaning rags and we pile clothes into the Goodwill box rather than thread the needle. (Hey, I can still thread a needle without my glasses!
If you’ve never sewn on a button or fixed a hem that’s fallen, it’s time to learn. Mending your stuff means less crap to the landfills and more use out of what you buy… which means less spending overall and more savings. Go ahead and try. All you have to lose is whatever you couldn’t wear anyway. What you have to gain is an incredibly useful skill.
If you’re using the fact that you don’t have a sewing kit as your excuse, head to the dollar store, buy a pack of needles and a roll of white thread, and get started. Start your own button barrel: each time you do have stuff you’re gonna dump, trim off the buttons first and add them to your barrel. (Yes it can be an old jam jar or coffee tin.) You can accumulate a solid mending kit over time, adding new colours of thread as you need them. Or ask for your mother-in-law’s extras. She’ll be impressed by your thriftiness!
August 29, 2012 at 6:27 am
This made me smile. Thanks to my Grandmother I have had a button bottle since I started buying my own clothes. I put the extra buttons that come attached to your price tag in there so I don’t loose them. My husband asked me once why I had a jar full of buttons. I’m not great at mending but I can re-do a hem and reattach a button. I always hated parting with something that I enjoyed wearing if it could easily be fixed.
August 29, 2012 at 6:55 am
I am a seamstress at a retail store and agree with what you wrote. We have great customer service and sometimes I end up mending a favorite pair of pants that could be years old (and should be made into a rag). People think I am amazing and perform miracles by sewing on a button or repairing a rip. I knew a woman who did daycare in her home and made sure all the children knew how to sew on a button. I thought it was a great idea.
August 29, 2012 at 7:02 am
Y’know, I don’t mind people who toss easily mended clothes into the Goodwill box. In fact, I’m good with it! Why? Well, because I scour the Goodwills, and the Sally Anns for those clothes, mend them myself and that becomes my family’s wardrobe. I also offer my mending skills to others, for a low fee, so that they too, can benefit. And, all those prom, and bridal gowns at the thrift stores? Yeah, those I grab on half price days, refurbish what I can, cut and re-make others, and re-sell as vintage or refashioned.
August 29, 2012 at 7:26 am
I recently took a beginner’s sewing class to learn the basics. I was so happy to be able to fix an open seam on my favourite pairs of pants!! It is a great skill to have and I as I become better skilled, I am going to turn it into $$$ by offering tailoring services out of my home. I know it will be a while before I am ready for that but it is a perfect fit for my lifestyle. One of my Mum’s retired friends has to turn people away since she started her tailoring business. It will always be in demand.
August 29, 2012 at 7:33 am
I took sewing in grade 9 and though I’m really not much of a sewer, this has saved us a lot of money over the years. I’m frequently sewing my girls’ clothing or toys, and even some of my husband’s clothing. I do draw the line at socks though!!
August 29, 2012 at 7:45 am
I learned to sew and mend from my mother. We had no choice as new things were few and what we had needed to last. I also took Home Economics from grade seven to grade ten which helped a lot. I made most of my clothes until after I started working full-time and could afford to buy them. Now I resew buttons, rehem and fix seams, and do minor alterations. I usually wait until I have a few things to do before hauling out the sewing machine. I do find that making household items like pillows, tableclothes and napkins, and curtains is a real cost saver.
August 29, 2012 at 8:19 am
Great post!
I have been patching my children’s clothes for years. The other kids don’t think of them as poor, as they would have 30 years ago, they think their patches look great! I usually cut them in hearts and stars and use colourful fabric I’ve saved from clothes that have been outgrown. I didn’t buy any shorts this summer, I turned pants that had been outgrown in the legs but still fit in the bum into shorts. The best part? I didn’t have to make them ridiculously short like the ones in the store that make me uncomfortable even on a 6-year-old. My next project is to turn those cut off pant legs into tiered skirts for back-to-school. I’m sure they’ll be a hit.
Plus, when you learn to hem, you can buy clothes a bit big, hem ‘em up and then let them down when the children are taller.
August 29, 2012 at 8:19 am
My Mom made sure I knew all the home ‘arts’. Sewing… knitting… cooking… baking… meal planning… event planning…
My Dad made sure I knew all the maintenance ’skills’. Painting… papering… basic car repair… basic home repair… property upkeep… shopping for the best deal…
Great parents ! Oh, and they taught me a thing or two about money.
August 29, 2012 at 8:29 am
I rarely throw anything out that can be mended. Currently I have a trench-coat and a shirt to be fixed, and both of them are relatively easy repairs (no actual fabric tears, just seams). Very happy that I learned some basic sewing skills in Home Ec, and that my Mom taught me some more. I inherited two very awesome sewing kits (one from my Mom and one from Grandma), and still use a lot of the items that they used.
Although, now that I am writing this, I do remember a few years ago that a colleague was having issues with an expensive Chanel-style jacket that would not sit the way she wanted it to over “the girls”. I told her that she could easily add a small hook and eye closure to it to solve the problem, and she gave me such an odd look! Turns out she had never sewn before, and so the thought of what I was suggesting was totally foreign. I think she was ready to give up on the jacket altogether! I offered to do it for her, so one day I brought in a small sewing kit and, in a meeting room out of sight, added the closure for her. My god, you would think I had performed a miracle for how happy she was
August 29, 2012 at 8:46 am
One of my young colleagues never hems her pants. They puddle around her ankles, frayed and dirty. I told her she didn’t even need to sew them, she could just iron them with hemming tape; she doesn’t even own an iron!!!!
Good grief.
Even if people are too lazy, they can hem and do simple repairs at the dry cleaners.
(I don’t darn socks, tho’, unless they are good woollen ones.
August 29, 2012 at 8:47 am
I spent a good part of yesterday hemming new pants because I’m too cheap to pay someone to do it. I don’t do the best job and I grumble through the whole thing, but I prefer that to getting a bill for alterations. So it’s not just a skill to help save old clothes but also to help those of us who can never seem to get the right length save on new clothes too.
August 29, 2012 at 8:57 am
I LOVE sewing! My mother’s mother was a seamstress so my mom knows it all and has been teaching me a little my whole life. Now my Oma passed away and I sit in our basement at my sewing table and sew clothes for my daughters, the same way my mom used to for me and my sister, and I use my Oma’s thread, pins and other supplies. I feel like a part of her is in every single item I sew! My husband loves my skills that I can turn a stained old sheet into play clothes for our daughters, and that his shirts can go until they literally dissolve out form under him! I even go to the extreme of fixing socks (I have skin issues so my socks can get pricey). I think he was most excited about my finishing a dress for myself this summer, because he ordered a pattern for me to make him a star trek uniform for Halloween. I too have a button jar, and have to say I remember playing with the buttons in my mom’s jar when I was little and she was fixing something. Sewing is a skill that either I or my mother will pass on to my daughters, and should there be a boy one day he too, will learn to sew because everyone can use that skill.
August 29, 2012 at 9:19 am
I try and sew and mend my clothing. I can cross stitch and embroider, but my hemming skills are terrible.
Though I’m learning! I can’t take any dresses in that I pick up at Value Village, so I don’t mind paying them to make sure it’s done right. But I fix little holes in sweaters or pants, and I’ve been able to sew buttons on since I was about 10! Mend and make do I was taught, because we never had much growing up. I’m appreciative of the fact that I learned them as a child, and am thankful to my mother for teaching me these skills – part of the lost art of homemaking.
August 29, 2012 at 9:41 am
I’m not very good, but I’m learning. I have a wonderful winter coat that needs the buttons re-sewn. Oddly enough the reason I lost them is crappy manufacturing processes, where the buttons were never done right the first time.
Time to learn to sew through wool.
August 29, 2012 at 9:53 am
bravo!
so everything that’s old is indeed new again!
time to bring back some sorely lacking skills.
August 29, 2012 at 10:26 am
I hate sewing clothing from scratch, but I’ll mend with the sewing machine without a second thought. I’m lucky that my Mom took tailoring classes so I learned how to hem pants invisibly. I have a huge collection of buttons (from her & my Gram as well as my own over the years). As for socks, I wouldn’t bother darning store-bought socks, but I sure as heck will darn my hand-knit socks when they get a hole (which has yet to happen in spite of some of those socks being many years old!).
August 29, 2012 at 10:58 am
I can sew as well (thank you 4-H) but I wish I could still thread a needle without glasses! In my mind I’m still 28 year old but my eyes function otherwise….
August 29, 2012 at 11:10 am
I took grade 7 home ec which was a sewing class. I wonder if schools still offer that sort of thing? We learned the basics of how to thread a machine, wind the bobbin and sew a straight line. It seems to me we made something basic like a placemat, but mastering the machine is what stuck with me. For my 12th birthday, my aunt who is a terrific sewer, helped me choose a pattern and fabric and worked with me through the entire process of making a skirt and vest (very funky in the 70s). My mom will admit she’s not a a great sewer and limits herself to basic seam repairs and replacing buttons, and passed along those two fundamental skills. She has always owned a machine but she rarely used it. I borrowed it for several months when expecting my first child and made several several maternity tops and even a suit. The cost of maternity wear for the office took my breath away and all of it was dryclean only. With a limited wardrobe that seems like a ridiculous option so I made a few washable blouses, skirts and the suit and was all set. To this day I hate putting in zippers, so maternity skirts were a pleasure – no zipper, just the expanding panel.
I admit I’ve never made a point of passing along the basics to my kids and this is a great reminder that everyone should at least know how to close a seam and replace a button. Shame on me! I need to address that situation before they are out on their own and tossing out perfectly good clothing.
August 29, 2012 at 11:13 am
In grade 8 I tool wood shop which I have to say I enjoyed more than sewing and have used more since then. When I graduated from university my parents were all set to give me pearls, but I asked if I could have power tools instead. Practical to the end.
August 29, 2012 at 11:20 am
Knowing how to sew a button on is a necessity. I wouldn’t call it a skill though. Anyone can figure it out. I find many buttons are not sewn on properly to begin with (factory sewn), and need to be redone immediately after buying. Just bought a beautiful blouse from a Thrift store, tags from Macy’s still on, and buttons were almost off or missing! Thankfully, an extra button was still attached to the tag, and I found a matching button in my button jar for another, then re-sewed the rest!
I do wish I could properly hem. And replace a zipper. Everything else, I just give it a whirl; what’s the worst that can happen?
August 29, 2012 at 11:55 am
My hubby and I took a sewing 101 class last winter; we had fun learning something new together and we still get a thrill wearing something we’ve mended ourselves. Our old, comfy ‘quitters’ have new life, as do some expensive conference clothes I could no longer wear because of those fallen hems. He wasn’t the only guy in the class, and he got a lot of compliments for the pajamas he made for our god-daughter. The class, and the sewing machine we purchased afterward, were time and money well spent.
August 29, 2012 at 12:35 pm
When my grandmother used to babysit me, we would always do sewing projects. I never throw out an item if I can easily mend it! I just got my first sewing machine and I have really been enjoying making outfits for my niece or new throw pillow covers!
August 29, 2012 at 12:51 pm
I took Home Ec from 7th thru 12th grade and I loved it. I learned to sew, knit, cook, etc, well that was over 30 yrs ago and when I had kids I made all their clothes. My mom was just asking me the other day if I was going to start sewing again she had some things she wanted me to make or fix for her. When my kids out grew or ruined their clothes I cut them up and made 2 “grandparents” quilts. Those quilts are now 20 yrs old and still get used every winter. As for knitting both my son & daughter know how to knit. I always told my kids “why buy when u can make it yourself”, a rule that we still follow.
August 29, 2012 at 1:27 pm
Hahaha… I give women heart attacks when they walk into a room and they see me fixing something with a needle and thread. “You can sew?,” they ask wide-eyed. I burst out laughing, “Of course! Go into a tailor shop in Europe and you always see a guy doing it. It’s men’s work!”
Truth is, our mom taught all of us how to sew. …Well, not so much as “taught” as encouraged it if we wanted something fixed helped by giving us pointers. By 6 or 7 we all knew how to take cloth out of our rag bag, cut it, and sew it into our own superhero costumes.
August 29, 2012 at 1:28 pm
I have been sewing for almost 50 years, and I am only 55! I don’t mind those people out there who can’t hem pants, or sew on buttons, cuz I make a tidy side income doing their mending for them. Everyone in my workplace knows I can fix whatever, and whip up a last minute LBD for a trip to Vegas – in two days! One of my managers is 6′7″ and has to buy his suits at a specialty store in another city. I noticed his suit jacket sleeve seam has split and mentioned it to him. He complained that he would have to make that hour and a half trip to get it repaired. I told him to meet me in the staff room on my break and fixed it for him in less than ten minutes! It’s not like my co-workers don’t have hand/finger skills either, judging by the texting and game playing that goes on during our breaks! I recently was hired to recreate Custer’s Last Flag for a re-enactment this summer. The flag turned out awesome and will lead to creating NWMP Red Serge uniforms for next summer’s round of plays. My latest project (had to put the quilts on hold) is creating designer baby bedding for a new mom, including two color, piped fitted crib sheets. A lot of the handicrafts are at risk of falling by the way side – crocheting, knitting, embroidery, cross stitch and petit point, hardanger, paper tole, and tatting come to mind. I am glad I learned them, and hope to share with my granddaughters when they are old enough. My three sons can all sew and knit – and they are proud of it!
August 29, 2012 at 4:02 pm
I too took home ec in grades 7 & 8 and am thankful for the basic knowledge it gave me. I don’t know that they still have it at the schools – my son 26 yrs, and daughter 16 yrs old were/have never been offered it as a course; too bad it should be taught as well as personal finance.
Just last week my daughter asked me to sew some tears in her swimsuit. I love the feeling of being a “superhero” when I give it back to her fixed; but this blog has been a timely reminder that I must teach rather than do in this regard
August 29, 2012 at 7:29 pm
I so agree Gail! I took sewing in school but I was VERY fortunate to have my Grandmother teach me how to mend. I also couldn’t afford to not mend clothes as I went 5 years to school (single Mom of 2). When I finished I couldn’t look at text books so I took up sewing quilts — way more fun!
September 4, 2012 at 12:40 pm
I took Home Economics for one year at school so didn’t really get to learn much sewing before I quit I took up technical drawing and wood work. But sewing has always come naturally to me, I do know how to fix an hem , a tear and buttons. These I learnt mostly from observing the garment or seeing someone doing it. I cannot knit but can crochet to some extent, I never finish crochet project, it goes wrong before I can finish but I do enjoy sewing. A few winters ago, I revamp my black winter wool coat by switching all new buttons on it ( truth is I had to, I lost all the other buttons except for two). People kept asking me if I bought a new coat when they saw the result. Between my sister who can crochet and knit anything ( she knits knapsacks) but cannot sew and I, I must say we make a fine mending team. I do plan on taking sewing classes in the future and learning to crochet better. I have this mini obsession to make myself skirts from amazing fabrics that I have and see.
September 7, 2012 at 1:34 am
Oh Gail,
If you only taught your sweet baby girl to clean a toilet at the tender age of university entrance, you have left that a little late, honey!
My dear boy was washing his toilet at age 6 (with supervision of course) because living in our house did not entitle anyone to free maid service! Our rule is that if you can pee in it, on it or around it (mainly the boys), you can help clean it. And while he still doesn’t remember on a schedule that makes my heart sing, he does and will always know how to clean his abode.
He mends a bit too, but has serious dexterity issues so I get that it is hard for him. I loathe sewing, but I loathe wasting money more, so I do encourage everyone in our house to manage their clothing inventory for tears, buttons, and dropped hems and it all helps.
September 15, 2012 at 12:55 pm
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