Mending

[gillumhouse]

Most native West Virginians are brought up with use, reuse, find a new use for before you throw it out. At least the USED to be the watch-words. We mostly could not afford anything else. You patched and mended until outgrown and then it was passed on to the next kid. We were taught to darn socks at an early age.
When we did Rev War re-enactments, I would darn socks and was amazed at the number of people who would stand there watching me. I equate watching socks getting darned to watching paint dry!

 

[EmptyNest]

Most native West Virginians are brought up with use, reuse, find a new use for before you throw it out. At least the USED to be the watch-words. We mostly could not afford anything else. You patched and mended until outgrown and then it was passed on to the next kid. We were taught to darn socks at an early age.
When we did Rev War re-enactments, I would darn socks and was amazed at the number of people who would stand there watching me. I equate watching socks getting darned to watching paint dry!.

Well my mom taught me to darn socks...but sorry...when it comes to socks...I just toss them and buy new ones. My darning skills are not good:-(

 

[Willowpondgj]

Most native West Virginians are brought up with use, reuse, find a new use for before you throw it out. At least the USED to be the watch-words. We mostly could not afford anything else. You patched and mended until outgrown and then it was passed on to the next kid. We were taught to darn socks at an early age.
When we did Rev War re-enactments, I would darn socks and was amazed at the number of people who would stand there watching me. I equate watching socks getting darned to watching paint dry!.

Well my mom taught me to darn socks...but sorry...when it comes to socks...I just toss them and buy new ones. My darning skills are not good:-(
.

>>My darning skills are not good

Darn it!

 

[Sanctuary]

MENDING???? What's that???? Who mends anymore??? What would you be mending at the B & B?
OR are you talking about your own personal clothing etc.
Most people just go out and buy new? Heck if I have a button come off a shirt these days...my tendency is to toss it.....but I don't...I actually do find a needle and thread and sew it back on....but it might take a few weeks

I am dubious anyone under age 30 even knows what mending is let alone how to do it :-(.

I am dubious anyone under age 30 even knows what mending is let alone how to do it :-(

Hey, watch it!

I've had my own sewing machine since I was a teenager (had to share before that) and make some of my own clothing, upholstery, linens, etc. Sometimes I even re-use fabric from clothes I've outgrown or gotten sick of. Mending's not nearly as fun, and I have an accumulating pile to do, but I'm not too bad at it!
.

I've had my own sewing machine since I was a teenager

Me too!!! I started sewing when I was 10 years old. Now, I have three machines - a dressmaker's machine (the one I got when I was a kid - still going strong), an overlock machine, and a sailmaker's machine - that's the big HEAVY one (for boat canvas)!
These days, I don't think of "mending" in terms of clothing anymore. I wish I could. Today's mending consists of putting on a new 32v alternator on one of my main engines, and it weighs a TON. Ugh....

 

[YellowSocks]

One of my duvet covers had a button come off. Easy enough... but it involved finding needle and thread and managing not to lose the button.
I have a brand new set of sheets... washed them once and one of the seams has come out in one spot (along the top where it's visible, of course).
One of the pillow cases that matches one of the comforters in my third floor room had the seam come loose, too. Naturally, they no longer carry that set at BB&B. It only needs a couple of stitches to be servicable...
Same with another pillowcase I was using as a spare on the fold out bed. That one's not as pressing, since it's not really part of a set, but it's in the pile.
Various items of clothes with holes, tears, and buttons to sew on... traditionally they sit in the mending basket for at least two years before dealing with them. If I wait that long for my kid's clothes, they won't fit anymore.
I have a wonderful king-sized fitted sheet that has a few small holes at one end, and no top sheet to go with it... it would make fabulous napkins. Luckily, my sister just got a serger and will be looking for an excuse to use it.
Being frugal means not buying new (and why buy a new $50+ duvet cover when it just needs a button, or a new $40+ sheet set for a few stiches?). I'm a big believer in "use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without."
I destroyed my iron last week trying to mend it... knew there had to be a hidden screw somewhere but didn't find it until I'd broken it in pulling it apart. My non-sewing mending list includes a six-door cabinet, a three-legged marble shelf, a crack in the marble around the fireplace, the burnt out rope light in a guest room, new knobs on a desk, a stereo power cord that got cut off, a beloved toy gun that needs super glue, a mini-blind that needs a central support before it breaks again, a dining room chair that needs wood glue, wood glue on a drawer in a built in shelf for linens, various paint gouges in the third floor guest room and second floor stair case, the sagging edge of a brick patio, a missing chunk of concrete on the back steps, and probably a few other things I'm forgetting. And by the time I ever finish this list there will be a new list of things which have been bent, broken, ripped, torn, cracked, or which have lost their button.
And I don't want things to wait two years... I want to get caught up and fix things immediately.
Ugh.
=)
Kk.

 

[Morticia]

One of my duvet covers had a button come off. Easy enough... but it involved finding needle and thread and managing not to lose the button.
I have a brand new set of sheets... washed them once and one of the seams has come out in one spot (along the top where it's visible, of course).
One of the pillow cases that matches one of the comforters in my third floor room had the seam come loose, too. Naturally, they no longer carry that set at BB&B. It only needs a couple of stitches to be servicable...
Same with another pillowcase I was using as a spare on the fold out bed. That one's not as pressing, since it's not really part of a set, but it's in the pile.
Various items of clothes with holes, tears, and buttons to sew on... traditionally they sit in the mending basket for at least two years before dealing with them. If I wait that long for my kid's clothes, they won't fit anymore.
I have a wonderful king-sized fitted sheet that has a few small holes at one end, and no top sheet to go with it... it would make fabulous napkins. Luckily, my sister just got a serger and will be looking for an excuse to use it.
Being frugal means not buying new (and why buy a new $50+ duvet cover when it just needs a button, or a new $40+ sheet set for a few stiches?). I'm a big believer in "use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without."
I destroyed my iron last week trying to mend it... knew there had to be a hidden screw somewhere but didn't find it until I'd broken it in pulling it apart. My non-sewing mending list includes a six-door cabinet, a three-legged marble shelf, a crack in the marble around the fireplace, the burnt out rope light in a guest room, new knobs on a desk, a stereo power cord that got cut off, a beloved toy gun that needs super glue, a mini-blind that needs a central support before it breaks again, a dining room chair that needs wood glue, wood glue on a drawer in a built in shelf for linens, various paint gouges in the third floor guest room and second floor stair case, the sagging edge of a brick patio, a missing chunk of concrete on the back steps, and probably a few other things I'm forgetting. And by the time I ever finish this list there will be a new list of things which have been bent, broken, ripped, torn, cracked, or which have lost their button.
And I don't want things to wait two years... I want to get caught up and fix things immediately.
Ugh.
=)
Kk..

I know whereof you speak...finding the parts to do the fixing is harder than the fixing!
We had an inspector show up at the door today to look over all propane appliances that guests might be able to get their hands on and fiddle with. He found one of the delivery pipes rubbing on the foundation wall. Hubs asked if a rubber 'foot' from a chair would be good enough to surround the pipe to keep it from rubbing. 'Good idea!' the guy said. We had gotten something, I don't remember what, that had 4 rubber pieces on it that were just for shipping. I saved them because, who knew when they might come in handy. Bingo! Hubs went out with a knife and one of these rubber thingies and fixed the problem.
He goes around the house with his cleaning bucket with screwdrivers in it just to fix those little jobs that would never get done if put on a list. He's good about this stuff and will go right out and buy whatever part he needs to fix something.
The PO's left us no 'parts'. There were no little bits and bobs here for making repairs. (Except for the wallpaper, left by the OO's, which we have made great use of in patching places where we've moved things or where someone had dinged a wall.)

 

[hawley]

One of my duvet covers had a button come off. Easy enough... but it involved finding needle and thread and managing not to lose the button.
I have a brand new set of sheets... washed them once and one of the seams has come out in one spot (along the top where it's visible, of course).
One of the pillow cases that matches one of the comforters in my third floor room had the seam come loose, too. Naturally, they no longer carry that set at BB&B. It only needs a couple of stitches to be servicable...
Same with another pillowcase I was using as a spare on the fold out bed. That one's not as pressing, since it's not really part of a set, but it's in the pile.
Various items of clothes with holes, tears, and buttons to sew on... traditionally they sit in the mending basket for at least two years before dealing with them. If I wait that long for my kid's clothes, they won't fit anymore.
I have a wonderful king-sized fitted sheet that has a few small holes at one end, and no top sheet to go with it... it would make fabulous napkins. Luckily, my sister just got a serger and will be looking for an excuse to use it.
Being frugal means not buying new (and why buy a new $50+ duvet cover when it just needs a button, or a new $40+ sheet set for a few stiches?). I'm a big believer in "use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without."
I destroyed my iron last week trying to mend it... knew there had to be a hidden screw somewhere but didn't find it until I'd broken it in pulling it apart. My non-sewing mending list includes a six-door cabinet, a three-legged marble shelf, a crack in the marble around the fireplace, the burnt out rope light in a guest room, new knobs on a desk, a stereo power cord that got cut off, a beloved toy gun that needs super glue, a mini-blind that needs a central support before it breaks again, a dining room chair that needs wood glue, wood glue on a drawer in a built in shelf for linens, various paint gouges in the third floor guest room and second floor stair case, the sagging edge of a brick patio, a missing chunk of concrete on the back steps, and probably a few other things I'm forgetting. And by the time I ever finish this list there will be a new list of things which have been bent, broken, ripped, torn, cracked, or which have lost their button.
And I don't want things to wait two years... I want to get caught up and fix things immediately.
Ugh.
=)
Kk..

That also helps make us green.

 

[greyswan]

I have lost my sewing machine.... haven't seen since before we moved here (Aug 07) so if I can hand stitch something, or use stitch-witchery (iron on tape) it doesn't get done. But if the truth were known, even if I had a sewing machine, it would sit in a closet a long, long time before getting mended!!! Mending is right up there with ironing!

 

[EmptyNest]

I have lost my sewing machine.... haven't seen since before we moved here (Aug 07) so if I can hand stitch something, or use stitch-witchery (iron on tape) it doesn't get done. But if the truth were known, even if I had a sewing machine, it would sit in a closet a long, long time before getting mended!!! Mending is right up there with ironing!.

I know exactly where mine is...along with the serger I never use Bought them for myself as retirement gifts...ha ha...I retired them. I need to get out the owners manual to even thread it. Maybe someday I will get the out again. I used to sew all my own clothes till I opened the B & B. Then it was window treatments, pillows,other decor items...but haven't touched them now since I can't remember when.... Like you...I reach for stitch witchery