It's not really a financial issue for me... I know I could probably replace my entire wardrobe for under $50... I just hate to see things go to waste.
So I patch my jeans...
I patch holes in sleeves at the elbows...
I mend hems...
I sew together tears in sheets...
I even mend my underwear... but I'll spare you those photos.
But there comes a point when there just isn't anything left to mend! Like these pajamas...
And these washcloths...
So... I finally decided that a bit of culling was in order. I went through my things and decided to lay to rest a half dozen washcloths, two night shirts, one set of sheets, a few pairs of underwear, a bunch of threadbare & holey socks, and even my favorite pair of jeans shorts - sigh.
But it feels good to get rid of some stuff, and the only things I've replaced are the washcloths - pack of 15 washcloths for $5, I think my budget can handle that. Nothing else needs to be replaced because truth be told, I've got more than enough. Now I've just got to find a place that recycles textiles because, honestly, most of this stuff is beyond usefulness even as rags!
How about you? Are there any other crazed menders out there, or is this just my own unique form of neurosis?
I like to put those threadbare things in the compost - fun seeing how long they take to decompose. A little mending here but I could definitely be better! Actually I save quite a lot for when my mum comes to visit - she's much etter and quicker at it than me.
ReplyDeleteOooo... composting clothes, now there's an idea I hadn't thought of! I may give it a try with the really bad stuff just for the heck of it!
DeleteI wish I could be like this!!! I really want to, I do, but somehow I can't. YET!!! I told my daughter the other day that I almost can't remember the last time I wore something out- and that I desperately WANT to!! I saw on Minimalist Mom Blog that you spend about $20 a year on clothes- please give me a breakdown!
ReplyDeleteWell, I don't actually keep track of it... I just don't shop for clothes. The fact that I "work" from home really helps - I use quotes because I'm not sure you can really call it work since it's basically leisure activities that I have figured out how to make money from.
DeleteBut let's see... the quick version is: The only things I buy new are underwear, socks & shoes... and I wear & repair until they can be repaired no more. Everything else I try to get for free - on Freecycle or by trading with friends (clothing exchange sorts of things) or rummage sale leftovers (the non-profit where I used to work had one every year, but I'm sure if you volunteered at a church sale, or hosted a neighborhood yard sale or whatever there would be plenty of leftovers that you could pick through.) If all that fails, and I really need some particular item I'll buy it at the thrift store. Every once in a blue moon I'll break down and buy something new, but usually only if it's something specialized like bike shorts.
I think the fact that I'm not terribly concerned about fashion helps a great deal in this department!
I was quite proud of my mending, but you are in a totally different league! I think that pyjama top could actually have been reused as a fashion item, as I am sure I have seen things with deliberate holes for sale!
ReplyDeleteThe things I mend most are jodhpurs (riding trousers, don"t want to assume that that is obvious!) as for some reason the crotch seam always goes! They are perfectly good elsewhere though, so I mend and patch until they wear so thin that it is impossible. Also have underwear that needs mending, although as I have been wearing the same 10 pairs of knickers on rotation for at least eight years, the fabric might have worn a bit thin, so that might be a thing to replace if impossible to mend..
Luckily, we can recycle any textiles here as long as they are clean
I am heartened to learn that I'm not the only crazy person out there who mends underwear! And you are right, once the fabric itself starts to go they're pretty much gonners.
DeleteI actually have a rotation system... I realize this puts me in the totally bonkers category, but I have nice pairs that I wear on special occasions, then once they've been worn a bit they get transferred to the regular undies section, then once they start to wear out they join the ranks of the trashed undies that I wear for working out, or wear during that certain time of the month when they might get stained. It generally takes about 10 years for them to wear out completely! Of course, I do own a ridiculous number of them (like 30 pairs) because it takes me an average of 3 weeks to dirty enough clothes to fill a load of laundry!
I'm not sure if this is really "frugal" or just downright crazy!
I used to have underwear for different occasions, but I decided that I couldn't be bothered with all the choice, and just stuck with not-quite-basic black. Also decided that I couldn't be bothered with clothes that required special underwear.
DeleteUnderwear rotation is not crazy, and nor is many pairs to cope with infrequent laundry... I have to do frequent laundry- washing machine is fairly small, and I live with a boy- boys create more washing than I thought possible!
Ha! Well, the super capacity washer definitely cuts both ways. I got it so I wouldn't have to drag the huge comforter to the laundromat every time barfing cat spewed on the bed... and it's REALLY nice. But it is a challenge to dirty enough regular stuff to fill it!
DeleteI'm lazy when it comes to mending. If it's an easy fix, and I'm really attached to a garment, it gets sent to my MIL to fix lol because my sewing skills are almost non-existent. However, I will wear things into the ground!
ReplyDeleteI wish I knew of a textile recycling option. If you find one, do share!
I've heard that some thrift stores recycle clothes that are too trashed to sell, but I haven't called around to find out which ones.
DeleteAnd I wasn't always a crazed mender. I actually HATE the sewing machine so I do my mending by hand. It helps that CatMan and I spend at least 2 hours a day on the phone together, so I just keep my mending basket by the big chair where I sit when I'm on the phone, and mend things while we talk. I find it quite relaxing actually.
Trying to wrestle the sewing machine on the other hand.... well the last time I tried to use it was for my doomed insulated curtains project. I had great plans to make them for all the windows, but making one took an entire day. I broke 3 needles and hurled more curse words than a ship full of sailors! Not my finest moment. I pretty much stick to hand sewing these days! :-)
I don't like to mend. Maybe that's why our washcloths look worse than yours do and we use them every day.
ReplyDeleteAlso, you should give your machine another try with regular fabric. You were probably breaking needles because of the heavy drapery fabric.
I'm sure that was part of it. The machine probably needs to be adjusted too... it's an old singer from the 1950's. But I think part of it is totally psychological. Somehow when I'm at the machine I feel like I'm back in junior high home economics class with horrible Miss Atkinson yelling at me that my seams aren't straight!
DeleteYou probably just needed the right needle. There are different sewing machine needles for different kinds of fabrics. I learned the hard way (i.e. lots of broken needles) that the right needle for the fabric can make a WORLD of difference!
DeleteDifferent needles? Hmmm... perhaps I should have listened a tad bit more closely to mean old Miss Atkinson after all! I'll have to check into that. I think the thing does need adjustment though, because the needle kept hitting the plate... which I suppose could have been because I was pulling on the fabric a bit. I'll have to try sewing something more normal and see how it does.
DeleteThe needle may be bent - try a new one before taking your machine for work :)
DeleteWell... it seems to go into it's hole nicely when there isn't any fabric. I fear this is probably a case of "operator error" as we in geekland are fond of saying!
DeleteJust realised that I mend non-human clothes too...my friend's daughter's pony had a huge rip in her fleece travelling rug after an incident with a broken horse trailer...I sewed it up for her and it is nearly as good as new!
ReplyDeleteMuch better than buying a new one anyway...
Woo Hoo! good save!
DeletePS I love *sigh* cat
ReplyDeleteHe says it all, doesn't he?
DeleteHi Cat!
ReplyDeleteI am so glad to know someone else who mends underwear! I can usually get an additional 6 months to a year of wear out of them by sewing the elastic back on. (But I hope to never be in an accident while wearing the holey stuff-- you know what my mom always said, even after I became an adult, "are you wearing good underwear, cuz you never know when you're going to be in an accident". Like when I'm bleeding profusely I'll care whether or not my undies look okay!)
I repair just about everything. Repaired the gasket on the fridge with white duct tape the other week, My daughter chipped a dish the other day, and fixed that with glue designed for dishes, can even take the heat of a dishwasher. We (by we, I mean my husband while I watched and cheered him on -- hey that's hard work too) repaired all the back slats on our garden bench earlier this summer. Now I get to paint it this week. I fixed my daughters ballet shoes with duct tape on the inside. We've gotten several more months of use from them
And again, like you, it's not the cost to replace these things, but I hate to just throw something away because one small part isn't still just right.
Here's to the repairers! I just glued my 12 year old Tiva sandals back together with marine epoxy... in theory it stays flexible once cured and can handle getting wet (which my Tivas do on a regular basis.) Here's hoping I get another 12 years out of them!
DeleteI'm not a hardcore mender. I don't mind fixing hems and seams that have come loose, but I hate to wear anything that is faded, stained, or has holes. I'm pretty nice to my clothes, so they last a long time intact (I have clothes from high school that still look fine!), but once they start to fall apart, I get rid of them. My recycle bin accepts clean used clothing, though I don't know what they do with it after I toss it in.
ReplyDeleteI don't buy much clothing new, but I love the novelty of getting at least some new-to-me pieces every year. (I try to maintain a 1:1 ration of in/out so everything stays under control.)
Well, when I was still working and had to be out and about every day, I definitely cared more about how things looked. And when I leave the house, I try to look presentable - nothing stained etc. But since the vast majority of my life is spent just in the company of cats and CatMan I tend to wear the same "around the house" clothes over and over.
DeleteI guess I have a hierarchy of clothes - Things generally start out in the "nice" category, and as they've been worn a bit they gradually get lowered to "casual" and eventually descend to "around the house" and finally make it all the way down to "gardening wear." But it's taking much longer for things to make their way down from "nice" to "gardening" these days!
I don't mind mending items of clothing (and shoes) that I really love and are well-made to begin with.
ReplyDeleteYes, I even mend underwear. In fact, I have underwear that is at least 10 years old. They were good quality to begin with and sometimes a seam will come undone or a small run will develop that I can easily fix.
Along the lines of composting your old clothes (as long as they are all made of natural fibers), you could use them as mulch. Lay them down around plants or in pathways and cover them with some grass clippings or other natural mulch to hide them.
I love this mulch idea.
DeleteOOOOO.... that's another fantastic idea! I wonder if they'd sort of serve the same purpose as landscaping fabric. Now you've got my mind spinning!
DeleteAnother idea....if you container garden or have houseplants you repot, you can use your unmendables in the bottom of the containers to keep the soil in yet drain out the excess water.
DeleteNow that's an interesting idea! I had to get rid of all of my houseplants a few years ago because a certain fe-lion was eating them all. But I do try to plant kitty grass for them, and I have a devil of a time trying to keep it moist yet not soggy. Maybe that would help!
DeleteI've just started mending the last year or two, in front of the TV. I haven't patched anything yet, but I've started sewing rips together--in socks and other knitted things (t-shirts, skirts) as well as in woven things. When the bottom of a pair of pants gets shredded, I will re-do the hem a little shorter so that a fresh, non-shredded part is at the bottom. I love how clothes that are unwearable become wearable again for free, especially since these are clothes that fit and go with other things I have.
ReplyDeleteAnd I've always re-sewn buttons and re-done hems and seams that come out.
One problem is that once fabric tears, it usually means the fabric is weak and old and it will just tear again. But weak fabric is still good for hankies.
I am good at using things for too long. My boyfriend is trying to teach me that just because something still doesn't have a hole in it doesn't mean I can still wear it if it has a big translucent area, as happens in part polyester clothes. So, now I wear that shirt only under sweaters and if it becomes too hot to wear the sweater, I know I have to roll up the sleeve past the elbow.
I think I might no longer wear anything from high school (from which I graduated 32 years ago).
I'm not so thorough with the underwear rotation. I just try to keep my favorites in the top of the drawer; then if I need them, I have ratty ones to get me through to the next laundry day.
Yup... once the fabric itself starts to go, the end is near. And I am certainly guilty of wearing things too long... although I've gotten better at not wearing them out of the house anymore!
DeleteHere's another idea for what to do with old rags:
ReplyDeletebespoke paper
Though the fact that they're the other side of the Atlantic does make it a wee bit less eco...
Ha! What a fantastic idea! Perhaps I should go into the bindweed paper business!
DeleteI adhere to the make do and mend theory...and I'm glad to see others do also.
ReplyDeleteI "save" things as well like sheets or pillowcases that are too far gone, as a sewer I can find uses for the good bits of old sheets, lining a bag or a cat bed,used as handkerchiefs, even to practice new stitches on.
As a gardener I use old fabric to make plant ties(bonus when it's green fabric)and of course compost when it's natural fibres.
My biggest problem is getting stains on my clothes and not being able to get it out and them trying to come up with a creative way to wear stained clothing.
Keep persevering with your sewing machine-it's very liberating when you become the one in charge of your wardrobe and not the clothing corporations.
Marie
I'm not as much as a sewer as I'd like to be, but I've got several rag rug projects going, and stuff like old sheets are perfect for those projects. Plant ties is another excellent idea. I have a new blackberry plant that could use some help.
DeleteI'll keep trying to make peace with the sewing machine. I was doing pretty good until the dreaded curtains project derailed me. Perhaps I just need to stick to easier fabrics!
I'm the mender in the family. Both of my dil send their clothes to me to fix. My son even sent a favorite shirt to me to work on because he couldn't part with it. I recently had to give up a favorite pair of pants because the fabric was too thin to work on any longer. I had consigned them to simply painting paints, and had two small holes in the left thigh I hadn't fixed yet, when my grand-daughter stuck her fingers in a ripped them into holes that went from one seam to the other before I could stop her. I still planned on patching them until I realized the butt was worn thin and would be gone soon too. Now it's in pieces in my rag basket.
ReplyDeleteYup... when the butt goes you're sorta out of luck. It does make me feel good to know that I've gotten full use out of it though!
DeleteI have a mid-50s Singer at it has been my ROCK. So clean it, oil it and try again. I do plan to get another machine, but only because I lust after stretch stitches and an overlock stitch! Wucka wucka! I will never replace Etta. Love your blog! You are NOT crazy or weird or anything like that. Or if you are, I'm right there with you. I couldn't stand to toss the flannel-lined jeans that cost $60 bucks. I couldn't stand to toss the duofold union suit that cost $40, so I learned how to fix an elbow hole and how to fix missing knees in jeans. I LOVE IT! The man loves it, too. You know how years-old clothing is so righteous-feeling, LOL.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for stopping by. I should probably try to make peace with my sewing machine - and I'm sure it could use a tune up. Maybe when life slows down to a dull roar it will be a project I'm ready to take on.
DeleteThanks for the vote of confidence in terms of my relative sanity! :-)