Sigh….I hate mending and repair. It does not full under the realm of what I call “fun sewing” – which is sewing anything new. My inbox is always filled with buttons to sew on, rips in lining, hems that need repair. As I was preparing this post, the inside button of my pants fell off! (I still have the slider hooks, so I’m not going to bother sewing it back on….)
But even more than the drudgery of mending and alterations is my anger that the junk we buy so often is in need of immediate repair. How frequently have you had a button fall off before you wore an article of clothing the first time? How often have you seen a buttonhole whose stitching is coming undone? I had to fix my daughter’s purse that she paid $25 for within two weeks of purchase.
These chairs were a gift. I can’t recall how old they are – perhaps 2 years? We use them for my son’s baseball and football games and a few trips to the beach. But I wouldn’t expect the canvas to be worn thin so quickly. To make matters worse, I had to repair it while still connected to the metal parts. I won’t bother to show you my repair. I took pieces of polyester webbing (I burned the edges to seal it) and top-stitched it over and along the ripped seams. It’s not pretty, but should add strength to the area.
I know nothing lasts forever, but doesn’t it seem the things we buy should last longer than a season or a year? What do you do with things that need repair? Do you like mending?
This is one of the reasons I derive great satisfaction from creating with my own hands. I can see the end result. It doesn’t guarantee perfection or that it will last forever, but I can control what I am producing.
